Culver City-based MGM-UA Communications Co. announced the...

Culver City-based MGM-UA Communications Co. announced the formation of MGM-UA Entertainment Business Group, which is to assist in the evaluation, negotiation and execution of transactions for all MGM-UA operating groups . . . Baker Hughes Inc. reported that the number of working U.S. oil and gas rigs continued the first-quarter trend and declined by 21 this week to 897. A year ago, the count was 757 . . . The Federal Reserve reported that the average yield for one-year T-bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, rose to 8.19% last week, up from 8.05% the week before . . . Conrail said it bought back 22.32 million shares, or about one third of its outstanding common stock, at $49 a share or a total of over $1 billion under a previously announced “dutch auction.”