NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing slightly lower after the Federal Reserve said it was shutting down a bond-buying program because the economy no longer needs as much help. The S&P 500 index fell nearly three points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,982. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 31 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,974. The Nasdaq composite fell 15 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,549.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil is higher today. Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 78 cents to $82.20 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the global benchmark, gained $1.09 to $87.12 a barrel in London. The U.S. Energy Department says U.S. crude oil supplies rose by 2.1 million barrels last week, about 700,000 barrels below the expectations of analysts surveyed by Platts.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Visa’s profit is down about 10 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter, weighed down by one-time litigation expenses. But the latest results beat expectations. Visa reports earnings of $1.07 billion, or $1.72 per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with net income of $1.19 billion, or $1.85 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 9 percent, to $3.23 billion from $2.97 billion.
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto safety regulators are telling a Japanese company that made faulty air bags to manufacture replacement parts faster and do more testing to find out what’s causing the problem. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent letters today to air bag maker Takata Corp. and 10 automakers seeking information about air bags.
NEW YORK (AP) — A mobile payment service backed by Wal-Mart, Best Buy and other leading retailers is defending its practice of prohibiting its members from accepting alternatives such as Apple Pay. Officials of Merchant Customer Exchange say retailers may choose to leave without penalty, so they could accept those alternatives, which are based on a wireless technology called NFC.
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