Mark Brooks

Administrator Karen Mills said that the SBA won't need to furlough employees because it already cut staffers through early retirements.

Gold for April delivery fell $5.80 Friday to settle at $1,572.80 an ounce. The price of gold dropped below $1,600 on Wednesday for the first time since August.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states Pennsylvania gained six rigs, Texas rose by five and Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, and West Virginia each increased by one.

Despite little sign of a deal emerging with Republicans, Obama said he does not believe it is inevitable that the $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts will take effect.

Spending by federal, state, and local governments on payrolls, equipment, buildings, teachers, emergency workers, defense programs, and other core governmental functions has been shrinking steadily since the deep 2007-2009 recession and as the anemic recovery continues.

The bills would have spared the Pentagon and certain domestic programs from cuts, now put at $85 billion over the last seven months of this budget year.

The debate will be in the forefront when Congress returns on Monday from a nine-day recess, now facing a Friday deadline for roughly $85 billion in automatic, deficit-reduction spending cuts.

The airliners, Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced, have not been allowed to fly since mid-January following a battery fire in one plane and a smoking battery in another.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was down 12 cents to $92.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold for April delivery was virtually flat, rising 60 cents to $1,578.60 per ounce. May silver rose slightly, up 8 cents to $28.761 per ounce.

The two companies and 17 of their executives had been charged with "crimes against the environment" and faced up to 31 years in prison if convicted.

Beef and pork futures fell on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused a battery fire in one plane and forced the emergency landing of another plane last month.

David Einhorn, founder of hedge fund Greenlight Capital, laid out his case for "iPrefs," a class of dividend-bearing preferred stock he wants the company to issue as a way of committing to use its massive profits for the benefit of shareholders.

The proposal has garnered support on both continents, with President Barack Obama saying earlier this month that the U.S. believes "trade that is free and fair across the Atlantic supports millions of good-paying American jobs."

The latest crisis for President Barack Obama and Congress is the approach of deep, mandatory "sequester" spending cuts due to hit March 1 absent a bipartisan deficit-reduction deal.

U.S. benchmark crude oil fell $2.24, or 2.4 percent, to $92.98 per barrel in afternoon trading in New York, the second drop of 2 percent in two days.

Crude supplies grew by 4.1 million barrels, or 1.1 percent, to 376.4 million barrels, which is 10.5 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.

Some of the Fed's policymakers fear that the bank's bond-buying program could cause inflation. If the Fed curtails the program, it could lead to higher U.S. interest rates and a stronger dollar.

Even with the overall decline, the pace of home construction in January was the third-highest since 2008 and was evidence of continued strengthening in residential real estate.