WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve extended its fight against high inflation by raising its key interest rate a quarter-point, its eighth hike since March. And the Fed signaled that even though inflation is easing, it remains high enough to require further rate hikes. At the same time, Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference that the Fed recognizes that the pace of inflation has cooled — a signal that it could be nearing the end of its rate increases. The stock and bond markets rallied during his news conference, suggesting that they anticipate a forthcoming pause in the Fed’s credit tightening.
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Stocks hit summer highs as Fed sees progress on inflation
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street rose to its best level since the summer following the latest hike to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, which said it’s finally seeing improvements in inflation. The S&P 500 rallied back from an early 1% loss Wednesday to rise 1%. As expected, the Fed raised its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point to its highest level since late 2007. It’s the smallest increase in the Fed’s blizzard of rate hikes since March. The Fed’s chair said more increases are likely needed, but he also said the disinflationary process has started.
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Meta posts lower Q4 profit, announces huge stock buyback
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook parent company Meta has posted another quarter of declining revenue, hurt by a downturn in the online advertising market and competition from rivals such as TikTok. But the company’s stock soared almost 19% in extended trading, as its revenue beat Wall Street’s muted expectations and the Menlo Park, California-based company announced a $40 billion stock buyback. Meta Platforms Inc. said Wednesday it earned $4.65 billion, or $1.76 per share, in the final three months of 2022. That’s down 55% from $10.29 billion, or $3.67 per share, a year earlier. According to a poll by FactSet, analysts were expecting earnings of $2.26 per share. Revenue fell 4% to $32.17 billion from $33.67 billion. Analysts were expecting $31.55 billion.
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Google has the next move as Microsoft embraces OpenAI buzz
NEW YORK (AP) — Startup OpenAI released its ChatGPT artificial intelligence tool into the wild late last year with great fanfare. But Google has been more cautious about who gets to play with its AI advancements despite growing pressure for the internet giant to compete more aggressively with rival Microsoft, which is pouring billions of dollars into OpenAI and fusing its technology into Microsoft products. Generative AI can churn out paragraphs of readable text and new images as well as music and video. And some of the technological breakthroughs driving the red-hot field have been pioneered in Google’s vast research arm.
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European inflation eases for 3rd month but prices still bite
LONDON (AP) — Europe’s inflation rate has dipped at the start of the year, giving some relief to consumers but still leaving them facing higher prices. The European Union statistics agency said Wednesday that the consumer price index for the 20 countries that use the euro currency reached 8.5% in January compared with a year earlier. That’s down from the annual rate of 9.2% in December. It’s the first report on consumer prices with data from Croatia, which joined the eurozone on Jan. 1. Inflation in Europe has now slowed for the third month in a row, falling from a record high of 10.6% in October. Food and energy prices are persisting as the major factors driving up inflation.
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Ex-aide says Elon Musk had ‘handshake deal’ for Tesla buyout
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk’s former chief of staff has testified that the billionaire believed he had a “handshake deal” to take Tesla private in 2018. That was shortly before he tweeted he had the financing for an aborted buyout that still is still haunting him in a high-profile trial. The former aide, Sam Teller, detailed that Musk held with representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund during testimony in a trial triggered by a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Tesla shareholders alleging Musk misled them in August 2018 indicating a buyout of the electric automakers was in the works. A nine-person jury is expected to begin its deliberations Friday.
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Biden goes after fees levied for flights, hotels and tickets
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is taking swipes at airlines and hotels over some of the fees that they charge consumers. The president is also going after ticket sellers and internet and cable companies. On Wednesday, Biden called on Congress to pass legislation to limit what he called “junk fees.” He says they add up, especially for low-income Americans. He mentioned fees that airlines charge for seat assignments, and so-called resort fees that some hotels add to the bill. A spokeswoman for an airline group says the carriers do all they can to help families sit together without paying extra.
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Day of disruption in UK as hundreds of thousands join strike
LONDON (AP) — Up to half a million workers are estimated to be on strike across the U.K. in the biggest day of industrial action Britain has seen in more than a decade. Thousands of schools closed some or all of their classrooms, train services are paralyzed and delays are expected at airports as teachers, university staff, civil servants, border officials and train and bus drivers join a mass walkout. Wednesday’s strikes mark an escalation of disruptive action across multiple key industries. Unions are stepping up pressure on the government to demand better pay. They argue that wages have stagnated for a decade and failed to keep pace with soaring inflation.
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Anti-Asian hate ‘runs the gamut,’ racist Yelp reviews show
WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s been a sharp increase in the number of hate-filled business reviews spotted by Yelp’s content moderators. The San Francisco-based company says it proactively removed more than 2,000 such posts last year, up from less than 250 the year before. While some of the content targeted Black, Latino and LGBTQ people, Asian American business owners experienced the worst increase, reflecting the lingering stigma of the COVID-19 pandemic. The increases are a function of Yelp’s improved efforts to remove racist content and show how even a site known for reviews of restaurants and repairmen can become ensnared in America’s ongoing battle over online civility.
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FTC fines GoodRx for unauthorized sharing of health data
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission has imposed a $1.5 million penalty on telehealth and prescription drug discount provider GoodRx Holdings Inc. for sharing users’ personal health data with Facebook, Google and other third parties without their consent. In a first-of-its-kind enforcement, California-based GoodRx also accepted that it will be prohibited going forward from sharing user health data with third parties for advertising purposes. Consumer protection advocates are hailing Wednesday’s announcement as a potential game-changer that could seriously curtail a little-known phenomenon: The trafficking in sensitive health data by businesses not strictly classified as health care providers.
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The S&P 500 rose 42.61 points, or 1%, to 4,119.21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 6.92 points, or less than 0.1%, to 34,092.96. The Nasdaq composite jumped 231.77 points, or 2%, to 11,816.32. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies advanced 28.87 points, or 1.5%, to 1,960.81.