Stock Market News: Tesla shares slide, Microsoft-Activision deal, Powell remarks
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivers testimony on the economy for the second day, jobless claims jump, Tesla stock downgraded, Overstock.com inks Bed Bath & Beyond deal and Microsoft-Activision heads steps up to defend $69 billion deal. FOX Business is providing real-time updates on the markets, commodities and all the most active stocks on the move.
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Engro Corporation, REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton, @OceanGateExped/Twitter, Felix Kunze/Blue Origin via AP, Ocean Gate / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed a likely catastrophic event took the lives of the five crew members attempting to tour the wreckage site of the Titantic deep in the Atlantic ocean.
Prior to the confirmation, a remotely operated vehicle found a "debris field" in the days-long search for five ocean explorers missing aboard the OceanGate Titan submersible, a deep-sea vehicle that vanished Sunday in an attempt to dive to the wreck of the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday morning.
*This is a developing story
Lithium processing factory is seen in the Atacama Desert in Antofagasta, Chile on October 25, 2022. The Chemical and Mining Society of Chile (SQM) is expanding its mining operations in Salar de Atacama to meet the growing global demand for lithium carbonate, the main ingredient in battery production for electric vehicles. Chile is the world's second largest producer of lithium after Australia. Lucas Aguayo Araos/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to advance a tax treaty with Chile, paving the way for final approval of a pact seen as crucial for ensuring access for U.S. companies to lithium, a mineral essential for electric vehicle batteries.
The agreement cleared a Senate procedural hurdle by 97-2, comfortably over the two-thirds supermajority required to approve treaties in the 100-member chamber.
Business interests have been pushing for the tax agreement for years. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called it an urgent priority. Without it, taxes on U.S. companies with Chilean operations could climb to more than 44%, the business group said.
Chile's Congress approved the treaty in 2015.
Motor vehicle traffic moves along the Interstate 76 highway in Philadelphia, March 31, 2021. The government’s traffic safety agency said Thursday, June 22, 2023, that it will require heavy trucks and buses to include potentially life-saving automatic emergency braking equipment within five years. Automatic braking systems in heavy vehicles would prevent nearly 20,000 crashes a year and save at least 155 lives, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File
The government’s traffic safety agency says it will require that heavy trucks and buses include potentially life-saving automatic emergency braking equipment within five years.
Automatic braking systems in heavy vehicles would prevent nearly 20,000 crashes a year and save at least 155 lives, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.
Thursday’s announcement follows a similar plan announced last month for all new passenger cars and light trucks.
The actions represent the traffic safety agency’s latest move toward regulating electronic systems that take on certain tasks that drivers themselves have typically done.
A United Airlines jetliner is pulled out of a gate at Denver International Airport Friday, May 26, 2023, in Denver. AP Photo/David Zalubowski
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAL | $52.65 | -0.20 | -0.38 |
United Airlines says when flights are delayed or canceled it will use its app to send customers options for rebooking and, in some cases, vouchers for meals and hotel rooms.
United said Thursday that it began testing the service on its app late last year and found that it reduced the number of people waiting in airports lines to speak to airline agents.
Airlines are under pressure from the Biden administration to improve customer service. The Transportation Department said recently it would begin writing new rules to require passenger compensation when the airline causes delays and cancellations.
So far this year, United has canceled about 5,400 flights, or 1.3% of its schedule, which matches the industrywide average, according to figures from FlightAware.com. Nearly 100,000 other United flights this year have arrived at least 15 minutes late.
A white Uber is pictured on the move. REUTERS
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| UBER | $43.30 | 0.64 | 1.50 |
| LYFT | $9.88 | 0.16 | 1.65 |
Uber Technologies said on Wednesday it was cutting 200 jobs in its recruitment division amid plans to keep the staff count flat through the year and streamline costs.
The reductions affect less than 1% of Uber's 32,700-strong global workforce and follow the ride-share company laying off 150 employees in its freight services division earlier this year.
The latest cuts account for 35% of Uber's recruiting team, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the development earlier in the day.
Uber trimmed its staff count by 17% at the start of the pandemic in mid-2020 and has implemented smaller cuts than chief rival Lyft in recent months.
An illustration of the Micron logo. REUTERS
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| MU | $66.43 | 0.63 | 0.96 |
U.S. memory chip firm Micron Technology, Inc said on Thursday it would invest up to $825 million in a new chip assembly and test facility in Gujarat, India, its first factory in the country.
Micron said that with support from the Indian central government and from the state of Gujarat, the total investment in the facility will be $2.75 billion. Of that total, 50% will come from the Indian central government and 20% from the state of Gujarat.
Reuters reported earlier this week that India's Cabinet approved the project ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the U.S., which kicked off on Wednesday.
Micron said construction of the new facility in Gujarat is expected to begin in 2023 and the first phase of the project will be operational in late 2024. A second phase of the project is expected to start toward the second half of the decade, it said. The two phases together will create up to 5,000 new direct Micron jobs.
A hiring sign is displayed at a retail store in Downers Grove, Ill., Wednesday, April 12, 2023. On Thursday, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits remained elevated last week, a possible sign that the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes are beginning to cool a still-strong labor market.
U.S. applications for jobless claims were 264,000 for the week ending June 17, the same as the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
That’s slightly more than analysts were expecting. The claims numbers for the past two weeks are the highest since October of 2021.
The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week volatility,rose by 8,500 to 255,750. That’s the highest level since November of 2021.
Elon Musk speaks at a conference via REUTERs
Elon Musk is taking Twitter's competition to Facebook literally and issued a challenge to fight in a cage match with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who swiftly accepted it.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivers her speech at the U.S embassy to France, ahead of the Global Climate Finance conference, Thursday, June 22, 2023 in Paris. World leaders, heads of international organizations and activists are gathering in Paris for a two-day summit aimed at seeking better responses to tackle poverty and climate change issues by reshaping the global financial system. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, Pool)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says it’s “critical” the U.S. and China maintain a relationship so they can “work together” on global challenges.
It comes after President Joe Biden’s remarks calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator” drew condemnation from Beijing.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Yellen said that “President Biden and I both believe it’s critical to maintain communication ... to clear up misperceptions, miscalculations."
She added that the countries “need to work together where possible” but “we are also forthright in recognizing we do have disagreements.” Yellen is attending a two-day summit in Paris seeking a better global financial response to climate change and poverty.
A sign is seen outside the Activision building in Santa Monica, Calif. on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. A federal judge has temporarily blocked Microsoft's planned $69 billion purchase of video game company Activision Blizzard. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSFT | $333.56 | -4.49 | -1.33 |
| ATVI | $80.94 | -0.95 | -1.16 |
Microsoft will be facing U.S. regulators on Thursday in an attempt to win clearance to complete a $69 billion takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard.
A lot is at stake as the deal will reshape a pastime that's bigger than the movie and music industries combined.
Microsoft will go up against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's attempt to block a deal that it contends will stifle competition and innovation.
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