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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Thursday, January 27, 2000

State awards $11 mil in road work

The state Department of Transportation has awarded nearly $11 million worth of contracts for road and bridge works to be launched this year. The latest batch of contracts are:

Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., $4 million to install highway lighting on the H-2 freeway from the Leilehua interchange to the Waiawa interchange. Work on that job is scheculed to begin in March.

Dick Pacific Construction Co., formerly Fletcher Pacific Construction Co., $3.7 million to replace two timber bridges on the Big Island's Belt Road with concrete bridges, also scheduled for a Marchg start.

Royal Contracting Co., $2.5 million for guardrail and shoulder improvements on the H-1 freeway, from Palehua to the Waikele Bridge, another March start, and

R. Electric Inc., $492,000, for intersection improvements at Ahukini Road and Kapule Highway on Kauai, scheduled for a May start.

Saipan textile trial to stay on Oahu

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court has rejected a request by U.S. clothing retailers to transfer from Honolulu to Saipan a lawsuit accusing them of subjecting thousands of workers to sweatshop conditions in Saipan factories.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request without comment Monday.

Lawyers for 50,000 present and past workers, mostly young women, feared they could not get a fair trial on Saipan.

30-year mortgages decline to 8.25%

WASHINGTON -- Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages edged down slightly this week after hitting their highest level since September 1996 the week before.

The average interest rate on 30-year mortgages fell to 8.25 percent, down from 8.26 percent last week, according to a weekly survey released today by Freddie Mac, the mortgage company.

Fifteen-year mortgages inched down with an average rate of 7.84 percent, compared with 7.86 percent last week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.65 percent, up from 6.56 percent.

Factory orders up, led by jet demand

WASHINGTON -- Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods surged in December, led by the biggest jump in demand for airplanes and other transportation equipment in more than a year.

The Commerce Department reported today that orders for durable goods -- items expected to last at least three years -- rose 4.1 percent last month, the biggest increase since July, to a seasonally adjusted $212.9 billion.

In other news ...

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Healtheon/WebMD Corp. said Janus Capital Corp. agreed to invest $930 million in the Web-based healthcare company. Healtheon's stock gained $4.75 to close at $71.06.

TOKYO -- Yahoo! Japan Corp. today became the first 100 million yen stock on the Tokyo stock market, closing at 101 million yen ($952,830).