BUSINESS BRIEFS
S&P 500, Nasdaq rise for second straight week as stocks inch up
Wall Street closed out a wobbly day of trading Friday with the major stock indexes notching their second straight weekly gain.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted out tiny gains, good enough to nudge each to an all-time high for the fourth time this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended with a slight loss.
The S&P 500 index rose 6.22 points, or 0.2%, to 3,380.16. The Nasdaq composite gained 19.21 points, or 0.2%, to 9,731.18. Both indexes had been down most of the afternoon.
The Dow dropped 25.23 points, or 0.1%, to 29,398.08.
Smaller company stocks finished lower. The Russell 2000 index slid 6.15 points, or 0.4%, to 1,687.58.
US manufacturing output hit by Boeing troubles, slips 0.1%
U.S. manufacturing output fell slightly in January, driven lower by Boeing’s decision to halt production of its troubled 737 MAX aircraft.
The Federal Reserve said Friday that factory output declined 0.1% last month after eking out a 0.1% gain in December. Excluding the production of airplanes and parts, factory production rose 0.3%
U.S. manufacturing has shown signs of recovering from a yearlong downturn but is facing a fresh challenge from Boeing’s troubles, which also affect hundreds of suppliers. Manufacturing output is down 0.8% in the past year, hurt by the U.s.-china trade war and slower global growth.
Overall industrial production, which includes output from mines and utilities, dropped 0.3% in January, held back by a 4% drop in utility production output because of unseasonably warm weather.
US retail sales increase a modest 0.3% in January
U.S. retail sales rose a modest 0.3% in January, a slight improvement over December, as unseasonably warm weather boosted sales at hardware stores and furniture stores.
The Commerce Department said Friday that the January advance followed a 0.2% rise in sales in December.
The slight January gain was in line with expectations. However, economists were also expecting to see a solid gain in an underlying control group of retail sales that feeds into the government’s calculations for overall economic growth.
Instead, sales in the control group showed no gain at all in January and the December performance was revised down to show a gain of just 0.2%, slower than the 0.5% rise initially reported.
Michigan facility to close after promised $22M in investment
A company that makes automobile parts plans to shut down a plant in Michigan next year, after promising to invest $22 million in a new facility that would have provided 260 jobs.
Keihin North America announced the decision in a news release. The company said it has not been able to expand new business as quickly as hoped, giving no other recourse but to proceed shutter Keihin Michigan Manufacturing, the Port Huron Times Her
ald reported. Founded in 2007, the Michigan facility makes automotive air conditioning systems and advanced engine components.
Volkswagen makes offer for diesel settlement in Germany
Automaker Volkswagen has offered about $900 million euros as a settlement for owners of diesel vehicles that used software to mask excessive emissions.
The company said Friday it was making the offer after talks broke down with a German consumer association that had been negotiating for a deal over fees for the plaintiffs’ attorneys. It said its offer reflected what had already been negotiated.
In 2015, U.S. regulators caught Volkswagen using software that turned emissions controls off once the car had passed emissions tests.
— Wire reports