News In Brief

us wholesale prices fell in June for the first time in four months as the cost of cars and light trucks tumbled, the Labor Department reported. Its producer price index fell 0.1 percent after a 0.2 percent rise in May. Excluding volatile food and energy components, the "core" index dropped 0.2 percent after a 0.1 percent rise the prior month, an indication that inflation remains in check. Meanwhile, the US Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.1 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted $243.32 billion after a revised 1.2 percent jump in May.

Because their $12.4 billion offers weren't high enough, the last two bidders dropped out of the competition to acquire the British mobile-phone company One2One, and analysts said the owners now may be unable to sell it. Bidding for One2One had dwindled to German communications giant Mannesmann AG and France Telecom. With a base of mostly residential - rather than business - customers, One2One is considered only the fourth-strongest company of its type in Britain. It is co-owned by MediaOne Group of the US and Britain's Cable & Wireless Plc.

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