Browsing: Business

WASHINGTON: Many U.S. households continue to face pressure from grocery, housing and utility bills even after inflation cooled, leaving a gap between improving national price data and day-to-day affordability. In his Feb. 25 State of the Union address, President Donald Trump said inflation was plummeting, incomes were rising fast and the economy was roaring. But the latest federal reports show overall inflation has eased more than prices for many basics, while consumer sentiment remains subdued and borrowing strain has increased. The Labor Department said the consumer price index rose 2.4% in the 12 months through February, matching January, while core inflation held at 2.5%. Food…

NEW YORK: Gold prices rose on Friday, March 13, 2026, as a softer U.S. dollar and easing U.S. Treasury yields lifted demand for bullion in early trade. Spot gold was up 0.7% at $5,112.82 an ounce by 4:11 a.m. GMT. The move followed a volatile week for precious metals as investors weighed currency swings, shifts in bond yields and energy-driven inflation concerns across global markets. U.S. gold futures for April delivery slipped 0.2% to $5,116.30, diverging from the spot market even as both remained near record levels. Bullion typically benefits when the dollar weakens because it becomes cheaper for buyers using other currencies,…

WASHINGTON: U.S. employers cut 92,000 jobs in February, an unexpected decline that pushed the unemployment rate up to 4.4%, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. January payroll growth was revised down to a gain of 126,000, while December was revised to a loss of 17,000. The report combined data from the establishment survey of employers and the household survey of workers, and it incorporated annual population adjustments to the household estimates for January and February. The number of unemployed people stood at 7.6 million in February, little changed on the month, while joblessness among major demographic groups showed limited…

NASHVILLE: Starbucks will open a corporate operations office in Davidson County, Tennessee, later in 2026, the company and state officials announced Tuesday. The new site is expected to expand the coffee chain’s corporate presence in North America and provide an additional base for teams supporting U.S. operations. Officials said the office will be in the Nashville area, which is the seat of Davidson County. Starbucks said the Tennessee office will work closely with its global headquarters in Seattle. The company described the Tennessee location as a Southeast corporate office focused on operations work, including portions of its North American supply chain organization.…

NEW YORK: U.S. stocks finished lower on Friday, Feb. 27, as a broad selloff in financial shares weighed on major indexes and capped a choppy week for markets. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% to 6,878.88, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1% to 48,977.92. The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.9% to 22,668.21. Smaller-company stocks also declined, with the Russell 2000 down 1.7%, reflecting pressure across sectors tied to credit and funding conditions. The heaviest losses clustered in banks, brokers and asset managers, extending a late-month slide in the financial sector. The KBW Bank Index fell 4.9%, with Goldman Sachs down 7.5% and Wells Fargo…

CUPERTINO: Apple Inc. (AAPL) said on Feb. 24, 2026 it is on track in 2026 to purchase well over 100 million advanced semiconductors made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. at the chipmaker’s Arizona facility. Apple described the expected volume as a significant increase from 2025. The company did not disclose the value of the planned purchases or which specific chips and products the supply will support. Apple also said it has expanded the number of chips it sources domestically, reporting that it exceeded a target and obtained more than 20 billion U.S. made chips from 24 factories across 12 states. Apple listed partners that…

NEW YORK: Gold prices edged higher on Thursday as the U.S. dollar softened, lifting demand for the metal in international markets. Spot gold rose 0.5% to $5,195.99 an ounce by 0639 GMT, holding near levels last seen around a more than three-week high earlier in the week. Traders tracked currency moves and fresh headlines on U.S. trade policy and geopolitics as bullion remained sensitive to shifts in risk appetite and interest-rate expectations. The dollar started the Asian session on weaker footing after a strong earnings outlook from U.S. chipmaker Nvidia helped improve sentiment in equities, while investors awaited more detail on U.S. tariff plans.…

CALIFORNIA: Nvidia reported record quarterly revenue and profit on Wednesday, saying demand linked to artificial intelligence continued to lift its data center business. The chipmaker said fourth-quarter revenue rose to $68.1 billion for the period ended Jan. 25, up 73% from a year earlier and 20% from the prior quarter. The company said its first-quarter revenue outlook is $78.0 billion, plus or minus 2%, as customers keep building out AI computing and networking capacity. Nvidia said net income for the quarter climbed to $43.0 billion, up 94% from a year earlier. Earnings per diluted share were $1.76 on a GAAP basis and $1.62…

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has raised a temporary, across-the-board U.S. import tariff to 15% from 10%, applying the higher rate to most goods entering the United States from all countries as the administration shifts to a new legal basis for its sweeping duties. The new tariff is structured as an ad valorem customs duty and is scheduled to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Feb. 24, according to federal notices and administration statements issued after a major Supreme Court ruling on tariffs. A White House proclamation dated Feb. 20 invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a temporary…

NEW DELHI: India joined the Pax Silica initiative on Feb. 20 by signing the Pax Silica Declaration and a bilateral addendum titled the Joint Statement on the India-U.S. AI Opportunity Partnership at an event held on the margins of the AI Impact Summit. The documents were signed by S. Krishnan, secretary at India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor and U.S. Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg. India’s minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and U.S. OSTP Director Michael Kratsios witnessed the signing. Pax Silica is framed by the signatories as a cooperation effort to build secure, resilient and…