Business Highlights

By The Associated Press

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Possible outcome of Trump-Xi meeting: A truce in trade war

WASHINGTON (AP) — If history repeats itself — and most analysts are betting it will — Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will agree to some kind of cease-fire when they meet late this week at a Group of 20 international summit in Osaka, Japan. That would buy time for U.S. and Chinese officials to restart trade talks that stalled last month.

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Powell says economy facing growing uncertainties

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the economic outlook has become cloudier since early May, with rising uncertainties over trade and global growth causing the central bank to reassess its next move on interest rates. Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Powell says the Fed is now grappling with the question of whether those uncertainties will continue to weigh on the outlook and require action.

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AbbVie makes $63B bid for Botox maker Allergan

Facing competition for the world’s top-selling drug, AbbVie will spend about $63 billion to buy Botox maker Allergan as it attempts to spur future growth. The specialty drugmaker said Tuesday that the addition of Allergan’s established product lineup will help AbbVie shore up revenue.

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FedEx sues US government over export rules in Huawei case

DALLAS (AP) — FedEx is suing the U.S. government over export rules aimed to block technology shipments to some foreign companies including China’s Huawei. FedEx is asking the court to prevent the Commerce Department from enforcing the provisions, saying they are impossible to comply with given the millions of packages FedEx delivers every day. Huawei and China have complained about FedEx diverting several company shipments.

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Cryptocurrencies need close scrutiny, monitor warns

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — An international financial monitor is warning that wider use of cryptocurrencies by retail shoppers would call for “close scrutiny” by regulators and should be subjected to tough regulation. The head of the Financial Stability Board made the statement ahead of the Group of 20 summit set for June 28-29 in Osaka, Japan. Finance officials are debating how to regulate cryptocurrencies after Facebook unveiled Libra, a digital form of cash linked to existing currencies.

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US government investigating poultry price-fixing claims

CHICAGO (AP) — The U.S. government is investigating price-fixing charges against the country’s biggest poultry companies. The Department of Justice tipped its hand last week when it requested a temporary halt to discovery proceedings in a 2016 class-action lawsuit filed by food distributor Maplevale Farms.

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What’s your data worth to Big Tech? Bill would compel answer

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Congress bears down on big tech companies, two senators are proposing to force giants like Google, Facebook and Amazon to tell users what data they’re collecting from them and how much it’s worth. The proposed legislation was floated Monday by Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo. It comes as bipartisan support grows in Congress for a privacy law that could sharply rein in the ability of the biggest tech companies to collect and make money from users’ personal data.

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US consumer confidence hits lowest level since September ’17

WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers are feeling less confident this month as heightened trade tensions have apparently taken a toll on their spirits. The Conference Board, a business research group, says its consumer confidence index fell to 121.5 in June from a revised 131.3 in June after rising in April and May.

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Mitsubishi Motors to relocate North America HQ to Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mitsubishi Motors has announced it’s relocating its North America headquarters from California to Tennessee. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe made the announcement with Mitsubishi Motors North America on Tuesday. The headquarters move from Cypress, California, to Franklin, Tennessee, will result in an $18.25 million investment in the region and approximately 200 jobs.

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TSA plans to send more airport screeners to Mexico border

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration plans to send more than 650 Transportation Security Administration employees to help law enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border. TSA says it has already dispatched more than 350 airport screeners and federal air marshals to the border and plans to send more. A key House Democrat says it hurts aviation security, but a Republican lawmaker says it’s a response to a crisis.

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Stocks move lower on economic data, Powell remarks

NEW YORK (AP) — Technology and internet companies led a broad slide for U.S. stocks Tuesday after discouraging economic data and cautionary remarks from the head of the Federal Reserve weighed on the market. The sell-off marked the third straight loss for the market and the biggest drop this month for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 index, which hit an all-time only last week.

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The S&P 500 index fell 27.97 points, or 1%, to 2,917.38. The Dow dropped 179.32 points, or 0.7%, to 26,548.22. The Nasdaq composite slid 120.98 points, or 1.5%, to 7,884.72. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks gave up 9.05 points, or 0.6%, to 1,521.04.

The Associated Press

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