Business News

Stock market today: S&P 500 climbs to its first record of 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to their first all-time high of 2025 as Wall Street regained a bit of the momentum that catapulted it to 57 records last year. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% Thursday amid relatively quiet trading and surpassed the record it set early last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up 0.2%. Movements were mostly quiet in stock markets abroad, even after China’s latest attempt to juice stock prices in the world’s second-largest economy. Treasury yields were mixed in the bond market, helping to keep stock trading relatively calm.

Trump’s inheriting a solid economy, making it harder to lower borrowing costs or inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pledged cheaper prices and lower interest rates, but an economy transformed by the pandemic will make those promises difficult to keep. Economic growth is solid, driven by healthy consumer spending. And budget deficits are huge and could get even larger. And if Trump follows through on his promises to impose widespread tariffs on imports and deport millions of immigrants, economists expect inflation could worsen — making it less likely the Federal Reserve will cut its key interest rate much this year. All of these trends will likely keep borrowing costs higher, including for homes and cars.

Davos 2025: Trump leaves an impression with his video address to the World Economic Forum

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump drew pockets of laughter and a few moans with his blunt comments to an international audience while appearing by video link at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Trump’s address and answers to a handful of questions were the highlight of the fourth day of the annual gathering of political and business leaders. His return to the White House this week also shaped other sessions on Thursday, from a panel on tariffs to a fiery speech by Javier Milei, the brash president of Argentina. Trump is no stranger to the Davos meeting. He came twice during his first term.

Davos 2025: Some notable quotes from the World Economic Forum meeting

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Leading business and political figures attending the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, have discussed and debated topics such as technology, tariffs, climate change, Ukraine, Gaza and the global economy this week.

Supreme Court allows small business registration rule to take effect, aimed at money laundering

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has revived a requirement that owners of millions of small businesses register with an arm of the Treasury Department under an anti-money laundering law. The justices on Thursday granted an emergency plea made by the Justice Department in the waning days of the Biden administration to allow enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act, enacted in 2021 to crack down on the illicit use of anonymous shell companies. Owners of an estimated 32.6 million small businesses must register personal information with Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. The information includes photo IDs and home addresses. It’s unclear whether the Trump administration will enforce the registration requirement, which Republican-led states and business groups have opposed.

Purdue Pharma and owners to pay $7.4 billion in settlement to lawsuits over the toll of OxyContin

Members of the Sackler family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, and the company itself, agreed to pay up to $7.4 billion to settle lawsuits over the toll of the powerful prescription painkiller. The deal announced Thursday represents an increase over a previous settlement deal. The earlier one was rejected last year by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled the earlier version improper because it protected members of the wealthy family from civil lawsuits over OxyContin — even though the family members themselves were not in bankruptcy. Besides this deal, there have been about $50 billion in opioid settlements announced in recent years.

More Americans file for unemployment benefits last week, continuing claims highest in 3 years

Jobless claims applications ticked up modestly last week, but the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in more than three years. Applications for jobless benefits rose by 6,000 to 223,000 for the week ending January 18, the Labor Department said Thursday. Analysts were expecting 219,000 new applications. The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of January 11 climbed by 46,000 to 1.9 million, the most since November of 2021. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs.

USDA secretary nominee says politics shouldn’t influence California wildfire response

President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture says efforts by the U.S. Forest Service to fight wildfires in California shouldn’t be influenced by politics. Brooke Rollins, Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture, also acknowledged Thursday during her Senate confirmation hearing that Trump’s plans for mass deportations and tariffs could create hardships for the agriculture industry, but she says his election demonstrated that the public supports such actions. Trump nominated Rollins, to lead a sprawling agency that oversees farming, forestry, ranching, food quality and nutrition. If confirmed, Rollins would take charge of the agency at a time when many farmers have seen their profits plunge.

One Tech Tip: How to delete Facebook, Instagram and Threads if you don’t like Meta’s changes

LONDON (AP) — Some Facebook, Instagram and Threads users are wondering whether to delete their accounts after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announced changes to content rules and plans to its fact-checking program. If you want to stop using platforms owned by Meta, here are some pointers. First, save your date. You should download a copy of all your personal information, which includes details about your activity on the platform. You could take a break if you’re not ready to go all the way, and temporarily shut down your accounts. If you want to permanently delete your account, you’ve still got 30 days to change your mind by logging back in.

Saudi Arabia intends to invest $600 billion in US, crown prince says during call with Trump

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince says the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, comments that came after President Donald Trump mused about returning to the kingdom as his first foreign trip. The comments from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reported early Thursday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, came in a phone call with Trump. On Monday after his inauguration, Trump talked about possibly heading to the kingdom again as his first foreign trip, like he did in 2017.