•Companies

GE, Abu Dhabi join forces: Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co. yesterday agreed to a joint venture with an Abu Dhabi government investment company that will pump $4 billion of outside capital into GE’s weakened commercial finance business, part of new global partnership to expand on its fast-growing sales in the Middle East. The deal with Mubadala Development Co. will also launch or broaden several other ventures with the Persian Gulf investment vehicle, which expects to become one of the top 10 institutional investors in GE, whose businesses include light bulbs, jet engines and NBC television. In a joint statement yesterday, GE and Mubadala said they are aiming to capitalize on strong growth opportunities in the Middle East and around the globe. The agreement provides for shared capital commitments to new joint ventures and investment funds. (Associated Press)

Yahoo profit slips: Yahoo said yesterday its second-quarter profit dropped 18 percent, marking the latest in a long stretch of disappointing results for the Internet company. Yahoo earned $131 million, or 9 cents per share, in the three months ended in June, compared with $161 million, or 11 cents per share, at the same time last year. The performance intensifies the pressure on Yahoo’s management to find a way to lift the Internet company’s sagging stock price after rebuffing a $47.5-billion takeover offer from Microsoft in May. A big chunk of the earnings shortfall stemmed from the bills that piled up as Yahoo dealt with the unsolicited takeover bid and a now-resolved battle for control of its board with activist investor Carl Icahn. The drama cost Yahoo $22 million in the second quarter, mainly for outside advisers and related legal defense costs. Coupled with its first-quarter expenses, Yahoo has now spent $36 million on its wrestling match with Microsoft and Icahn.(Associated Press)

•Markets

Dollar advances: The dollar rose against major currencies yesterday in New York, ending at 107.21 Japanese yen, up from Monday’s close of 106.75 yen. The euro closed at 3:30 p.m. at $1.5788, down from $1.5893.

Metals sink: Gold for current delivery closed at $948.00 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down from Monday’s close of $963.10. Silver closed at $17.945 an ounce, down from $18.362.

Fuels drop: August light, sweet crude oil fell $3.09 to $127.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. August heating oil fell 6.97 cents to $3.6782 a gallon. August gasoline fell 7.01 cents to $3.147 a gallon. August natural gas fell 44.3 cents to $10.067 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Associated Press

Treasury securities: The U.S. Treasury yesterday sold $6 billion of 19 1/2 -year inflation-indexed notes at a yield of 2.219 percent. At the previous auction the notes drew a high yield of 1.807 percent. Demand was weaker than at the last auction, judging by the bid/cover ratio, which compares the number of bids with the amount of securities sold. The ratio was 1.58, compared with 1.79 at the previous sale. (Bloomberg News)