Business Highlights: UAW strike expands to 20 states; Wall Street’s worst week in 6 months
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Stock market today: Wall Street closes its worst week in six months with more losses
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street wheezed to more losses as it limped to the finish of its worst week in six months. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% Friday after a late-day swoon erased a modest gain it had held for most of the day. The Dow fell 106 points, and the Nasdaq composite dipped 0.1%. It capped an ugly slide for the week caused by Wall Street’s growing understanding that interest rates likely won’t come down much anytime soon. Treasury yields eased a bit after jumping earlier in the week to their highest levels in more than a decade.
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The UAW strike is growing. What you need to know as more auto workers join the union’s walkouts
NEW YORK (AP) — The United Auto Workers’ strike is getting bigger. One week into the union’s historic work stoppages against major car makers, the UAW on Friday walked out of dozens of more factories across 20 states. The UAW’s targeted strikes against General Motors, Stellantis and Ford began after the union’s contract with the companies expired at midnight on Sept. 14. At the time, 13,000 workers walked out of three assembly plants. With no major breakthroughs in bargaining, the UAW is now walking out of 38 more General Motors and Stellantis parts distribution centers. And aother 5,600 workers joined the strike — meaning that about 13% of the union’s 146,000 members are now on the picket lines.
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Microsoft’s revamped $69 billion deal for Activision is on the cusp of going through
LONDON (AP) — British competition regulators has signaled that Microsoft’s restructured $69 billion deal to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard is likely to receive antitrust approval. The Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that the revamped proposal “substantially addresses previous concerns” about stifling competition in the emerging cloud gaming market. The watchdog says the updated offer “opens the door to the deal being cleared,” though there are lingering concerns. Microsoft has offered remedies that the watchdog provisionally decided will resolve those issues, and regulators are now getting feedback on those fixes before making a final decision. Microsoft President Brad Smith said the company is “encouraged by this positive development.”
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White House preparing for government shutdown as House Republicans lack a viable endgame for funding
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is preparing to direct federal agencies to get ready for a shutdown after House Republicans left town for the weekend with no viable plan to keep the government funded. Speaker Kevin McCarthy says the House will return next week to start voting on the latest plan. He has just five days until the Sept. 30 deadline. A hard-right flank of Republicans has essentially seized control and is demanding spending cuts. McCarthy was unable to persuade his rebellious flank to approve a temporary funding measure to prevent closures. Instead, House Republicans will try Tuesday to pass some of the individual spending bills in a typically lengthy process.
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Things to know about California’s new proposed rules for insurance companies
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s insurance commissioner says he will write new rules for insurers in the nation’s most populous state. Ricardo Lara’s announcement on Thursday comes after state lawmakers failed to agree on a new law for insurance companies. Lara said the new rules he’ll write would let insurance companies consider climate change when setting their rates. Some consumer groups worry this will increase rates dramatically for homeowners. But Lara said the rules will let insurers consider other things that could keep rates down. That includes improvements homeowners have made to make their homes more resistant to wildfires. The new rule would not take effect until the end of next year.
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Rupert Murdoch’s surprise exit from Fox leaves son Lachlan in line of succession at media empire
NEW YORK (AP) — Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as leader of both Fox’s parent company and his News Corp. media holdings. Fox says he will become chairman emeritus of both corporations. His son, Lachlan, will control both companies. The 92-year-old Australian media magnate’s creation of Fox News made him a force in American politics. He built his empire from a single newspaper in Australia. He moved on to England and then to the United States with the invention of Fox News and the purchases of both the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal. Forbes estimated the Murdoch family’s net worth at roughly $19 billion in 2020. Fox News Channel has profoundly influenced television and the nation’s politics since its start in 1996, making Murdoch a hero to some and pariah to others.
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Hollywood actor and writer strikes have broad support among Americans, AP-NORC poll shows
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new poll shows that Americans are much more sympathetic to Hollywood’s striking writers and actors then they are to the studios on the other side of the table. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 55% of U.S. adults sympathize with the writers and actors over the studios. Negotiations have restarted on the writers strike while actors wait for their turn. Issues in both strikes include pay and the use of artificial intelligence, or AI. About half of U.S. adults say it would be good thing to prevent studios from replacing human writers with the technology.
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The S&P 500 fell 9.94 points, or 0.2%, to 4,320.06. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 106.58 points, or 0.3%, to 33,963.84. The Nasdaq composite fell 12.18 points, or 0.1 %, to 13,211.81. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 5.32 points, or 0.3% to 1,776.50.