Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Thursday, May 8, 1997
WASHINGTON -- Interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages slipped below 8 percent this week for the first time since late March, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said today. 30-year mortgages
fall below 8 percentThe rate averaged 7.94 percent, the lowest in seven weeks and down almost a quarter of a percentage point from a seven-month high of 8.18 percent the week ended April 3. That was a week after the Federal Reserve tightened policy for the first time in two years.
Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 7.47 percent this week, down from 7.53 percent a week earlier. On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.82 percent this week, down from 5.84 percent.
GTE Hawaiian Tel said it has lowered its interisland rates for residential customers and made the rate structure simpler. Hawaiian Tel
cuts interisland ratesThe new rates are 14 cents a minute from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The rate for all other times is 9 cents a minute.
Before the change, the rates were divided into day, evening and night and weekend rates and ranged from 14 to 35 cents a minute. GTE said it also has discounts for frequent residential and business interisland callers.
NEW YORK -- In the biggest shakeup in 50 years, Dow Jones & Co. is changing six of the 15 companies that make up its Dow Jones utilities average to reflect a greater industry presence in the Sunbelt and larger focus on natural gas. Dow Jones shakes up
its utility stock indexUtility stocks, which generally pay a higher dividend and are viewed as less volatile investments, are considered a key gauge of sentiment about the direction of inflation and interest rates. Prospects for steady or lower interest rates generally help utility stocks.
Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, said the change is effective Monday.
The utilities being dropped are Houston Industries Inc., Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., DTE Energy Co., Centerior Energy Corp., PanEnergy Corp. and Peoples Energy Corp.
Taking their place are Southern Co., Duke Power Co., Texas Utilities Co., Enron Corp., Williams Cos. and Columbia Gas System Inc.