BUSINESS MEMO: DOW JONES NEWS SERVICE

The Dow Jones News Service is expanding its hours to eventually run around the clock during the global business week, highlighting the growing demand for 24-hour financial news.

The service, owned by Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co., will phase in the new hours in two parts, according to Robert Prinsky, the news wire's managing editor. The first will come Oct. 7, when its hours will be extended later into the evening.

Second, perhaps as early as January, the service will file news stories continuously from early Sunday evenings through Friday nights.

The move allows the Dow Jones News Service, one of three major news wires run by Dow Jones & Co., to compete with other major financial services that already run on 24-hour cycles, including Reuters, Bloomberg Business News and The Associated Press. Dow Jones & Co.'s other major news services - the Dow Jones Capital Markets Report and the AP-Dow Jones News Service, which is a joint venture with the AP - already run on a 24-hour cycle.

The 24-hour effort, beginning early next year, will run continuously from about 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. each Sunday through Fridays at 9 p.m.