News In Brief

US business inventories rose 0.2 percent in October - to a total of $1.26 trillion, the Commerce Department reported. The increase was weaker than the 0.4 percent rise many analysts were expecting, but it marked the ninth straight monthly increase. Sales increased 0.5 percent in October, the most since August. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve said industrial output climbed 0.3 percent in November - slightly more than the 0.2 percent rise forecast by many economists.

General Motors is offering as much as $6.2 billion for control of financially troubled Daewoo Motor Co. of South Korea, news reports from Seoul said. The Yonhap news agency said the offer emerged out of two days of meetings with Daewoo creditors and South Korean government officials, who now are considering whether to open exclusive negotiations with GM for the sale.

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