Stocks up slightly…Mortgage rates reach 4-year high…Hyundai recalls Sonatas

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes are slightly higher in early Wall Street trading. Retailers and technology companies are making some of the biggest gains. Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts jumped 16 percent after it agreed to be bought by health insurer Cigna for $52 billion. Cigna slid 6 percent. Grocery chain Kroger tumbled 8 percent after its annual profit forecast fell short of Wall Street’s estimates.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term mortgage rates have climbed to their highest average in more than four years. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages climbed to 4.46 percent this week from 4.43 percent last week. It’s the highest average since January 2014. The 30-year rate averaged 4.21 percent a year ago. The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate loans rose to 3.94 percent from 3.90 percent last week.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says in a tweet that he’ll hold an afternoon meeting on the steel and aluminum industries. He didn’t say whether he will announce tariffs on steel and aluminum imports at the meeting. White House officials say specifics of Trump’s plan remain fluid. The White House said yesterday that Mexico, Canada and other countries may be spared from tariffs under national security “carve-outs.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to meet today with video game industry representatives as he considers responses to gun violence after the Florida school shooting that killed 17 people. The White House says attendees include representatives of the Entertainment Software Association, the Entertainment Software Rating Board and the Parents Television Council. Others represent the Media Research Center, a video game distributor, a software company, along with the author of a book linking mass killings to violent video games.

DETROIT (AP) — Hyundai is recalling nearly 155,000 Sonata midsize cars in the U.S. because the air bags may not inflate in a crash. The recall covers cars from the 2011 model year. Hyundai says a short circuit in the air bag control computer can also stop the seat belts from tightening before a crash. The company says in government documents that it has four reports of air bags not inflating. Hyundai is still working on a fix for the problem. It expects the recall to start on April 20.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.