Financial Watch

A new survey from the American Chamber of Commerce in China indicated that concern is growing among U.S. businesses in the country that protectionist policies are threatening their long-term future in a key market, even while they remain optimistic about an economy that has rebounded strongly from the global recession.

The annual AmCham-China survey of its members—a barometer of sentiment among U.S. investors in China—reflects worries that China’s three-decades-long push for open markets could be stalling, as the government increasingly seeks to favor state-owned domestic enterprises that have spearheaded the economic recovery.

U.S. Bancorp said Tuesday its first-quarter profit rose nearly 55 percent from a year ago, helped by higher revenue from its fee-based businesses and slowing consumer loan losses.

The bank also benefited from growth in traditional deposits, giving it a cheap source of money for loans.

But the Minneapolis bank still wrote off more bad loans during the quarter, and expects those write-offs to remain at a similar level this quarter as well, because of economic conditions.

Net loan charge-offs were $1.14 billion, up 2.3 percent from the fourth quarter 2009.

The index of U.S. leading indicators rose in March by the most in 10 months, a sign the economy will keep growing into the second half of the year.

The 1.4 percent increase in the New York-based Conference Board’s measure of the outlook for three to six months was more than anticipated and followed a revised 0.4 percent gain in February.

Manufacturers are ratcheting up production and factory workers are putting in longer hours as companies rebuild inventories and ship more goods overseas. Further improvement in the job market will help sustain the economy’s recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s.

The first-quarter reporting period kicks into high gear this week, even as investors continue to mull the ramifications of Goldman Sachs’ fraud charge and the latest batch of readings on the recovery.

News that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) with fraud involving the way it marketed mortgage-backed securities sent stocks tumbling Friday at the end of a mixed week.

But even with Friday’s selloff, the Dow and Nasdaq managed to end higher for the week and have now ended higher in eight of the last nine weeks. The S&P 500 ended lower for the week, but has risen in seven of the last nine weeks.

Interest rates rose in the bond market Wednesday after a range of reports signaled that the economy is recovering.

Prices on most Treasurys fell, driving yields higher.

Demand for safety holdings like Treasurys fell after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy is recovering. Economic reports and improved quarterly earnings at chipmaker Intel Corp. and the big bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. bolstered the sense that business conditions are getting better.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note maturing in February 2020 rose after a three-day slide. The yield advanced to 3.87 percent in late trading from 3.82 percent Tuesday. Its price fell 11/32 to 98 1/32. The 10-year yield is linked to rates on mortgages and other consumer loans.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said the U.S. economy will probably expand at a moderate pace for the rest of this year as spending by consumers and businesses picks up.

The Labor Department’s report of 162,000 jobs added to payrolls in March was the “most encouraging sign” yet of a recovery, and the “risk of a pronounced decline in inflation has diminished substantially,” Lacker said yesterday in a speech in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Lacker stopped short of endorsing any change to Fed monetary policy. Last month, Fed officials reiterated a pledge to keep rates very low for an “extended period,” citing employers’ reluctance to add jobs and depressed home building.