NEW YORK, May 9 (UPI) -- U.S. stock markets, close to even on the year a week ago, slipped further into red ink in early trading Friday, as oil prices continued a relentless surge.

Oil prices broke the $125-per-barrel barrier Friday, just four days after first topping $120 a barrel.

On Friday morning, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 103.32 points to 12,763.46, off 0.8 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 10.50 points to 1,387.18, off 0.75 percent. The Nasdaq composite index lost 15.90 points to 2,435.34, off 0.65 percent.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 5/32 to yield 3.765 percent.

The euro traded at $1.5438 from Thursday's $1.5398, while the dollar traded at 103.23 yen from Thursday's 103.92 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index dropped 287.92 points and closed the week at 13,655.34, off 2.06 percent.

LONDON, May 9 (UPI) -- Foreclosures in Britain rose 16 percent in the first quarter of 2008, coming close to levels experienced in the 1990s, the government said.

The Ministry of Justice said 38,688 home repossession claims were filed in the first quarter, a jump from 33,715 filed a year ago, The Times of London reported Friday.

In the third quarter of 1990, 37,498 foreclosures were reported, although foreclosures in Britain peaked at 51,037 in the third quarter of 1991, the report said.

Financial pressure on many home owners is increasing, Howard Archer, chief economist at Global Insight told The Times. And it seems certain that repossessions will trend up appreciably over the coming months, he said.

Home values are also falling in Britain. The Times reported home prices fell 0.9 percent in April from prices a year ago, the first time prices have contracted since February 1996.

CHICAGO, May 9 (UPI) -- The future of wireless communication may have its start this year in Chicago, industry observers said.

The service known as WiMax can roll television broadcasts, phone service, Internet connections and other data transmissions into one high-speed pipeline.

WiMax was given a corporate push Wednesday, when Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp, put together a $14.5 billion partnership involving $3.2 billion in investments from Google Inc., Comcast Corp., Intel and Time Cable Inc.

Regional tests of the system could begin in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington by year's end, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.

Chicago may see WiMax first as it is close to the home of equipment supplier Motorola Inc., the newspaper said. Clearwire expects the system could go national by 2010.

The system could be used for appliances to diagnose problems and contact repair services before the appliance owner knows something is wrong, the report said.

It could also allow for high-speed Internet connections in a moving car.

It's all been debugged, Senior Vice President at Motorola Fred Wright told the Tribune.

Everything all works, so whenever they're ready, we're ready, he said.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 (UPI) -- U.S. retailers are dropping out of the cigarette business and finding a supportive reaction from customers, retailers say.

A spokesman for Wegmans, a chain of 70 supermarkets, said there was far more support than complaints when the retailer pulled tobacco products from their shelves, USA Today reported Friday.

Some city and state governments are considering a ban of tobacco sales at pharmacies. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said he is confident a ban of pharmacy sales of tobacco products will win Board of Supervisors approval early this summer and become law on Oct. 1.

New Hampshire, Illinois and Tennessee are considering similar bans for pharmacies with walk-in clinics, while New York is considering a tobacco-sales ban for all pharmacies, the report said.

Pharmacies are places we go to get healthy, New York Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, said. It just seems inappropriate that on the other hand, they sell something that kills.

Philip Morris USA spokesman Bill Phelps disagreed. We think retailers should be able to decide, Phelps told the USA Today.