Business News

Stock market today: Global stocks are mixed after Wall Street edges to more records

HONG KONG (AP) — Global stocks are mixed after U.S. benchmarks ticked to more records following the latest signs that the U.S. economy may be slowing without falling into recession. U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices fell. U.K.’s benchmarks fell after data showed the country’s inflation in May fell to its 2% target for the first time in nearly three years. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% to hit another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged to another record. Nvidia climbed to top Microsoft and become the largest U.S. stock by market value at over $3 trillion.

With election looming, UK’s governing Conservatives seize on inflation fall to 2% target

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. has returned to the Bank of England’s target rate of 2% for the first time in nearly three years. The development that has been seized on by the governing Conservative Party as evidence that its economic plan is working ahead of the general election in just over two weeks. The main opposition Labour Party says working people are “worse off,” with mortgage rates higher than they have been for years and taxes at a 70-year high. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, fell to 2% in the year to May from 2.3% the month before with food prices providing the biggest downward contribution.

Boeing CEO defends his safety record, spars with senators and apologizes to crash victims’ relatives

The CEO of Boeing got his day in front of Congress, and it was a rocky flight. At a hearing Tuesday, senators peppered David Calhoun with questions about the company’s safety record and whether it retaliates against whistleblowers. It was the CEO’s first appearance on Capitol Hill since a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Some lawmakers suggested Boeing put profits ahead of safety. Relatives of people who died in 2018 and 2019 crashes of 737 Max jetliners attending the hearing. The Senate panel released new allegations from a whistleblower who fears defective or improperly documented parts are going into Max jets.

Nvidia’s stock market value topped $3.3 trillion. How it became No. 1 in the S&P 500, by the numbers

Nvidia’s startling ascent in the stock market reached another milestone Tuesday as the chipmaker rose to become the most valuable company in the S&P 500. Investors now value the company at over $3.3 trillion. Nvidia has seen soaring demand for its semiconductors, which are used to power artificial intelligence applications. The company’s revenue more than tripled in the latest quarter from the same period a year earlier. Nvidia recently underwent a stock split that gave each of its investors nine additional shares for every one that they already own. The move was aimed at making the stock more affordable.

Wedding guests can add the gift of gab when ‘signing’ an audio guestbook

NEW YORK (AP) — There’s a new twist on the guestbook at a wedding or other event. With audio guestbooks, you use old-fashioned phones to capture recorded messages for the bride and groom. Couples who have embraced them say guests had a ball returning to the phones again and again as their weddings unfolded. There are add-ons like the option of pressing messages into vinyl. Or some might have QR codes so people can use their own phones to leave a message. The cheapest audio service involves buying a toll-free call-in number so guests can record when they like on their own devices. The numbers come with online portals for bridal couples that are good for up to a year.

This law is a lifeline for pregnant workers even as an abortion dispute complicates its enforcement

NEW YORK (AP) — A new law strengthening protections for pregnant workers has been a lifeline to many low-wage women seeking accommodations from employers who might otherwise have forced them into unpaid leave. But a year after the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect, many women are still confronting employers who don’t know about the law, misunderstand its scope or simply refuse to comply, according to the legal organization A Better Balance, which spearheaded the campaign for the news law. A legal battle over whether the law covers abortion, meanwhile, is complicating its enforcement just as protections are starting to make a difference.

Ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in fatal assault sinks in Red Sea in their second sinking

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A bulk carrier has sunk in the Red Sea, days after an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels who are believed to have killed one mariner on board. The Tutor is the second ship to be sunk in the rebel campaign. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center issued a warning to sailors in the Red Sea region. It said that military authorities reported “maritime debris and oil sighted in the last reported location. The vessel is believed to have sunk.” The Houthis have acknowledged the sinking, but the U.S. military has not.

Assault on US avocado inspectors in Mexican state led to suspension of inspections

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two employees of the U.S. Agriculture Department were assaulted and temporarily held by assailants in the Mexican state of Michoacan, prompting the U.S. government to suspend inspections of avocado and mango shipments. U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said in a statement Tuesday that the assault occurred while they were inspecting avocados in Michoacan. He said they were no longer being held. U.S. officials had confirmed the pause in inspections Monday based on security concerns. The employees work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.

Luxury sales are flattening amid a self-inflicted creativity crisis and price hikes, study finds

MILAN (AP) — The post-pandemic surge in global sales of luxury handbags, shoes and apparel is on pace to stall this year amid a creativity crisis and price hikes focused on the biggest spending customers. The Bain consultancy released a new study in Milan on Tuesday forecasting flat worldwide luxury sales in 2024 following a slight first-quarter dip. The market is being seized by political uncertainty during a presidential election year in the United States as well as economic uncertainty in China that has brought on a phenomenon of “luxury shaming.” But Bain partner Claudia D’Arpizio said some of the slowdown is “self-inflicted.”

Australian opposition puts nation’s first nuclear power plants in its energy plan ahead of elections

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s main opposition party says it plans to build Australia’s first nuclear power plants as early as 2035, arguing the government’s policies for decarbonizing the economy with renewable energy will not work. The policy announcement ensures the major parties will be divided on how Australia curbs greenhouse gas emissions at elections due in a year. Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Wednesday seven government-owned reactors will be built on the sites of aging coal-fired electricity plants. The current center-left government has rejected nuclear power generation as too expensive. Energy Minister Chris Bowen accused the conservative opposition of threatening Australia’s transition from fossil fuels by offering a plan that was short on details, costly and slower.