•Companies

P&G to boost prices: Procter & Gamble Co., the maker of Tide laundry detergent and Head & Shoulders shampoo, is expected to raise prices as much as 16 percent because of higher costs for plastic, energy and paper. Retailers will pay P&G 2 percent to 16 percent more for fabric, home and hair care, bar soaps, and health and shaving products beginning in September, P&G spokesman Paul Fox said yesterday by telephone. Commodity expenses will climb more than $2 billion this year, he said. (Bloomberg News)

•Markets

Dollar uneven: The dollar closed mixed against major currencies yesterday in New York, ending at 106.96 Japanese yen, up from Thursday’s close of 106.77 yen. The euro closed at 3:30 p.m. at $1.5733, up from $1.5699.

Metals sink: Gold for current delivery closed at $927.30 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down from Thursday’s close of $931.90. Silver closed at $17.838 an ounce, down from $18.285.

Fuels plunge: August light, sweet crude oil fell $3.92 to $141.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. August heating oil fell 13.64 cents to $3.9696 a gallon. August gasoline fell 8.83 cents to $3.4827 a gallon. August natural gas fell 60 cents to $12.977 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Treasury securities: The Treasury Department yesterday auctioned $24 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.865 percent, down from 1.900 percent last week. Another $23 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 2.060 percent, down from 2.135 percent last week. The three-month rate was the lowest since June 23, when these bills averaged 1.855 percent. The six-month rate was the lowest since these bills averaged 2.050 percent on June 9. The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,952.86 while a six-month bill sold for $9,895.86. That would equal an annualized rate of 1.900 percent for the three-month bills and 2.111 percent for the six-month bills. Separately, the Federal Reserve said yesterday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, fell to 2.35 percent last week, from 2.46 percent the previous week.

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Associated Press