Reports a mixed bag

Orders for long-lasting U.S. goods slipped unexpectedly in October, but new home sales rose, consumer sentiment brightened a bit this month and claims for jobless aid fell, a mixed bag of reports showed.

Orders for durable goods fell 0.4 percent in October, a Commerce Department report showed. In a separate report, the department said new homes sales rose 0.2 percent to a 1.23-million unit annual sales pace, the third highest on record.

In good news, the Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits dropped to their lowest level in two months.

Economy

Mortgage rates fall

Mortgage rates were a mixed bag this week, with benchmark 30-year mortgages edging down, one-year adjustable-rate mortgages shooting up and 15-year mortgages holding steady. Freddie Mac, in its weekly survey, said rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.72 percent this week, down from 5.74 percent last week.

Markets

Stocks move higher

U.S. stocks closed higher, with technology shares such as Google Inc. and iPod-maker Apple Computer Inc. leading the way. The tech gains, a better-than-expected government report on oil inventories and good unemployment figures helped the broader market shrug off another rise in oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 27.71, or 0.26 percent, to 10,520.31. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 4.82, or 0.41 percent, at 1,181.76, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 18.26, or 0.88 percent, to 2,102.54.

Federal probe

AIG to pay $126M

American International Group Inc. said it agreed to pay $126 million to settle federal criminal and regulatory probes into whether the big insurer helped two companies fraudulently inflate earnings.

AIG announced the settlements after The Wall Street Journal said federal prosecutors were examining whether Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, AIG’s 79-year-old chief executive, in 2001 manipulated AIG’s stock price to save money in buying insurer American General Corp.

New York-based AIG is the largest insurer by market value.

Corporate takeover

Judge delays ruling on PeopleSoft pill

A Delaware judge said he would need to hear testimony about recent developments in Oracle Corp.’s attempt to take over PeopleSoft Inc. before ruling on whether to remove PeopleSoft’s poison pill anti-takeover measure.

Business software powerhouse Oracle has asked PeopleSoft to let the takeover go forward by voluntarily rescinding its poison pill, a provision that makes unwanted acquisitions prohibitively expensive.