Earnings Report

LG Electronics says its second-quarter net profit dropped 43 percent as its mobile business logged a bigger loss.

Spanish energy company Repsol reports that its net income in the first half of this year was 1.55 billion euros ($1.8 billion) — a 46 percent increase on the same period last year and the highest profit posted during the period in the last decade.

Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca says second-quarter earnings dropped 27 percent as it shifted away from dependence on its former blockbuster drugs and toward new cancer drugs.

Profit came in far below estimates.

Royal Dutch Shell says it plans to repurchase $25 billion of its stock over the next two years after announcing that second-quarter earnings rose 30 percent as energy prices surged.

Nestle is citing "increased momentum" in the United States and China as the Swiss food and drinks giant reported a 19-percent jump in net profit in the first half of the year.

Hyundai Motor Co. says its net profit for the second quarter has fallen 14 percent over a year earlier due to the South Korean won's strength against the U.S. dollar.

Job cuts equal 22% of non-manufacturing workforce.

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix says its quarterly net profit surged 75 percent to a record high.

The e-commerce giant reports second-quarter earnings Thursday.

Automakers say steel and aluminum tariffs drove commodity expenses higher.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, rose in the most recent quarter.

___ Trump, European Union leaders pull back from trade war WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and European leaders pulled back from the brink of a trade war over autos Wednesday and agreed to open talks to resolve a dispute over steel and to tear down trade barriers between the United States and the European Union.

An escalating trade war and steep tariffs on steel and aluminum is putting pressure on earnings for automakers.

U.S. stock indexes edged mostly higher in early trading Wednesday following a mixed batch of quarterly earnings results from General Motors, Boeing, Coca-Cola and other companies.

Dinged by slumping China sales and a fire at a U.S. parts factory, Ford Motor Co.'s second-quarter net profit fell 48 percent from a year ago.

Boeing Co. says its second-quarter profit was $2.2 billion.

Mattel says it will cut 2,200 jobs as the maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars tries to save money.

Payment processing giant Visa says its fiscal third-quarter profits rose an adjusted 36 percent from a year ago, helped by an 11 percent increase in the amount people spent on its namesake network.