•Companies

General Dynamics bids on truck: General Dynamics Corp., the parent company of the Electric Boat shipyards in North Kingstown and Groton, Conn., will help Ladson, S.C.-based Force Protection Inc. build the Cheetah truck for the U.S. military through an existing venture as the two companies jointly bid on a contract potentially valued at $6.5 billion to supply as many as 10,000 armored vehicles for the war in Afghanistan. The Force Dynamics venture submitted a bid Monday for the new MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle, Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics, said yesterday. The venture, formed in 2006 to build Force Protection’s Cougar truck, was expanded in the past month to include the Force Protection-developed Cheetah. (Bloomberg News)

Citizens parent sells China shares: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, the British owner of Providence-based Citizens Financial Group, yesterday sold the parent company’s $2.3-billion stake in Bank of China Ltd. to replenish capital depleted by write-downs. Edinburgh-based RBS sold 10.8 billion shares for 1.71 Hong Kong dollars apiece, or about 7.6 percent less than Bank of China’s closing price. Stephen Hester, who became RBS’ chief executive officer in November after a $29-billion government bailout, is seeking to repair a balance sheet hobbled by more than 7 billion pounds of writedowns last year. (Bloomberg News)

UnitedHealth to close databases: UnitedHealth Group Inc. will close much-criticized databases that health insurers use to set payment rates and help launch a new one to settle a fraud investigation, which could help millions of patients pay less for “out-of-network” care. The Minnetonka, Minn.-based health insurer has agreed to pay $50 million to establish the new database, which will be run by a nonprofit organization such as a university, according to a deal ironed out with the New York attorney general’s office. (Associated Press)

•Markets

Dollar advances: The dollar rose against major currencies yesterday in New York, ending at 89.13 Japanese yen, up from Monday’s close of 89.07 yen. The euro closed at 3:30 p.m. at $1.3177, down from $1.3395.

Metals slip: Gold for current delivery closed at $820.10 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down from Monday’s close of $820.30. Silver closed at $10.655 an ounce, down from $10.725.

Fuels mixed: February light, sweet crude oil rose 19 cents to $37.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil rose 3.17 cents to $1.5141 a gallon. Gasoline rose 4.48 cents to $1.489 a gallon. February natural gas fell 35.8 cents to $5.184 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Associated Press

Treasury securities: The U.S. Treasury yesterday sold $24 billion in four-week bills at a high discount rate of 0.02 percent, the lowest since 0.0 percent on Dec. 23, 2008. At last week’s auction, the bills drew a rate of 0.06 percent. The return to investors is 0.02 percent, with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,999.84. The government received bids for the bills equal to 3.61 times the amount sold. (Bloomberg News)

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