AP Business SummaryBrief at 9:17 p.m. EDT (2024)

Boeing CEO defends his safety record, spars with senators and apologizes to crash victims' relatives

The CEO of Boeing got his day in front of Congress, and it was a rocky flight. At a hearing Tuesday, senators peppered David Calhoun with questions about the company's safety record and whether it retaliates against whistleblowers. It was the CEO’s first appearance on Capitol Hill since a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Some lawmakers suggested Boeing put profits ahead of safety. Relatives of people who died in 2018 and 2019 crashes of 737 Max jetliners attending the hearing. The Senate panel released new allegations from a whistleblower who fears defective or improperly documented parts are going into Max jets.

Nvidia's stock market value topped $3.3 trillion. How it became No. 1 in the S&P 500, by the numbers

Nvidia’s startling ascent in the stock market reached another milestone Tuesday as the chipmaker rose to become the most valuable company in the S&P 500. Investors now value the company at over $3.3 trillion. Nvidia has seen soaring demand for its semiconductors, which are used to power artificial intelligence applications. The company’s revenue more than tripled in the latest quarter from the same period a year earlier. Nvidia recently underwent a stock split that gave each of its investors nine additional shares for every one that they already own. The move was aimed at making the stock more affordable.

This law is a lifeline for pregnant workers even as an abortion dispute complicates its enforcement

NEW YORK (AP) — A new law strengthening protections for pregnant workers has been a lifeline to many low-wage women seeking accommodations from employers who might otherwise have forced them into unpaid leave. But a year after the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect, many women are still confronting employers who don't know about the law, misunderstand its scope or simply refuse to comply, according to the legal organization A Better Balance, which spearheaded the campaign for the news law. A legal battle over whether the law covers abortion, meanwhile, is complicating its enforcement just as protections are starting to make a difference.

Assault on US avocado inspectors in Mexican state led to suspension of inspections

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two employees of the U.S. Agriculture Department were assaulted and temporarily held by assailants in the Mexican state of Michoacan, prompting the U.S. government to suspend inspections of avocado and mango shipments. U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said in a statement Tuesday that the assault occurred while they were inspecting avocados in Michoacan. He said they were no longer being held. U.S. officials had confirmed the pause in inspections Monday based on security concerns. The employees work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.

Luxury sales are flattening amid a self-inflicted creativity crisis and price hikes, study finds

MILAN (AP) — The post-pandemic surge in global sales of luxury handbags, shoes and apparel is on pace to stall this year amid a creativity crisis and price hikes focused on the biggest spending customers. The Bain consultancy released a new study in Milan on Tuesday forecasting flat worldwide luxury sales in 2024 following a slight first-quarter dip. The market is being seized by political uncertainty during a presidential election year in the United States as well as economic uncertainty in China that has brought on a phenomenon of “luxury shaming.” But Bain partner Claudia D'Arpizio said some of the slowdown is “self-inflicted.”

McDonald's is ending its test run of AI-powered drive-thrus with IBM

NEW YORK (AP) — Ever get your McDonald’s order mixed up at an AI-powered drive-thru? The experiment behind the fast food giant’s current automated order taker will soon be coming to a close. McDonald’s confirmed that it’s decided to end a global partnership with IBM, which has been testing this artifical intelligence technology at select McDonald’s drive-thrus since 2021. While the IBM partnership for McDonald’s current automated order taker is winding down, the Chicago-based company seemed to suggest that it wasn’t ruling other any other AI-related drive-thru plans down the road. And scores of other fast food chains have also begun exploring the implementation of AI in their drive-thru lanes — including Wendy's, White Castle, Panera and Popeyes.

Stock market today: Nvidia climbs to Wall Street's mountaintop as indexes edge up to more records

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks edged up to more records following the latest signal that the economy’s growth may be slowing without cratering, while Nvidia continued its rocket ride upward to become Wall Street's most valuable company. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% Tuesday, hitting another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged higher to another record. Nvidia climbed to top Microsoft and become the largest U.S. stock by market value at over $3 trillion. Treasury yields fell in the bond market after a report showed sales at retailers returned to growth last month but remained below economists’ expectations.

Congressional Budget Office raises this year’s federal budget deficit projection by $400 billion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office says it projects this year’s federal budget deficit to be $400 billion higher, a 27% increase compared to its original estimate released in February. The projection was announced by the federal agency on Tuesday. The major drivers of the change include: higher costs from the supplemental spending package signed in April that provides military aid to Ukraine and Israel; higher than estimated costs of reducing student loan borrower balances; increased Medicaid spending; and higher spending on FDIC insurance after the agency has not yet recovered payments it made after the banking crises of 2023 and 2024.

Majority of Americans favor forgiving medical debt, AP-NORC poll finds

NEW YORK (AP) — Majorities of Americans favor forgiving all or some of an individual’s medical debt if the person is facing hardships. That's according to a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey found that about half of Americans say it’s extremely or very important for the U.S. government to provide debt relief for those who have yet to pay off medical treatments. Although reducing student loan debt has been a focus for President Joe Biden, the poll found that Americans are more likely to say medical debt relief should be a government priority.

Retail sales rise a meager 0.1% in May from April as still high inflation curbs spending

NEW YORK (AP) — Consumers barely increased spending in May from April as still high inflation and high interest rates curbed spending. Retail sales rose 0.1% in May, below the pace that economists projected, according to a report from the Commerce Department on Tuesday. And April sales were revised downward _ a 0.2% decline from unchanged. Sales rose 0.6% in March and 0.9% in February. That comes after sales fell 1.1% in January, dragged down in part by inclement weather.