Business Highlights
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Trump, Congress avert shutdown, buy time for COVID-19 talks
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed a temporary government-wide funding bill into law, averting a federal shutdown at midnight and buying Congress time for on-again, off-again talks on COVID-19 aid. The short-term measure passed the Senate just hours earlier by a unanimous voice vote without much drama and sent senators home for the weekend without a clear picture of what awaits next week. The bill sets a new deadline of midnight next Friday. The House passed the bill Wednesday. COVID-19 relief talks remain stalled but there is universal agreement that Congress won’t adjourn for the year without passing a long-delayed round of pandemic relief.
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Pollstar: Live events industry lost $30B due to pandemic
NEW YORK (AP) — Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, concert trade publication Pollstar puts the total lost revenue for the live events industry in 2020 at more than $30 billion. Pollstar on Friday released its year-end report, explaining that the live events industry should have hit a record-setting $12.2 billion this year, but instead it incurred $9.7 billion in losses. The company added that the projected $30 billion figure in losses includes “unreported events, ancillary revenues, including sponsorships, ticketing, concessions, merch, transportation, restaurants, hotels, and other economic activity tied to the live events.” Those losses accounted for more than $8 billion.
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Businesses plead for Brexit deal as trade talks remain stuck
LONDON (AP) — British trucking firms, supermarkets and other businesses are imploring the government to strike a last-minute trade deal with the European Union, as the two sides’ leaders tell their citizens to brace for New Year upheaval in the U.K.-EU trading relationship. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said there is a “strong possibility” that negotiations on a new economic relationship to take effect Jan. 1 will fail. Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have set a Sunday deadline to decide whether to keep talking or prepare for a no-deal break. Von der Leyen said Friday that “we have not yet found the solutions to bridge our differences.”
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Stocks extend losses as virus aid languishes in Congress
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended lower on Wall Street as prospects for another aid package from Washington faded even as a surge in virus cases threatens to inflict more damage on an already battered economy. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% Friday, further backing off the record high it set on Tuesday. The benchmark index ended lower for the week after two weeks of solid gains. Investors have been hoping for another financial lifeline to help cushion the latest blow from COVID-19 to people, businesses and state governments. However an emerging $900 billion aid package has essentially collapsed because of continued partisan bickering.
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California to join federal antitrust case against Google
SACRAMENTO (AP) — California is seeking to join the Justice Department in its antitrust lawsuit against Google parent Alphabet Inc. The Justice Department sued Google in October, saying it has abused its dominance in online search and advertising. The case, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges that Google uses billions of dollars collected from advertisers to pay phone manufacturers to ensure Google is the default search engine on browsers. Eleven states, all with Republican attorneys general, joined the federal government in the lawsuit at the time. California is the first Democratic state announcing its intent to join the Justice Department’s case.
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Inflation still a no-show, US wholesale prices up just 0.1%
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale prices edged up a slight 0.1% in November as weak demand caused by the pandemic has kept inflation at extremely low levels. The increase in the producer price index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, followed bigger gains of 0.3% in October and 0.4% in September, the Labor Department reported Friday. But even with those gains, wholesale prices are up just 0.8% from a year ago, far below the Federal Reserve’s target for annual price increases of 2%.
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Oracle says it will move HQ from Silicon Valley to Texas
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — Tech giant Oracle is moving its headquarters from California to Austin, Texas. Oracle announced the move Friday. It’s not clear how many Oracle employees will move. The company says it is letting many workers choose their office locations and decide whether to work from home. Oracle’s announcement comes just days after Tesla founder Elon Musk announced that he has moved to Austin. Oracle’s decision is a bragging-rights win for Texas, which has been pursuing California companies for years. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is boasting about the Oracle move, saying on Twitter that Texas is the land of business, jobs and opportunity.
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The S&P 500 slipped 4.64 points, or 0.1%, to 3,663.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.11 points, or 0.2%, to 30,046.37. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 27.94 points, or 0.2%, to 12,377.87. The Russell 2000 small-cap index gave up 11.01 points, or 0.6%, to 1,911.70.