BUSINESS BRIEFS
The stock market clawed back most of the ground it lost earlier this week after a surprisingly robust jobs report for last month.
Technology companies led the way higher, as they have all year. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, climbed 3.2 percent and Apple increased 1.8 percent.
Bond yields and the dollar also rose after the government report showed that the job market continued to strengthen in May.
The S&P 500 rose 28 points, or 1.1percent, to 2,734, erasing its losses from earlier in the week. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 219 points, or 0.9 percent, to 24,635.
Macron talks to Trump, says tariffs illegal and a mistake
French President Emmanuel Macron has told President Donald Trump that the new U.S. tariffs on European, Mexican and Canadian goods are illegal and a “mistake.”
Macron’s office said Friday that the two presidents spoke by phone after Trump’s administration announced the decision Thursday to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum.
The European Union is planning retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel and food goods in the coming weeks, once it calculates the exact cost to EU companies of the U.S. tariffs. Macron pledged the response would be “firm” and “proportionate” and in line with World Trade Organization rules.
5 dead, nearly 200 sickened in romaine lettuce outbreak
Four more deaths have been linked to a national food poisoning outbreak blamed on tainted lettuce, bringing the total to five.
Health officials have tied the E. coli outbreak to romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Arizona. The growing season there ended six weeks ago, and it’s unlikely any tainted lettuce is still in stores or people’s homes, given its short shelf life. But there can be a lag in reporting, and reports of illnesses have continued to come in.
In an update Friday on the nation’s largest E. coli outbreak in a decade, health officials said 25 more cases have been added, raising the total number of illnesses to 197 in 35 states. At least 89 people were hospitalized.
Facebook kills ‘trending’ topics, tests breaking news label
Facebook says it’s shutting down its ill-fated “trending” news section after four years. A company official told The Associated Press that the feature is outdated and wasn’t popular.
The official says Facebook is testing new features, including a “breaking news” label that publishers can add to stories and ways to make local news more prominent.
Fiat Chrysler CEO lays out grand plan before he retires
In his last big presentation as CEO of Fiat Chrysler before retiring next year, Sergio Marchionne said Friday that the Italian-American carmaker will this month hit its long-held goal of having no debt as it turns its focus to making more electrified cars.
The daylong presentation of targets focused on Jeep SUVs, Ram trucks and premium brands Maserati and Alfa Romeo, which together “comprise the most significant part of our revenues,” Marchionne said. Plans for the brands relied heavily on adding electrified powertrains, a technology where Fiat Chrysler has lagged.
Notably absent were the marquee brands: Fiat and Chrysler, which both represent the less-profitable passenger cars currently off consumers’ radar, particularly in the United States.