MARSH & MCLENNAN

Marsh & McLennan, the world’s largest insurance broker, slashed its dividend and said it will cut 2,500 jobs after a $676 million net loss from settling New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s bid-rigging accusations. Marsh lowered the dividend by 50% and had a fourth-quarter loss of $1.28 a share, its first loss since 1997, the New York-based company said in a statement. Including 3,000 job reductions in November, the company is eliminating almost 9% of its work force.

DEMANDING ANSWERS

Qwest Communications International’s chief executive, Richard Notebaert, wants MCI directors to tell him why Qwest’s $8 billion takeover bid is inferior to a competing offer at a lower price.

Meeting today with 250 analysts and investors at the St. Regis Hotel in New York, Notebaert pressed his case on why MCI should accept Qwest’s bid. The talk is part of Qwest’s effort to scuttle Verizon Communications Inc.’s agreement to buy MCI, the no. 2 American long-distance phone company, for $6.7 billion.

– Bloomberg News

WEB FRAUD

A Florida man was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to sending millions of unsolicited e-mail messages, said BellSouth Corp., the phone company whose Internet services were used to transmit the mail.

– Bloomberg News

NEW CONFIDENCE

Corporate leaders are the most confident about the American economy in at least two years, a survey of chief executives found. The Business Roundtable said yesterday its outlook index for the next six months jumped to the highest since the Washington-based lobbying group began its quarterly survey in November 2002.The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 55.3 from 56.4 in January. Figures above 50 indicate expansion.

– Bloomberg News

SPITZER AGAIN

The nation’s largest shopping mall chain on Tuesday agreed to change its policies regarding gift cards that New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer called misleading and costly for consumers. Simon Property Group Inc. settled Spitzer’s case for $125,000 in penalties and costs of the investigation. Similar legal battles in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut continue, said Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Pritchard.

MARKETS

Falling oil prices and a broker upgrade of the semiconductor sector pushed stocks higher Tuesday, enticing buyers back into the market after the previous session’s losses. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 63.77, or 0.59%, to 10,830.00. Broader stock indicators also closed higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 6.81, or 0.57%,at 1,210.41,and the Nasdaq composite index gained 19.53, or 0.95 percent, to 2,071.25.

– Associated Press