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Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Wall Street ends higher as fear over North Korea dissipates

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major U.S. stock indexes ended higher on Tuesday after recovering from steep early losses triggered by fears that hostilities in the Korean Peninsula could escalate.

U.S. consumer confidence hits five-month high; house prices rise

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S consumer confidence surged to a five-month high in August as households grew increasingly upbeat about the labor market while house prices rose further in June, suggesting a recent acceleration in consumer spending was likely to be sustained.

Gasoline jumps 4 percent, oil mixed as storm hits more refineries

New York (Reuters) - U.S. gasoline futures jumped 4 percent while crude prices were mixed Tuesday after a hurricane shut down 16 percent of the country's refining capacity, curbing fuel production and further bloating crude inventories.

Harvey threatens more U.S. Gulf refineries, supply constraints emerge

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Record rains and flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey triggered more oil refining outages in Texas on Tuesday, bringing the total offline to more than 16 percent of overall U.S. capacity as the storm took aim at plants along the Louisiana coast.

Buffett becomes Bank of America's top shareholder

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has become the largest shareholder of Bank of America Corp by exercising its right to acquire 700 million shares at a steep discount, more than tripling an investment it made six years ago.

S&P sees U.S. keeping AA+ rating if it avoids default

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday the United States would maintain its AA+ credit rating, its second highest, as long as the federal government avoids a default even if it does not increase the debt ceiling in a timely manner.

U.S. banks should waive fees, allow late payments in areas hit by Harvey: regulator

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. banks should waive customer fees and allow borrowers to make late payments in areas affected by Tropical Storm Harvey, a leading regulator said on Tuesday.

China-backed fund to decide whether to take deal to Trump: sources

(Reuters) - A China-backed private equity fund will decide this week whether to seek U.S. President Donald Trump's approval for its proposed $1.3 billion acquisition of U.S. chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor Corp , people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Whole Foods shareholder lawsuit concerning overcharges is dismissed

(Reuters) - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing the former Whole Foods Market Inc and several executives of intentionally defrauding shareholders by routinely overpricing prepackaged products in its supermarkets.

Bombardier out of running for $3.2 billion New York transit contract

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Canada's Bombardier Inc is out of the running for an estimated $3.2 billion New York City subway contract, in what the plane and train maker on Tuesday called a disappointment.