U.S. services sector activity increased to an eight-month high in October as new orders grew solidly, but subdued employment pointed to lackluster labor market conditions against the backdrop of economic uncertainty stemming from tariffs. Comments from businesses in the Institute for Supply Management survey released on Wednesday were mixed. Some viewed activity as flat while the import duties and the ongoing shutdown of the federal government were headaches for others. But s

Tylenol pills in New York on May 22, 2025. Kimberly-Clark, the consumer products giant that owns Kleenex and Huggies, said on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, that it agreed to spend about $40 billion to acquire Kenvue, the embattled maker of Tylenol, which has fought unproven claims by the Trump administration that link the common pain reliever to autism. (Eric Helgas/The New York Times) By LAUREN HIRSCH and REBECCA ROBBINS Kimberly-Clark, the consumer products giant that owns Kleenex

With one eye on Tuesday’s U.S. local elections, stocks have been knocked back sharply from Monday’s heady highs - partly on Palantir’s 6% earnings-day drop and ahead of Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearings on the legality of some U.S. import tariffs. Despite a headline beat and decent revenue forecast, the poor reaction to the update from AI and data analytics darling Palantir - whose stock has more than doubled this year on AI excitement and government and business demand - ta

Shoppers browse the various storefronts at the Brickell City Centre mall in Miami, Fla., June 26, 2025. Tariffs and uncertainty were already making the economy hard to read. The loss of government data during the shutdown has made the situation much worse. (Scott McIntyre/The New York Times) By BEN CASSELMAN and COLBY SMITH Tariffs are at their highest rates in decades. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going without paychecks. Artificial intelligence is threatenin

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed higher on Monday, with artificial intelligence-related deals driving much of the gains even as the Federal Reserve’s near-term monetary policy grew increasingly foggy due to scarcity of official U.S. economic data. Tech and tech-related firms helped boost the Nasdaq to the biggest gain, while healthcare companies UnitedHealth Group UNH.N and Merck MRK.N held the Dow in negative territory. Among the major drivers to the upside, Amazon.com jump

The offices of YouTube in San Bruno, Calif., June 18, 2024. YouTube TV subscribers late last week lost access to channels like ESPN and ABC, whose owner, Disney, had demanded more money for its programs and channels. (Anastasiia Sapon/The New York Times) By FRANCESCA REGALADO and BROOKS BARNES An estimated 10 million YouTube TV subscribers lost access to ESPN, ABC and other channels owned by Disney last Thursday night after contract-renewal talks collapsed. Each company publi

From left, Sebastian Vidal, chief operating officer, Raincoat; Alexander Schachter, co-founder and president, Kiwi; Cristina Tamayo, managing director, Endeavor Puerto Rico; and Pablo Cuarón, country manager, Mastercard Puerto Rico. By THE STAR STAFF Endeavor Puerto Rico, the leading global community of high-impact entrepreneurs, and Mastercard, the global technology company in the payments industry, have unveiled “Catalyzing Entrepreneurship & Innovation in Puerto Rico,” a f

A resilient U.S. stocks rally heads into a busy week of corporate results, with investors concerned about the strength of the artificial intelligence trade and about how aggressively the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. The S&P 500 (.SPX), on Friday ended October up 2.3% for the month, its sixth straight month of gains, despite wobbling this week after megacap companies posted mixed results. Doubt also grew that more interest rate cuts were imminent after the Fed ease

Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, during a meeting in Washington, Oct. 24, 2025. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower interest rates on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, by a quarter of a percentage point for the second meeting in a row. (Caroline Gutman/The New York Times) By COLBY SMITH The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday for a second time this year, despite officials having only a partial view of how the economy is faring

Investors were pinning hopes on more monetary policy easing ahead, even as Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting revealed a less-certain path toward more interest rate cuts in the face of a data drought, sticky inflation and divided opinions among the central bank’s members. Fed Chair Jerome Powell surprised markets by casting doubt on the prospects of an interest rate cut at the central bank’s next meeting in December, saying such a move was “not a foregone conclusion” even th