THE NATION`S MAJOR retailers said they had modest sales gains for December, their most crucial month, from year-earlier levels. Sears, Roebuck & Co., the nation`s largest retailer, said sales rose 1.7 percent, to $3.73 billion.
THE FEDERAL RESERVE Board approved a measure that could curb many hostile corporate takeovers by setting margin requirements for certain sales of so-called ”junk bonds,” despite protests from the Reagan administration and numerous governmental agencies.
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY John Block resigned, saying he has accomplished all that he set out to do. His five years in the job saw American farmers facing their worst economic problems since the Depression.
EASTMAN KODAK CO. ended its instant-photography business after losing an appeal in a patent trial it lost to rival Polaroid Corp. Kodak is offering owners of its instant cameras $50 worth of photo products or a share of Kodak common stock.
INANCING INCENTIVES boosted domestic new-car sales in the last 10 days of December, with a 28 percent increase from the year-earlier period. For the year, sales were more than 8.2 million units, up 4 percent from 1984 and the best performance since 1979.
INTERNATIONAL
PRESIDENT REAGAN FROZE all Libyan government assets in the United States, after declaring a U.S. economic boycott of Libya. The moves were in response to reports that Libya and its leader, Col. Moammar Khadafy, are supporting terrorists.
COFFEE PRICES SOARED to eight-year highs on world commodity markets as drought ravaged the crop in Brazil. Analysts said retail prices of coffee could double.
CHICAGO/MIDWEST
THE CHICAGO-AREA economy continued to grow in December, but at a slower pace than in November. A survey of corporate purchasing managers showed the number of companies reporting lower production rose to 30 percent, from 17 percent in November.
A LAWYER FOR the City of Chicago asked the Illinois Supreme Court to hear directly the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the city`s controversial 6 percent tax on commercial leases.
COMMONWEALTH EDISON CO. proposed to limit its spending for the Braidwood nuclear power plant to $5.05 billion, unless plant costs escalate because of regulatory delays.
SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO. said its Discover credit and financial services card will be launched nationally Jan. 23, almost two months ahead of schedule.
MORE THAN $230 MILLION in low-cost home loans, financed by the ”Build Illinois” program, are available to families with annual incomes of less than $55,300, Gov. James Thompson announced. The program offers qualified first-time home buyers interest rates of 9.8 percent.
THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES said it plans to cancel its afternoon ”Red Streak” editions at the end of the month, bringing an end to the era of afternoon newspapers in Chicago.
AMERICAN TELEPHONE & Telegraph Co. said it plans an average reduction of more than 6 percent in its rates for long-distance telephone calls within Illinois, a move that could save residential and business customers $18 million a year.
CORPORATE
KOHLBERG, KRAVIS, Roberts & Co. reduced the cash portion of its proposed $6.1 billion purchase price for Chicago-based Beatrice Companies Inc., increasing the proportion of the deal that would be paid in preferred stock.
GAF CORP. WITHDREW its hostile $74-a-share, or $4.8 billion, offer for Union Carbide Corp., while saying it was keeping a 10 percent stake in the chemical company.
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER Co. renamed itself Navistar International Corp. as part of the deal it made when it sold its farm-equipment business to the J.I. Case subsidiary of Tenneco Inc. last January.
CA LTD., a partnership controlled by Chicago real estate magnate Samuel Zell, acquired options to buy more than a 30 percent stake in Allis-Chalmers Corp. of Milwaukee.
AN INVESTMENT GROUP led by First Carolina Investors of Charlotte, N.C., and including a resident of Liechtenstein, said it owns 8.59 percent of the common stock of Continental Illinois Holding Inc. for investment purposes.
ABBOTT LABORATORIES said it has asked the government to approve a new, faster test for the AIDS virus antibody.
STANDARD & POOR`S Corp. lowered its ratings on about $2.1 billion of Caterpillar Tractor Co.`s long-term debt, blaming prospects of a ”mediocre” profit.
Markets
STOCKS: The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 35.67 points for the week, closing at 1513.53. The New York Stock Exchange composite index lost 2.68 points, to close at 118.82, while the American Stock Exchange index finished down 3.77 points at 243.96. The Nasdaq index of over-the-counter stocks closed down 1.58 at 324.14. Composite volume of NYSE-listed stocks for the week was 876.3 million shares, up from 498.9 million the preceding week, which was shortened by the New Year`s holiday.
BONDS: The Dow Jones bond index closed down 0.19 at 84.12.
COMMODITIES: The Dow Jones index of commodity futures rose 4.20 points, to 138.19.
