Moneyline

Brie ,y . . . Falling oil, Wal- Mart optimism lifts stocks

Falling oil prices helped stocks rally late Thursday. And Wal- Mart Stores led an increase in retailers on optimism that lower fuel costs will help the consumer. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 104.05 at 10,650.26 in late trading. In the broad market, the Standard & Poor’s 500 indexwas up 11.47 at 1232.12, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 18.32 at 2194.13. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for December delivery was down $ 1.13, or 1.9%, to $ 57.80 a barrel in late trading.

Fannie Mae hires MCI’s % nance chief

Embattled mortgage giant Fannie Mae said Thursday that it has hired Robert Blakely, the chief ? nancial of ? cer of MCI, to help it “ rebuild and renew,” as it disclosed new accounting errors and con ? rmed it will have to restate earnings by some $11 billion. Fannie Mae named Michael Williams, currently executive vice president for regulatory agreements and restatement, as its new chief operating of ? cer.

Yahoo pulls out of talks on AOL stake

Yahoo has pulled out of discussions over buying a stake in America Online, leaving Microsoft and Google as the leading potential suitors. The decision to abandon talks came after Yahoo CEO Terry Semel and CFO Susan Decker met in late October with Time Warner executives, said Yahoo spokeswoman Joanna Stevens. Yahoo had “ politely passed” on proposed terms and “ walked away from any interest in a deal,” she said.

GM stock slips after on restatement news

General Motors shares, already at 13- year lows, were down 5% late Thursday afternoon, a day after the No. 1 automakers aid it would restate its earnings for 2001 because an accounting error led it to overstate its 2001 pro ? t by up to $400 million. GM plans to issue the restated earnings for 2001 and any subsequent years before it issues its 2005 annual report next year.

Worldliner sets , ight distance record

A 777- 200LR Worldliner — one of Boeing’s newest planes — completed the 11,664- mile trip from Hong Kong to London on Thursday, breaking the record for the longest non- stop H ight by a commercial jet. The jet spent 22 hours and 43 minutes in the air. Previous record: 10,500 miles, from London to Sydney in 1989.

Target pro% t up 34%; forecast disappoints

Target said Thursday that its third- quarter pro ? t rose a better- than-expected 34%, to $435 million, on strong sales and big gains in its credit card business. The No. 2 discount retailer behind Wal- Mart said earningsper- share growth in the fourth quarter would likely be only in the mid- teens on a percentage basis, below analysts’ expectations. Analysts noted that Target tends to offer conservative pro ? t estimates.

Other earnings . . .

Dutch bank and insurer

ING said its quarterly pro ? t rose 21%, to $ 2.2 billion, due mainly to a strong performance at its banking arm. . . .

British telecom BT Group reported a 14% rise in pro ? t, to $647 million, hurt by a further decline in revenue from traditional phone services. . . .

Germany’s Siemens, Europe’s biggest electronics and electrical engineering company, said its pro ? t fell 88%, to $90 million, hurt by losses at its information technology and mobile- phone units.

Shares of

Cisco Systems were down 3%, a day after the world’s largest network equipment maker reported its quarterly pro ? t slipped and predicted weakerthansales. . . . The number of Americans ? ling ? rst- time claims for unemployment insurance rose last week as more workers displaced by Hurricane Wilma sought bene ? ts. Jobless claims increased by 2,000 to 326,000 forth e week ended Nov. 5, the Labor Department

said. . . .

A Dubai- based investment ? rm said it has purchased 230 Park Ave., a 34- story midtown Manhattan of ? ce building commonly known as the Helmsley

building. Istithmar PJSC purchased the building for $705 million. . . . Nissan Motor said it is moving its North American headquarters from California to the Nashville area.