Sentiment falls in March

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The National Association of Home Builders says its housing market index slipped in March. Harsh winter weather and competition from foreclosed properties combined to hurt builder sentiment.

The Washington-based trade association says its index slipped two points to 15, back to its January level.

Readings below 50 indicate negative sentiment about the market. The last time the index was above 50 was in April 2006. The report reflects a survey of 477 residential developers nationwide.

Output rises slightly

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve says industrial production edged up 0.1 percent in February. The eighth straight monthly increase was stronger than expected.

The manufacturing sector -- for months a rare bright spot in the economy -- produced less due to winter storms but is expected to rebound in March. Manufacturing, the index's largest component, fell 0.2 percent. Mining and utilities rose 2.0 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Manufacturing took a hit from winter storms that shut down most of the Northeast in February. The storms reduced hours worked at factories and workers' earnings. Still, the severe weather increased demand for heating energy, boosting mining and utility production.

U.S. industry was operating at 72.7 percent of its capacity. The eighth straight monthly improvement.

Dodd seeking consensus on financial overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The leading Senate author of a sweeping rewrite of U.S. financial regulations is looking for consensus with a proposal that neither side of the political spectrum is ready to embrace.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd plans to unveil a proposal today that expands the powers of the Federal Reserve but creates a consumer protection entity with less authority than President Barack Obama once demanded.

His draft legislation aims to avoid a recurrence of the financial crisis that brought Wall Street to the verge of collapse 18 months ago. It would restrict the size and interconnections of large financial institutions once deemed "too big to fail," tame previously unregulated shadow markets with new restrictions and create a dismantling mechanism for failing financial giants without a bailout from taxpayers.

Moody's says debt ratings are safe, for now

LONDON (AP) -- Moody's Investors Service says the U.S and Britain are more likely than Germany and France to witness a downgrade of their top debt rating.

In a quarterly report assessing the prospects of the triple-A-rated countries, including Spain and the "less fiscally challenged" Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, Moody's warned that the economic recovery remained fragile in many advanced economies.

For now, though, Moody's says the triple-A governments don't face an immediate threat to their top ratings as the servicing of the debt remains manageable. The top credit rating reduces the interest payments countries have to pay on their debt when going to the bond markets to raise capital.

However, Moody's says debt affordability is "most stretched" in Britain and the U.S.

China trims holdings of Treasury securities

WASHINGTON (AP) -- China is holding onto its spot as the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury debt, although in January it trimmed its holdings for a third straight month. The declines are likely to underscore worries that the U.S. government could face much higher interest rates to finance soaring budget deficits.

The Treasury Department says China's holdings dipped by $5.8 billion to $889 billion in January compared to December. Japan, the second-largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, also trimmed its holdings but by a much smaller $300 million to $765.4 billion.

Net foreign purchases of long-term securities, a category that includes both government and corporate debt, totaled $19.1 billion in January, as net purchases of private corporate bonds fell by $24.8 billion, the biggest drop on record.

FCC unveiling sweeping national broadband plan

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Communications regulators are unveiling a sweeping proposal to overhaul U.S. broadband policy. They want to bring affordable, high-speed Internet connections to all Americans and make access much faster for people who already have broadband.

Yet it's not certain the Federal Communications Commission can find the funding, corporate support and legal clearance to carry out the entire vision of the plan.

Broadcasters oppose at least one key element of the proposal, which calls for reclaiming some airwaves now in the hands of TV stations and instead selling those frequencies to companies that deliver wireless Internet access. And the FCC hopes to modernize the federal program that subsidizes telephone service in poor and rural areas -- something that Congress and federal regulators have been trying to do for years.