Oil prices fell more than $1 a barrel yesterday because of mild weather on both sides of the Atlantic that was expected to reduce demand for home-heating fuels.

Yesterday's selloff followed a runup of more than $2 a barrel the day before, and analysts said that oil would probably trade in a narrow band over the coming weeks, pulled between supply worries and the mild weather in Europe and the United States.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $1.20 to settle at $60.58 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. December Brent crude futures on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $1.27 to settle at $59.25 a barrel.

INDIANAPOLIS - Legal problems for Guidant, a maker of medical devices, grew yesterday as a deadline to close a $25.4 billion acquisition by Johnson & Johnson passed with no apparent movement by either side.

The two companies had a self-imposed deadline to close the deal yesterday, but efforts stalled Wednesday when J&J, based in New Brunswick, N.J., said it might not proceed because of sweeping recalls and regulatory investigations that have affected Guidant since June.

Jeffrey Leebaw, a J&J spokesman, declined to comment yesterday on the status of the deal. Steve Tragash, a spokesman for Guidant, based in Indianapolis, also declined to comment.

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. increased vehicle production in October even as sales fell, an indication that it might be preparing for a strike at auto supplier Delphi Corp.

Stefan Weinmann, a GM spokesman, said that there have been no disruptions in supplies from Delphi, and GM has been assured that shipments will continue as Delphi restructures in bankruptcy court.

WASHINGTON - Newspaper publisher Washington Post Co. said yesterday that its third-quarter profit fell 19 percent, weighed down by hurricane-related charges and lost revenue at its cable division.

Earnings after preferred dividends fell to $66.3 million, or $6.89 a share, in the three months ended Oct. 2 from $82.2 million, or $8.57 a share, last year. Revenue rose 7 percent to $873.7 million from $820 million.

The company, whose cable division had 94,000 subscribers on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, said that costs from Hurricane Katrina cut operating earnings by $1.17 a share.

Its shares fell $10.64, or 1.4 percent, to close at $759.36 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, where they have traded in a 52-week range of $737.50 to $999.50.

OMAHA, Neb. - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said yesterday that its third-quarter earnings fell by almost half because of insurance losses caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The investment company said that its losses from the hurricanes in the quarter that ended Sept. 30 totaled $2.988 billion, but that figure could change as more claims are filed.

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