Officials Continue Sparring Over Pa.'s Gay-Marriage Ban

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has swung back at the Office of General Counsel after getting official word from the OGC that it would take up the defense of the state's law banning same-sex marriage since Kane had announced last month that she wouldn't.

Bond Purchases by Fed Will Continue, at Least for Another Month

As expected, the Fed’s policy-making committee voted to press ahead for now with its campaign to increase job creation. And its statement said nothing about how much longer it would continue to add $85 billion a month to its holdings of mortgage-backed securities and Treasury securities. But the Fed left its economic outlook basically unchanged, suggesting that the central bank still intended to reduce the volume of its purchases later this year.

The statement, issued after a regular two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, acknowledged the weak pace of growth during the first half of the year, which it described as “modest” rather than “moderate” — the words are synonymous in English but distinct in the Fed’s carefully calibrated lexicon, suggesting an even more lackluster economic performance. But it maintained the Fed’s forecast that “economic growth will pick up from its recent pace” in the coming months, driving job creation.

The statement also repeated language first introduced after the Fed’s previous meeting, in June, that “the committee sees the downside risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market as having diminished since the fall,” when the Fed began this latest push aimed at increasing the pace of growth.

Analysts said they expected the committee to cut back at its next meeting in mid-September. Dean Maki, chief United States economist at Barclays Capital, said the statement was “on the dovish side” because of its references to slower growth, rising mortgage rates and low inflation. Nonetheless, he added, “We continue to expect the F.O.M.C. to taper the asset purchase program in September, provided that the next two employment reports are reasonably strong.”

The committee had little time to grapple with the implications of the latest economic data. The government announced earlier Wednesday that the economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.7 percent in the second quarter, better than economists had expected but below the pace that Fed officials regard as necessary to create enough jobs to bring down the unemployment rate.

The Fed repeated its stark assessment that “fiscal policy is restraining economic growth.” It also noted that “mortgage rates have risen somewhat,” a new check on the economy that is at least partly of the Fed’s own creation.

The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.37 percent in July from 3.54 percent in May, according to a survey conducted by Freddie Mac. But that increase is only partly the result of investor uneasiness about the Fed’s plans; it also reflects an improved economic outlook. And that improved outlook, in turn, is mitigating the impact of the rate increases.

David Hall, president of Shore Mortgage in Troy, Mich., said that the higher rates had cut into demand for refinancing, but that demand for mortgages to buy a home remained strong. “People understand the historical context, that these are still really low rates, and coupled with all the news about home values rising, there’s still a lot of excitement about buying,” he said. “That excitement has overshadowed the rate increases a little bit.”

The Fed has also become more concerned about the sluggish pace of inflation. Prices rose at an annual pace of just 0.8 percent in the second quarter, according to the Fed’s preferred measuring stick, a measure of inflation compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis — well below the 2 percent annual pace that the Fed considers healthy. Low inflation can cause problems, although Mr. Bernanke recently noted that the reasons were “hard to explain to your uncle.” The primary cause for concern is the risk that prices will begin to fall, which can plunge the economy into a debilitating cycle of deflation as prospective buyers wait for prices to fall even further.

James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, chided his fellow officials for underplaying this risk at the committee’s June meeting. This time the Fed noted the risk in the statement but maintained its official view that the pace of price increases was likely to rise.

Voter ID Ads Could Continue Until Election Day

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson this morning declined to hasten the pace for deciding on a motion filed by challengers to Pennsylvania?s new voter ID law asking him to enforce the injunction he issued earlier this month keeping the law from taking effect this November.

Markets Rise on Thought That Fed Will Continue Stimulus

Investors are in a game of wait-and-see with the Federal Reserve. On Monday, they sent stocks higher as they guessed that the Fed would continue trying to prop up the economy.

The major stock indexes all rose about 1 percent in early trading and stayed there for most of the day before dipping slightly in the afternoon. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 12.31 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,639.04. It had been up as much as 20 points.

The market’s gains were broad. Telecommunications was the only one of the 10 industry sectors in the S.& P. 500 to post a loss. Netflix did better than any other stock in the S.& P. 500 after announcing that it would run original TV series from DreamWorks Animation.

There were few big company announcements or economic reports, and trading was light. Investors will have to keep guessing about the Fed’s future actions until Wednesday, when the chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, holds a news conference at the end of a two-day policy meeting.

Investors sent stocks up Monday because they think Fed policy makers will determine that the economy is not recovering fast enough. A still-weak economy would influence the Fed to continue its programs intended to stimulate the economy: keeping interest rates low to encourage borrowing, and buying bonds to push investors into stocks.

Doug Lockwood, branch president of Hefty Wealth Partners in Auburn, Ind., said it was not rational for the stock market to regard bad news as good, and to be yanked back and forth more by the actions of a central bank than the underlying fundamentals of the economy.

The market has been in flux since May 22, when Mr. Bernanke said that the Fed would consider pulling back on its bond-buying program if measures of the economy, especially hiring, improve. The comment, made in response to a question from the Joint Economic Committee in Congress, was not expected. In the 17 trading days since then, the Dow Jones industrial average has swung by triple digits 11 times.

On Monday, the Dow rose 109.67 points, or 0.7 percent, to 15,179.85. The Nasdaq composite rose 28.58, or 0.8 percent, to 3,452.13.

The price of crude oil rose throughout the day but ended 4 cents lower at $98.03 a barrel in New York. Gold edged down $4.50 to $1,383.10 an ounce.

In the market for government bonds, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 13/32 to 96 7/32, bringing the yield up to 2.18 percent from 2.13 percent late Friday.

Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust in Chicago, said Mr. Bernanke would seek to “walk back” on some of his previous comments, and reassure investors that the Fed will not pull back on stimulus until it is sure the economy is ready. The surprise factor, more than the substance of Mr. Bernanke’s comments, might have been what unnerved investors, McDonald said.

The fact that Mr. Bernanke is now expected to regard the economy as still weak enough to need stimulus stems from a jobs report and low inflation since his testimony, analysts said.

This month, the government reported that the United States added 175,000 jobs in May — not enough to cut into the unemployment rate. And on Friday, the government said that a crucial measure of inflation — the producer price index, which measures wholesale prices — rose just 0.1 percent after stripping out the volatile costs of food and gas. That is important because the Fed knows that its stimulus measures can stoke inflation; if inflation is low, the central bank has more flexibility to keep pumping money into the economy.

Two measures of economic data released on Monday were positive, though both are considered less important gauges of the economy. A report on manufacturing in New York State showed a pickup, and a survey of American home builders said they were more optimistic about sales than they had been in seven years.

Jury Deliberations Continue in Priest Sex-Abuse Case

On the third day of deliberations in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex-abuse case, the jury asked a series of questions before asking to break for the day around 3:20 p.m.

Jury Deliberations Continue in Priest Sex-Abuse Case

On the third day of deliberations in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex-abuse case, the jury asked a series of questions before asking to break for the day around 3:20 p.m.

Shares Continue to Slide, Awaiting a Budget Accord

Stocks fell on Friday as another decline in Apple took a toll and investors unloaded some shares because of the uncertainty surrounding the budget negotiations in Washington.

All three major stock indexes ended the week slightly lower, the Nasdaq for the second consecutive week.

Apple’s stock slid 3.76 percent, to $509.79, after the iPhone 5 received a tepid reception in China.

UBS maintained its buy rating on Apple, but cut its price target to $700 from $780 and expressed concerns that iPhone production may be dropping.

Shares of Apple have fallen 27.4 percent since their closing high of $702.10 on Sept. 19.

The S.& P. Information Technology Index lost 1 percent as Apple fell and Jabil Circuit fell 5.5 percent, to $17.51, after UBS cut its price target.

Stocks have been treading water as the possibility of not reaching a deal to settle the budget impasse until early next year is rising.

“We’re faced with uncertainty,” said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets in Boston. “And that’s going to continue now into January. It basically puts everybody on hold and just have the markets kind of thrash around.”

President Obama and the House speaker, John A. Boehner, held a “frank” meeting on Thursday at the White House to discuss how to avoid the tax increases and spending cuts set to kick in early in 2013.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 35.71 points, or 0.27 percent, to 13,135.01. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 5.87 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,413.58. The Nasdaq composite index lost 20.83 points, or 0.70 percent, to 2,971.33.

For the week, the Dow slipped 0.15 percent, while the S.& P. 500 fell 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq declined 0.2 percent.

Among other Nasdaq decliners, shares of the chip maker Qualcomm slid 4.7 percent, to $59.83.

Best Buy slid 14.7 percent, to $12.05, after the electronics retailer agreed to extend the deadline for the company’s founder to make a bid.

Among the day’s economic data, consumer prices fell in November for the first time in six months, indicating inflation pressures were muted.

A separate report showed manufacturing grew at its swiftest rate in eight months in December.

Chinese data was encouraging, as Chinese manufacturing grew at its fastest rate in 14 months in December. The news was deemed as helpful for materials companies in the United States, including United States Steel, which rose 6.8 percent, to $23.85.

Interest rates were lower. The Treasury’s benchmark 10-year note rose 8/32, to 99 9/32, and the yield fell to 1.70 percent from 1.73 percent late Thursday.

Shares Continue to Slide, Awaiting a Budget Accord

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Voter ID Ads Could Continue Until Election Day

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson this morning declined to hasten the pace for deciding on a motion filed by challengers to Pennsylvania?s new voter ID law asking him to enforce the injunction he issued earlier this month keeping the law from taking effect this November.

Voter ID Ads Could Continue Until Election Day

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson this morning declined to hasten the pace for deciding on a motion filed by challengers to Pennsylvania?s new voter ID law asking him to enforce the injunction he issued earlier this month keeping the law from taking effect this November.