A federal judge in Dallas rejected a...

A federal judge in Dallas rejected a bid by Diamond Shamrock to block a $30-million stock tender offer by a group headed by T. Boone Pickens Jr., for 23% of the firm’s stock . . . USX Corp. said it is increasing prices of certain carbon and high-strength, low-alloy plate steel by about $10 to $15 a ton, depending on specific customer requirements, beginning April 5 . . . The People’s Republic of China has selected United Technologies’ Pratt & Whitney engines--including the company’s newest large turbofan--for new Boeing 767s and 747s . . . Continental Baking Co., maker of Wonder Bread, unfairly tried to monopolize private-label bread business in Northern California and should be forced to pay $31 million in damages to a defunct Stockton bakery, a federal jury ruled . . . General Motors said it is laying off 3,000 hourly workers from various car assembly and component plants effective Monday, bringing to 30,000 the number of employees on indefinite leave from GM’s U.S. plants.