Business briefs

Confidence

Confidence among US consumers unexpectedly fell in September as a rising unemployment rate weighed on households. The Conference Board’s confidence index dropped to 53.1, from a revised 54.5 in August.

Hedge funds

London lost hedge fund market share to New York last year, according to a report from International Financial Services London, which promotes the UK’s financial services industry. London managed about 18 percent of the hedge fund industry’s $1.5 trillion in assets, down from 20 percent in 2007. New York added about 2 percentage points to manage about 43 percent of the total, IFSL estimated.

Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae said defaults rose to a record in July. Mortgages at least 90 days late or in foreclosure among the single-family loans that Fannie Mae owns or guarantees rose to 4.17 percent in July, from 3.94 percent in June and 1.45 percent a year earlier.

Dodd plan

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said creating a single oversight agency for the nation’s banking system would ensure accountability and end “pass-the-buck excuses.”

GM-eBay

GM’s short-lived effort to sell cars online through eBay will end this week, GM said. The program, launched Aug. 11 as a pilot program in California, had not driven major sales for the auto maker.