Stock Market News: UPS, Teamsters talks hit snag, United Airlines moves to ease delays, Fed minutes

Wall Street's main indexes ended with modest declines on Wednesday as investors digested minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting and braced for significant economic data in the days to come.

Minutes showed a united Fed agreed to hold interest rates steady at the June meeting as a way to buy time and assess whether further rate hikes would be needed.

Following the release of the anticipated minutes, investors still largely expected the central bank to raise rates at its next meeting later this month. Key economic data is due before the meeting, including the monthly U.S. jobs report on Friday.

Stellantis says that when it starts to sell compact and midsize electric vehicles off new underpinnings next year, they will be able to go up to 435 miles (700 kilometers) per charge.

The company made the claim Wednesday as it unveiled its new medium-sized platform designed for the purpose of housing battery packs and electric drivetrains.

Stellantis says the range will be best in the compact and midsize segments, which generally are now running about 300 miles. CEO Carlos Tavares says Stellantis plans to roll out no fewer than 47 EVs worldwide by the end of 2024.

Details on the vehicles will come later this year, he said. The first vehicle off the platform will be the next generation of the Peugeot 3008, a small crossover SUV.

The new president of the United Auto Workers gave his strongest warning yet Friday that the union is preparing for strikes against Detroit’s three automakers.

In a Facebook Live appearance, Shawn Fain said the union is in a strong position to make major gains in talks with Stellantis, Ford and General Motors. But he said those gains will happen only if members get organized and are ready to strike.

Fain repeated the union’s goals of winning back cost-of-living pay raises and pensions, general pay raises and elimination of tiers of workers who are paid different wages.

The union also wants to represent workers at joint-venture electric vehicle battery plants. GM and Ford declined comment and a message was left for Stellantis. Contracts with the automakers expire Sept. 14.

Contract negotiations between UPS and the union representing 340,000 of the company’s workers broke down early Wednesday morning with each side blaming the other for walking away from talks.

In recent days, the Teamsters had imposed several deadlines for United Parcel Service negotiators to make their “last, best and final” offer to its unionized workers.

Union officials said that UPS “walked away from the bargaining table after presenting an unacceptable offer” to Teamsters members. UPS told a different story.

The package delivery company said it was the Teamsters who abandoned negotiations, “despite UPS’s historic offer that builds on our industry-leading pay.”

Russia-Saudi oil cooperation is still going strong as part of the OPEC+ alliance, which will do "whatever necessary" to support the market, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told a conference on Wednesday.

OPEC+, a group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia which pumps around 40% of the world's crude, has been cutting oil output since November in the face of flagging prices.

Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's biggest oil exporters, deepened oil supply cuts on Monday in an effort to send prices higher.

Yet the move only briefly lifted the market. On Wednesday, benchmark Brent futures were down more than 1% at $75.30 per barrel, lower than the $80-$100 per barrel than most OPEC nations need to balance their budgets.

Subway is giving itself a makeover as competition gets even tougher in the fast-food casual restaurant space.

China's export controls on metals used in semiconductors are "just a start", an influential Chinese trade policy adviser said on Wednesday, as Beijing ramps up a tech fight with Washington days before a visit from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Shares in some Chinese metals companies rallied for a second session as investors bet that higher prices for gallium and germanium, which Beijing's export restrictions target, could boost revenues

Germanium is used in high-speed computer chips, plastics, and in military applications such as night-vision devices as well as satellite imagery sensors. Gallium is used in building radars and radio communication devices, satellites and LEDs.

China's abrupt announcement  of controls from Aug. 1 on exports of some gallium and germanium products, also used in electric vehicles (EVs) and fibre optic cables, has sent companies scrambling to secure supplies and bumped up prices.

Chinese auto brands are on track to account for just over 50% of the cars sold in their home market this year thanks to a growing dominance in electric vehicles, consultancy AlixPartners said on Wednesday.

It would represent the first time Chinese automakers have controlled a majority share of China's car market - the world's largest

For the past four decades, China's auto market has been dominated by established global brands such as VW and Toyota operating in joint ventures with Chinese partners.

But competitive pricing, faster rollouts of new models and the rise of domestic electric carmakers like BYD, Nio and Xpeng Motors have changed the dynamic for made-in-China auto brands.