Business Highlights

The Dow Jones industrials fell 52.81, or 0.6 percent, to 8,422.04. The blue chips had been up as much as 117 points in early trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 4.66, or 0.5 percent, to 903.47, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 6.70, or 0.4 percent, to 1,727.84.

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Geithner hopeful, cautious over financial system

WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring that the financial system was "starting to heal," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that major banks had raised $56 billion since stress tests showed several in need of more capital — a sign of emerging investor confidence.

Geithner also said a public private program announced in March to rid institutions of their worst assets would be in place by July.

The hopeful assessment was laden with caution, however. Geithner pointedly warned the committee that he would not discuss an "exit strategy" for the government's $700 billion intervention in major private sector institutions.

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Big changes in store for US credit cardholders