1. mortgage lowest since last year

Long-term rate falls to while short-term loan rates move higher.
The average rate on fixed-rate mortgages fell to for the week ending Thursday, with an average payable up front, down from last week, according to the mortgage finance firm's survey. The rate has not been this low since the week ending when the rate on the fixed-rate loan stood at .

2. Blue chips weaken

Dow, S&P under some pressure, while Nasdaq tries to hold near unchanged; oil jumps near record.
:

NEW YORK - Blue-chips dipped and techs clung to break even Wednesday morning, as investors eyed oil prices near all-time highs.

U.S. light crude oil for August delivery rose to a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, touching as high as , amid new supply concerns. That put the price close to the all-time trading high of which was reached last month.

3. Building shares up on Olympic win

Construction shares have jumped in London after the UK capital won the race to host the Olympic Games.
The gainers included home-builder Persimmon, up , Balfour Beatty, which added , and Costain Group, which saw a gain.
According to early estimates, some will be spent on land purchases and construction.

4. Jordan rises as Middle East travel destination.

DEAD SEA, Jordan. Construction work continues day and night to complete the Kempinski resort on the Dead Sea.
"The tourism boom in the last including the buoyant business activity has almost doubled occupancy levels at the country's five star hotels to a high of ," said Michael Nazzal, president of the Jordan Hotel Association.
Jordan's Western tourists are coming back after their numbers dropped dramatically following a reduction in travel after the September attacks in the United States.
Some tourists stayed overnight in Jordan last year, a increase from the previous year.
Nazzal said the outlook for the year was even more promising than last year when receipts rose to , a rise from the previous year.