NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are mixed in early trading on Wall Street as a parade of big companies turn in quarterly results. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are drifting lower while the Dow is climbing thanks to a strong gain for Visa. The world’s largest payment-processing company reported quarterly earnings that beat analysts’ forecasts. Shares in No. 2 MasterCard are also rising after its third-quarter profit surged. Energy and industrial stocks are down.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Commerce Department reports the U.S. economy grew at a solid annual rate of 3.5 percent in the July-to-September quarter, propelled by solid gains in business investment, export sales and the biggest jump in military spending in five years. The third-quarter result followed a 4.6 percent rebound in the second quarter. The economy shrank at a 2.1 percent rate in the first three months of the year due to a harsh winter. Today’s report is the first of three estimates of the gross domestic product, the economy’s total output of goods and services.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits has risen slightly, but remains at historically low levels. The Labor Department says weekly applications increased by 3,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 287,000. The less volatile four-week average declined 250 to 281,000, the lowest level in more than 14 years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term mortgage rates have ticked up this week after five weeks of decline. Mortgage company Freddie Mac says the nationwide average for a 30-year mortgage rose to 3.98 percent from 3.92 percent last week. The average for a 15-year mortgage increased to 3.13 percent from 3.08 percent.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart is considering matching online prices from competitors like Amazon.com this holiday shopping season. The world’s largest retailer has matched prices of local store competitors in the past but hasn’t followed moves by other retailers like Best Buy and Target to match prices of online rivals. It says it has been testing the strategy in certain markets and is trying to figure out whether to go ahead.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
