Business Briefs

Oil keeps climbing, and stocks end week down

NEW YORK —Wall Street retreated Friday as investors contended with two of the biggest threats to the economy: fallout from turmoil in the credit market and surging energy prices.

Insurer American International Group Inc. rattled investors after posting a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss. Meanwhile, crude oil prices rose above $126 a barrel for the first time before settling at a record $125.96. For the week, oil jumped nearly $10.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 120.90, or 0.94 percent, to 12,745.88. Broader indexes also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 9.40, or 0.67 percent, to 1,388.28. The Nasdaq composite fell 5.72, or 0.23 percent, to 2,445.52.

Asia, S. America shippers to increase port business

Shippers that link the Port of Charleston with the Asia and South America markets said Friday they will increase their outbound business with the port.

A weekly service from Asia that was suspended in December because of the slumping economy will be resumed May 21, with its first Charleston call expected in late June.

The "All Water 5," or AWE-5, service, is a joint operation of the CKYH alliance carriers of Cosco, K Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin.

Separately, Hanjin Shipping, K Line and Yang Ming are joining CSAV Norasia to introduce a new service that will provide additional ship capacity between the east coasts of South America and the U.S. The "South and North America" service will replace an existing service that was operated by Hanjin, K Line, Yang Ming and Hyundai Merchant Marine.

Blockbuster gets OK to look at Circuit City books

RICHMOND, Va. — Circuit City Stores Inc. on Friday gave in to pressure from activist shareholders, essentially putting itself up for sale and agreeing to nominate dissident directors to its board.

The retailer said it would open its books to Blockbuster and Blockbuster's largest shareholder, Carl Icahn. Icahn defused concerns over whether Blockbuster could finance the deal, saying he was prepared to buy the company if all else fails.

Wachovia strips its CEO of dual role as chairman

CHARLOTTE — Wachovia Corp. has stripped Chief Executive Officer Ken Thompson of his chairman role in a move that separates the top management position from the top oversight role.

The bank Thursday named its lead independent director, Lanty Smith, to the position of nonexecutive chairman.

The move comes a little more than two weeks after Thompson faced shareholders calling for his resignation at the bank's annual meeting.

He had been under fire for the company's recent earnings problems and stock slide.

Will eBay require its U.S. customers to use PayPal?

SAN JOSE, Calif. — EBay Inc. is exploring whether to require customers to use its online payment service PayPal, a move that has angered users and prompted antitrust scrutiny in Australia, where a PayPal-only rule takes effect next month.

It's unclear whether eBay will institute the policy in the U.S. But the online auctioneer often tests changes in smaller markets before expanding them and says it is open to that in this case.

EBay says it wants to restore trust in its marketplace with the PayPal-only plan.