BUSINESS NEWS DIGEST | Incoming KeyCorp CEO loves Cleveland

Incoming KeyCorp CEO loves Cleveland

CLEVELAND

The next top executive of Cleveland-based KeyCorp says she respects the distinction of becoming the first female chief executive of a top 20 U.S. bank but isn’t focused on it.

Beth Mooney tells The Plain Dealer she found a career that fit her passions and strengths and didn’t think of herself as being different.

She was hired in 2006 to oversee KeyCorp’s community banking in more than a dozen states. She’ll succeed CEO and Board Chairman Henry L. Meyer III, who’s retiring May 1. Mooney says she loves living in Cleveland, but she’s been disappointed by its professional sports teams.

Gulf shares drop on Mideast unrest

CAIRO

Stocks markets across the Gulf Arab states fell Sunday, with Dubai’s largest exchange registering the steepest drop as unrest in the Mideast lapped at the shores of oil kingpin Saudi Arabia.

The Dubai Financial Market closed down 3.66 percent, to 1,536 points, with developer Emaar Properties’ shares sliding 4.73 percent. In Kuwait, the benchmark index closed down 2.52 percent, to 6,394, and bringing its year-to-date losses to more than 8 percent.

The drops in the oil-rich Gulf region’s exchanges are largely linked to the unrest in Bahrain, where massive protests have roiled the island nation for more than a week. A crackdown on protesters in Libya has rattled markets as the unrest hit the first major oil producer in the Middle East.

Iceland: Icesave deal needs a public vote

REYKJAVIK, Iceland

Icelandic President Olafur R. Grimsson said Sunday he would put a new deal aimed at solving a dispute with Britain and the Netherlands over a $5 billion repayment to a public vote.

Grimsson confirmed he would not personally ratify a plan to repay funds invested by British and Dutch citizens in Internet bank Icesave that were lost when it collapsed in late 2008. About 38,000 Icelanders — around 12 percent of the population — had signed a petition calling on Grimsson to authorize a referendum on the deal.

Associated Press

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .62, 23.27 .03

Avalon Holdings,2.95.00

Clear Channel, .76 54.72 .11

Cortland Bancorp, 5.90.10

Delphi Automotive, .02 .00

Farmers Nat., .12, 4.89 .00

First Energy, 2.20, 37.89—.38

FirstMerit Corp., .64,17.36 .04

First Niles Financial, .32,7.00.00

First Place Fin., 2.85—.01

FNB Corp., .48,10.62.04

General Motors,36.45.08

General Electric, .56,21.44—.08

Motors Liquidation, .08.00

Huntington Bank, .04, 7.23—.12

JP Morgan Chase, .20,47.96.14

Key Corp, .04,9.52.08

LaFarge, 16.36 .64

Macy’s, .20, 23.76—.30

Parker Hannifin, 1.28, 91.91.26

PNC, .40,64.02—.01

RTI Intl. Metals,29.50.59

Rural/Metro, 14.31 —.33

Simon Prop. Grp.,3.20,107.93—.20

Stoneridge 15.82 —.25

United Community Fin. 1.55.06

Selected prices at 4 p.m. Friday. Provided by Stifel Nicolaus. Not to be construed as an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any security.