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Business Briefs: Panel rejects claim of tobacco device

This undated image provided by Philip Morris in January 2018 shows the company's iQOS product. The device heats tobacco sticks but stops short of burning them, an approach that Philip Morris says reduces exposure to tar and other toxic byproducts of burning cigarettes. This is different from e-cigarettes, which don’t use tobacco at all but instead vaporize liquid usually containing nicotine. (Philip Morris via AP)
This undated image provided by Philip Morris in January 2018 shows the company's iQOS product. The device heats tobacco sticks but stops short of burning them, an approach that Philip Morris says reduces exposure to tar and other toxic byproducts of burning cigarettes. This is different from e-cigarettes, which don’t use tobacco at all but instead vaporize liquid usually containing nicotine. (Philip Morris via AP) This undated image provided by Philip Morris in January 2018 shows the company's iQOS product. The device heats tobacco sticks but stops short of burning them, an approach that Philip Morris says reduces exposure to tar and other toxic byproducts of burning cigarettes. This is different from e-cigarettes, which don’t use tobacco at all but instead vaporize liquid usually containing nicotine. (Philip Morris via AP)

By Staff and Wire Reports 2 min read

Panel rejects claim of tobacco device

U.S. government experts rejected a proposal from Philip Morris International to sell its product that heats tobacco without burning it as a lower-risk alternative to cigarettes that reduces disease.

But the panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration endorsed an easier-to-prove claim about exposure to harmful chemicals in cigarettes. The mixed review suggests Philip Morris will be able to market its device to U.S. smokers, but on limited terms.

Mortgage rates rise for 3rd straight week

U.S. mortgage rates rose this week for a third week in a row, lifted by investors’ expectations for faster economic growth, which has pushed up borrowing costs.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to 4.15 percent this week from 4.04 percent. That is the highest since March. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, which is popular with homeowners who are refinancing, rose to 3.62 percent, also the third straight increase.

Signs of faster economic growth have also lifted concerns that inflation may quicken and the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates more quickly to keep price increases in check. That has driven up the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Mortgage rates track the yield on the 10-year.

The rate on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages climbed to 3.52 percent this week, after a flat reading of 3.46 percent last week.

U.S. home sales drop 9.3 percent

Americans cut back their purchases of new homes in December as sales posted their biggest drop since August 2016.

The Commerce Department says new-home sales skidded 9.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000.