Business Highlights: Powell on hiring, Microsoft on AI
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Fed’s Powell: Strong hiring could force further rate hikes
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that if the U.S. job market further strengthens in the coming months or inflation readings accelerate, the Fed might have to raise its benchmark interest rate higher than it now projects. Powell’s remarks followed the government’s blockbuster report last week that employers added 517,000 jobs in January, nearly double December’s gain. The unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in 53 years, 3.4%.Powell made his remarks in an appearance at the Economic Club of Washington.
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Microsoft bakes ChatGPT-like tech into search engine Bing
REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft is fusing ChatGPT-like technology into its search engine Bing, transforming an internet service that now trails far behind Google into a new way of communicating with artificial intelligence. The revamping of Microsoft’s second-place search engine could give the software giant a head start against other tech companies in capitalizing on the worldwide excitement surrounding ChatGPT, a tool that’s awakened millions of people to the possibilities of the latest AI technology. Along with adding it to Bing, Microsoft says it is also integrating the chatbot technology into its Edge browser. Microsoft announced the new technology Tuesday at an event at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington.
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Here’s why this year’s Super Bowl beer ads go beyond Bud
NEW YORK (AP) — A bevy of booze brands will be in the Super Bowl ad lineup this year. Anheuser-Busch has ended its exclusive advertising sponsorship after more than 30 years. The St. Louis, Missouri, beverage giant will still be the largest alcohol advertiser during the game, with three minutes of national airtime and a 30-second regional Budweiser spot. But this year, it will be joined by others, including beer brands Heineken and Molson Coors and liquor brands Remy Martin and Crown Royal, all eager to make their mark on advertising’s largest stage. Brands pay premium dollars to advertise during the gridiron classic, which draws about 100 million viewers each year.
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Super Bowl gambling surging as states legalize it? You bet
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The gambling industry’s national trade group predicts that 1 in 5 American adults will make a bet on Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. The American Gaming Association says over 50 million U.S. adults plan to bet on the game, wagering a total of $16 billion. But most of that will happen off the books — whether it’s people placing a bet with an illegal bookie, or filling out squares in an office. Sports betting is legal in 33 states plus Washington, D.C., this year, up from 30 states last year. Experts in addiction say aggressive advertising is contributing to a rise in problem gambling.
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Wall Street rallies after swerving on Fed chair’s comments
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rallied on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve signaled last week’s stunningly strong jobs report won’t by itself change where interest rates are heading, as some investors had feared. The S&P 500 rose 1.3% Tuesday. The Nasdaq added 1.9% and the Dow rose 0.8%. Comments from Fed chief Jerome Powell sent stocks from losses to big gains and then back and forth a couple times. High inflation and how high the Fed will take interest rates to fight it have been at the center of Wall Street’s wild movements for more than a year.
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Boeing plans to cut about 2,000 finance and HR jobs in 2023
SEATTLE (AP) — Boeing says it plans to cut about 2,000 jobs from the aerospace company’s finance and human resources departments in 2023. A statement by the Virginia company says the jobs will be reduced “through a combination of attrition and layoffs” this year. The Seattle Times reports the company, which has been one of Washington state’s largest private employers, plans to outsource about a third of the eliminated positions to India. A Boeing official tells the Times the other positions will be eliminated as the company makes reductions in finance and human resources support services.
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Disney faces losing control of its kingdom with Florida bill
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Disney’s government in Florida has been the envy of any private business, with its unprecedented powers in deciding what to build and how to build it at Walt Disney World. Those days are numbered as a new bill released this week puts the entertainment giant’s district firmly in the control of Florida’s governor and legislative leaders. Some see it as punishment for Disney’s opposition to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature. With Disney’s loss of control comes an uncertainty about how Disney’s revamped government and the Walt Disney World resort, which it governs, will work together.
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UK energy giant BP’s profits double to $27.7 billion
LONDON (AP) — British energy firm BP has reported record annual earnings amid growing calls for the U.K. government to boost taxes on companies profiting from the high price of oil and natural gas after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The London-based company said Tuesday that underlying replacement cost profit jumped to $27.7 billion in 2022 from $12.8 billion a year earlier. Last year’s figure beat the $26.8 billion BP earned in 2008 when tensions in Iran and Nigeria pushed world oil prices to more than $147 a barrel. BP also increased its quarterly dividend by 10% and announced plans to buy back $2.75 billion of stock from shareholders.
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Japan’s SoftBank logs $5.9B loss as tech investments tumble
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese investor SoftBank Group has sunk into a deep loss for the October-December quarter, slammed by the global plunge in technology shares. The 783 billion yen, or $5.9 billion, net loss for the fiscal third quarter, was a reversal from a 29 billion yen profit a year earlier. SoftBank invests in hundreds of companies, including mobile carrier SoftBank, web services provider Yahoo, vehicle-for-hire company Didi and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. It also runs the Vision Fund that includes other global investors. Various uncertainties have slammed Japanese companies recently, such as soaring material costs and rising interest rates.
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The S&P 500 rose 52.92 points, or 1.3%, to 4,164. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 265.67 points, or 0.8%, to 34,156.69. The Nasdaq composite jumped 226.34 points, or 1.9%, to 12,113.79. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies added 14.89 points, or 0.8%, to 1,972.61.