General Motors said it had placed 1,500...

General Motors said it had placed 1,500 hourly workers on indefinite layoff at various plants in its U.S. manufacturing system due to production adjustments at various GM divisions . . . Dallas-based Zale Corp. said it will not comment on the Peoples Jewellers bid, but that it will study the proposal “with a view to responding in November” . . . Sunrise Medical Center in Torrance said its board of directors approved a definitive agreement to acquire Motion Designs Inc., a Fresno-based wheelchair manufacturer, for undisclosed terms . . . The Investment Company Institute reported that the assets of the nation’s 375 money-market mutual funds fell $934.5 million in the week ended Oct. 29.