Stock Market News: Debt ceiling looms, Ford-Tesla partnership, Costco talks crime

Wall Street indexes end sharply higher on optimism about debt ceiling

Symbol	Price	Change	%Change
SP500	$4,205.45	54.17	1.30

U.S. stocks finished sharply higher on Friday as talks on raising the U.S. debt ceiling progressed, while chip stocks surged for a second straight day on optimism about artificial intelligence.

After several rounds of talks, U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy appeared to be nearing a deal to increase the government's $31.4 trillion debt limit for two years, while capping spending on most items, a U.S. official told Reuters.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended a five-day losing streak, while the Nasdaq Composite Index closed at its highest level since August 2022.

Nvidia Corp's stock climbed, adding to its 24% gain on Thursday following its blowout forecast and elevating its stock market value to around $960 billion, according to Refinitiv.

Posted by Reuters

IMF says US interest rates need to stay higher to bring inflation down

The International Monetary Fund on Friday said U.S. interest rates will likely need to remain higher for longer to tame inflation, and Washington needs to tighten fiscal policy to bring down its federal debt.

The IMF in a statement issued after its "Article IV" review of U.S. policies said that the U.S. economy has proved resilient in the face of tighter monetary and fiscal policy, but this means that inflation has been more persistent than anticipated.

Posted by Reuters

Ford CEO says Tesla Superchargers may become the standard for EV charging

Symbol	Price	Change	%Change
F	$11.71	0.33	2.89
TSLA	$187.60	3.13	1.70
GM	$32.52	0.10	0.32

Ford CEO Jim Farley said Tesla's Superchargers may become the standard for EV charging in the U.S., a day after the Michigan-based company struck a deal allowing Ford owners to gain access to the rival charging stations in North America.

"I think there's a chance you know," Farley said in response to a question on CNBC on whether Tesla Superchargers will become the standard for EV charging.

Farley added that General Motors and other automakers are going to "have a big choice to make" in selecting between Tesla's EV chargers and the Combined Charging System (CCS).

Since 2012, Tesla has developed and deployed its own high-speed vehicle charger, called Supercharger, which can add up to 322 miles (518 km) of range in just 15 minutes. Tesla's 17,711 Superchargers, account for about 60% of all U.S. fast chargers. Farley said Ford had about 10,000 fast chargers and the agreement with Tesla will "double that".

Posted by Reuters

Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance to cut corporate jobs by 10%

Symbol	Price	Change	%Change
WBA	$29.91	-0.07	-0.22

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc said on Friday it would slash its corporate staff by about 10%, as it streamlines operations and focuses on consumer-facing healthcare businesses.

None of the 504 roles being cut are based at its stores, micro-fulfillment outlets or call centers, a company spokesperson told Reuters.

Walgreens, one of the largest U.S. pharmacies, has been looking to expand beyond its core business, with acquisitions of healthcare services operator VillageMD and urgent-care provider Summit Health.

The company, which lost market share to its rivals after closing several stores during the pandemic, is aiming to regain it by the end of fiscal year 2023 by reducing pay gap and increasing automation at fulfillment centers.

Posted by Reuters

Canada to launch probe into OpenAI over privacy concerns

Canadian privacy regulators are launching a joint investigation into ChatGPT-parent OpenAI's data collection and usage, becoming the latest major government to take a closer look at the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

The federal privacy regulator, along with counterparts in Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, will investigate if OpenAI has obtained consent for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information of residents via ChatGPT, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada said on Thursday.

Canada's probe will also look into whether the company has respected "its obligations with respect to openness and transparency, access, accuracy and accountability".

"As this is an active investigation, no additional details are available," the commissioner's office said, adding that the findings of the investigation would be reported publicly.

Posted by Reuters

BofA must face class action over 2020 benefit card fraud

Symbol	Price	Change	%Change
BAC	$28.17	0.07	0.25

Bank of America must face cardholder allegations that it bungled its response to unauthorized transactions on unemployment and disability benefits cards in California during the pandemic, a San Diego judge ruled on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns said benefits recipients can move forward with a proposed class action lawsuit claiming the bank violated state law by issuing cards that lacked standard security measures to millions of Californians.

The cardholders also claim Bank of America broke federal law by failing to investigate fraud claims or summarily freezing tens of thousands of accounts.

Posted by Reuters

Treasury's Adeyemo sees no ability to 'triage' payments without debt limit hike

Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Friday that the U.S. government does not have the capability to "triage" payment priorities if the debt ceiling is not raised, adding that invoking the 14th amendment to issue debt will not solve the government's challenges.

Speaking on CNN as the White House and congressional Republicans neared an agreement that would cap spending and raise the borrowing cap, Adeyemo said: "I don't have any confidence that we have the ability to be able to do a type of prioritization that will mean that all seniors, all veterans, all Americans get paid."

Posted by Reuters

Embraer exec sees no sales hit from Pratt & Whitney engine woes

Symbol	Price	Change	%Change
ERJ	$14.31	0.33	2.36
RTX	$93.12	-0.54	-0.58

The head of Brazilian Embraer's planemaking division dismissed concerns that problems at engine supplier Pratt & Whitney would discourage airlines from placing orders and hinted at some order announcements at the upcoming Paris Airshow.

Pratt & Whitney, owned by Raytheon, has been facing problems with the durability of its latest engines flying on Embraer E2 jets, the Airbus A220 and some A320neo-family jets, but Embraer says it has only a quarter of the problems seen elsewhere with 12 of its planes currently grounded.

"We believe the issues that we have today are manageable, but we also believe that for new campaigns, the engines that those customers will get will have...improved technology," said Arjan Meijer, chief executive of Embraer Commercial Aviation.

"We don't have customers not wanting airplanes because of this topic," he added.

Posted by Reuters

Space race

TECHNOLOGY

Space Race: Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, Blue Origin back at it

Virgin Galactic's launch Thursday went off without a hitch, the latest move by one of three major billionaire-backed players in the space race. SpaceX and Blue Origin also had developments recently.

Billionaires Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos have been busy in the race to dominate space.

Posted by FOX Business Team

Costco on crime

RETAIL

Costco CFO says company has been 'fortunate' to avoid theft

Costco CFO Richard Galanti said Thursday during the company's third-quarter earnings call the company has been "fortunate" regarding theft.

Costco Wholesale Corp.

$

486.55

Retailers including Walmart, Target, Footlocker and Kohl's are trying to battle back a crime surge, but Costco says it has avoided the peril of other retailers.

Posted by FOX Business Team