Stocks close higher, nudging the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to more highs

Stocks close higher, nudging the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to more highs

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer

Wall Street added to its recent milestones Thursday as the market closed at an all-time high after Delta Air Lines kicked off earnings season with a solid outlook for the rest of 2025, spurring an airline stock rally.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, inching past the record it set last week after a better-than-expected June jobs report.

The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.1%, enough of a gain to notch a new high for the second day in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.4% higher.

Delta surged 12%, bringing other airlines along with it, after beating Wall Street’s revenue and profit targets. The Atlanta airline also gave a more optimistic view for the remaining summer travel season than it had just a couple months ago.

The airline and other major U.S. carriers had pulled or slashed their forecasts in the spring, citing macroeconomic uncertainty amid President Donald Trump’s tariff rollouts, which have consumers feeling uneasy about spending on travel.

“Companies are becoming more confident in the range of outcomes for tariffs,” said Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Baird. “Companies are starting to understand what the playing field looks like a little bit better, even though we continue to have these kind of tariff announcements that get bounced back and forth.”

Delta’s encouraging report boosted the entire airline sector. United jumped 14.3%, American climbed 12.7%, JetBlue gained 7.8% and Southwest finished 8.1% higher.

The market has been steadying following a downbeat start to the week as the Trump administration renewed its push to use threats of higher tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. in hopes of securing new trade agreements with countries around the globe.

Wednesday had been initially set as a deadline by Trump for countries to make deals with the U.S. or face heavy increases in tariffs. But with just two trade deals announced since April, one with the United Kingdom and one with Vietnam, the window for negotiations has now been extended to Aug. 1. That’s given Wall Street a breather just in time for the start of corporate earnings season.

Wall Street analysts predict that companies in the S&P 500 will deliver 5% growth in second-quarter earnings, according to FactSet. That would mark the lowest rate since the fourth quarter of 2023.

Conagra Brands fell 4.4% Thursday after the maker of Slim Jim, Swiss Miss and other food products reported earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. The company also lowered its earnings outlook, saying it expects continued cost increases due to tariffs.

Helen of Troy, the company behind Hydro Flask water bottles and OXO kitchen tools, sank 22.7% after its latest quarterly results came in below Wall Street’s forecasts. The company said it would not be providing a fiscal year 2026 outlook, citing uncertainty over tariff policy and the economy.

Shares in AZZ rose 5.5% after the electrical equipment maker’s latest quarterly earnings topped analysts’ forecasts.

Earnings season shifts into high gear next week with JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup among the big banks due to report their results on Tuesday.

Beyond airlines, most of the sectors in the S&P 500 notched gains Thursday, led by banks and consumer-focused companies. JPMorgan and McDonald’s each rose 1.8%.

Technology and communication services stocks were the only laggards. Autodesk fell 6.9% and Netflix ended 2.9% lower.

Shares of WK Kellogg vaulted 30.6% after Italian candy maker Ferrero agreed to acquire the cereal company in a deal valued at roughly $3.1 billion. The transaction includes the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of WK Kellogg Co.’s portfolio of breakfast cereals across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

Shares in mining company Freeport-McMoRan rose 3.6% after Trump said a 50% tariff on copper imports would take effect on Aug. 1. The price of copper rose 1.9% to $5.59 per pound.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 17.20 points to 6,280.46. The Dow added 192.34 points to 44,650.64. The Nasdaq gained 19.33 points to 20,630.66.

In economic news, the Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits, a proxy for layoffs, fell last week, remaining in the historically healthy range they’ve been in the past couple of years.

Bond yields mostly rose, although the yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 4.34%.

European stock indexes closed mixed Thursday following an uneven finish in Asian markets.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.4%, weighed down by selling of exporters’ shares amid the yen’s appreciation, which cuts profits from exports, and dampened sentiment because of the lack of progress in the Japan-U.S. trade talks.

North Carolina’s first standalone children’s hospital set to bring 8,000 jobs to Apex

North Carolina’s first standalone children’s hospital set to bring 8,000 jobs to Apex

APEX, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s first standalone children’s hospital will be built in a bedroom community near the state capital, the project’s health systems announced Thursday, creating a campus estimated to bring 8,000 jobs to the area.

UNC Health and Duke Health announced in January an agreement to jointly build the proposed 500-bed pediatric hospital and linked facilities in the state’s Research Triangle region, which includes Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.

At that time, the specific location wasn’t finalized. But leaders of the health systems said hwThursday that the “North Carolina Children’s” project will be constructed about 20 miles (32.19 kilometers) southwest of downtown Raleigh in the Wake County town of Apex. Apex has a population of 77,000, which is already surging in population thanks to the region’s strong technology economy.

More than 15 potential sites in several counties were considered, Duke Health CEO Dr. Craig Albanese said at an Apex news conference.20

The 230-acre (93.1-hectare) campus, located near a regional transportation interchange, will also include a children’s outpatient care center, over 100 behavioral health beds and a research and education center operated by Duke University and University of North Carolina medical schools.

The campus is poised to be integrated into a long-discussed mixed-use development location called Veridea that will include thousands of new homes, retail, dining, office and research space, as well as a new Wake Technical Community College campus.

“This campus will create a brighter, healthier future for generations of children and adolescents across North Carolina and the Southeast, and we’re thrilled to have Apex as our home and partner,” UNC Heatlh CEO Dr. Wesley Burks said in a news release.

A groundbreaking for the hospital campus is now expected in 2027, with construction anticipated to take six years. North Carolina Children’s Health also issued on Thursday a request for information from potential design and construction contractors for the project.

There are children’s hospitals already in North Carolina, including those operated by the University of North Carolina and Duke University health systems that are attached to their main campuses in the Triangle.

The Apex location “will ensure that the Triangle remains a hub and a destination for the best pediatric scientists, teachers and clinicians — convenient to both medical school campuses,” said Dr. Mary Klotman, dean of the Duke University medical school and a Duke Health executive.

The new children’s hospital agreed to acquire a portion of the Veridea land, which is owned by a business partnership between the North Carolina state retirement system and the land developers, according to the State Treasurer’s Office, which administers the system.

State Treasurer Brad Briner said at the news conference that the land sale is a win for everyone involved, including government retirees and the pension system, “making a modest profit and unlocking more value in the land that is adjacent.”

“Above all, it’s a win for the 11 million North Carolinians who deserve world-class pediatric care right here at home,” he added.

The health systems have said the hospital campus project could cost from $2 billion to $3 billion, with a massive private fundraising effort ahead.

The project has already received $320 million from state legislators. The next state budget, still being negotiated by House and Senate Republicans that ultimately would head to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s desk, also could contain more project funds.

Stein said in an interview Thursday that beyond the economic opportunity the project will spark, “I’m really excited about what the children’s hospital means for children of North Carolina who are sick and in need of the best, most sophisticated, advanced medical interventions to live long, healthy lives.”

Joe Coleman, No. 3 pick in the first MLB draft who pitched for Senators and Tigers, dies at 78

Joe Coleman, No. 3 pick in the first MLB draft who pitched for Senators and Tigers, dies at 78

Joe Coleman, a lanky right-hander who won 142 games in 15 major league seasons and was an All-Star in 1972 with Detroit, died Wednesday morning, his son said. He was 78.

Casey Coleman said his father died in his sleep in Jamestown, Tennessee.

The son and father of major leaguers, Coleman became the No. 3 pick in baseball’s inaugural amateur draft in 1965 when he was selected by the Washington Senators. His father, also named Joe — who pitched in the majors from 1942-55 — negotiated a club-record $75,000 signing bonus.

The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Coleman became the first player to reach the majors after being drafted when he debuted for the Senators on Sept. 28, 1965. He threw a four-hitter to beat the Kansas City Athletics 6-1.

After the 1970 season, Coleman was traded to Detroit in a deal that sent Denny McLain to Washington. He enjoyed his greatest individual success with the Tigers, going 88-73 with a 3.82 ERA from 1971-76.

In 1971, he went 20-9 with a 3.15 ERA after recovering from a skull fracture that hospitalized him for two weeks. He was an All-Star the following season and made his only postseason appearance, striking out a then-playoff-record 14 batters to shut out the Oakland Athletics in Game 3 of the five-game American League championship series. The Tigers lost the series 3-2 and Oakland went on to beat Cincinnati in the World Series.

Coleman’s strikeout record stood for 25 years. Baltimore’s Mike Mussina fanned 15 in the 1997 ALCS against Cleveland.

Coleman also pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final season, he made 10 relief appearance for the 1979 Pirates, who went on to win the World Series.

For his career, he was 142-135 with a 3.70 ERA and 1,728 strikeouts in 484 appearances (340 starts).

After retiring as a player, Coleman worked as a pitching and bullpen coach for the California and Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners along with several minor-league clubs.

“He was a good man with a really good heart,” Casey Coleman said. “Everywhere I went in professional baseball, I met pitchers he coached. Many gave him credit for making it to the big leagues.”

Casey Coleman pitched in 58 major league games for the Cubs and Kansas City from 2010-14.

Born in Boston, Joe Coleman graduated from Natick High. He attended Ted Williams’ baseball camps, where he learned how to throw a curveball and slider.

In addition to Casey, Coleman is survived by his wife, Donna, daughter, Kristen, and three grandchildren.

Former Olympic wrestler and MMA star Ben Askren recovering from double lung transplant

Former Olympic wrestler and MMA star Ben Askren recovering from double lung transplant

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Former Olympic wrestler and MMA star Ben Askren, who has been hospitalized in Wisconsin after a severe case of pneumonia, said in a post on social media Wednesday that he had undergone a double lung transplant and is in recovery.

Askren said during the Instagram video that he recalls very little of what happened over a monthlong stretch from late May through the first two days of July. His wife, Amy, had said in a series of social media posts that Askren was put on a ventilator in June and placed on the donor list for a lung transplant on June 24.

“No recollection, zero idea, no idea what happened,” Askren said of most of the past six weeks. “I just read through my wife’s journal. It’s like a movie. It’s ridiculous. I only died four times, where the ticker stopped for about 20 seconds.”

Askren said he lost about 50 pounds during the 45-day stretch.

“The thing that was most impeccable to me was all the love I felt,” Askren said. “It was almost like I got to have my own funeral.”

The 40-year-old Askren was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but has lived primarily in Wisconsin, where he runs a youth wrestling academy. He won back-to-back NCAA titles at Missouri and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics for the U.S. before moving into MMA, where he fought for Bellator and ONE Championship before moving into the UFC.

Askren retired from MMA after a loss to Demian Maia in October 2019. He had a record of 19-2 with one no contest.

Askren made a brief return to combat sports in April 2021, when he fought social media star Jake Paul in a boxing match. Paul won by technical knockout in the first round of a fight that sold about 500,000 on pay-per-view.

Flamingos are stirring up trouble and ravaging rice for risotto in Italy’s northeast

Flamingos are stirring up trouble and ravaging rice for risotto in Italy’s northeast

By NICCOLÒ LUPONE Associated Press

JOLANDA DI SAVOIA, Italy (AP) — An unusual pest is ravaging crops and irking farmers in northeastern Italy: the flamingo.

Flocks of these relatively recent immigrants have set their hungry sights on the flooded fields that produce rice for risotto in Ferrara province, between Venice and Ravenna. The long-legged birds aren’t interested in the seedlings; rather, flamingos use their webbed feet to stir up the soil and snatch mollusks, algae or insects from the shallow water.

Rice is collateral damage.

Farmers have started patroling day and night in a bid to scare the birds away. They honk their trucks’ horns, bang barrels and even fire small gas cannons that make thunderous booms. Mostly, the noise just sends them flying to another nearby rice paddy to be trampled underfoot.

Enrico Fabbri, a local grower, said he is discouraged after seeing production losses of as much as 90% in some of his planted areas.

“These are new things that have never happened before. You invest so much time and care into preparing everything,” Fabbri, 63, said beside one of his paddies on the outskirts of Jolanda di Savoia. “Then, just as the crop begins to grow, it’s like having a newborn child taken away. That’s what it feels like.”

The flamingos appear to have come from their prior nesting grounds in the nearby Comacchio Valleys within a reserve on the coast, just south of where the Po River, Italy’s longest, flows into the Adriatic Sea.

The birds have been there since 2000, after drought in southern Spain sent them searching for nesting grounds further east, according to Roberto Tinarelli, ornithologist and president of the Emilia-Romagna Ornithologists Association.

Previously, they had been confined to lakes in North Africa, parts of Spain and a bit of France’s Camargue region, Tinarelli, 61, said beside a pond in Bentivolgio, a town near Bologna.

There have been no studies yet to determine why these flamingos started seeking food further inland, where farmers flood their fields from late spring to early summer as a means of germinating newly planted rice seeds. Until the paddies are drained after a few weeks, the flamingos are a threat.

“Obviously, we are looking for answers from those who have to deal with the problem. From an environmental point of view, all this is beautiful, but we must keep in mind that rice cultivation is among the most expensive, extensive crops,” said Massimo Piva, a 57-year-old rice grower and vice-president of the local farmers’ confederation.

“They are beautiful animals, it’s their way of moving and behaving, but the problem is trying to limit their presence as much as possible,” Piva said.

Tinarelli, the ornithologist, suggested several solutions to fend off flamingos that are more humane and effective than the clamorous efforts currently employed: surrounding paddies with tall trees or hedges and, even better, reducing water levels of freshly planted paddies to between 2 and 4 inches (5 and 10 centimeters), instead of 12 inches (30 centimeters).

“This is sufficient for the rice to grow, but decidedly less attractive to flamingos, which must splash around in the water,” he said.

Nutella maker Ferrero plans to buy century-old cereal maker WK Kellogg for $3.1 billion

Nutella maker Ferrero plans to buy century-old cereal maker WK Kellogg for $3.1 billion

By DEE-ANN DURBIN and MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writers

Italian confectioner Ferrero, known for brands like Nutella and Kinder, is buying the century-old U.S. cereal company WK Kellogg in a deal valued at approximately $3.1 billion.

The Ferrero Group said Thursday it will pay $23 for each Kellogg share. The transaction includes the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of WK Kellogg Co.’s portfolio of breakfast cereals across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

WK Kellogg’s shares were up 30% in premarket trading Thursday.

Kellogg, which was founded in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1906, makes Fruit Loops, Special K, Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispies.

The current company was formed in 2023, when Kellogg’s snack brands like Cheez-Its and Pringles were spun into a separate company called Kellanova. M&M’s maker Mars Inc. announced last year that it planned to buy Kellanova in a deal worth nearly $30 billion.

Ferrero Group, which was founded in Italy in 1946, has been trying to expand its U.S. footprint. In 2018 it bought Nestle’s U.S. candy brands, including Butterfinger, Nerds and SweeTarts. And in 2022 it bought Wells Enterprises, the maker of ice cream brands like Blue Bunny and Halo Top.

The deal, which still needs approval from Kellogg shareholders, is expected to close in the second half of the year. Once the transaction is complete, Kellogg’s stock will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange and the company will become a Ferrero subsidiary.

Harrowing stories of rescue emerge from Texas floods as crews search for over 160 reported missing

Harrowing stories of rescue emerge from Texas floods as crews search for over 160 reported missing

By SEAN MURPHY, NADIA LATHAN and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

HUNT, Texas (AP) — In the frantic hours after a wall of water engulfed camps and homes in Texas, a police officer who was trapped himself spotted dozens of people stranded on roofs and waded out to bring them to safety, a fellow officer said Wednesday.

Another off-duty officer tied a garden hose around his waist so he could reach two people clinging to a tree above swirling floodwaters, Kerrville officer Jonathan Lamb said, describing another harrowing rescue.

The search is continuing on the grounds of Camp Mystic as more than 160 people are believed to be missing in Texas days after a destructive wall of water killed over 100 people. (AP Video)

“This tragedy, as horrific as it is, could have been so much worse,” Lamb told a news conference, crediting first responders and volunteers with saving lives and knocking on doors to evacuate residents during the flash floods on the July Fourth holiday.

More than 160 people still are believed to be missing, and at least 118 have died in the floods that laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The large number of missing people suggests that the full extent of the catastrophe is still unclear five days after the disaster.

The floods are now the deadliest from inland flooding in the U.S. since 1976, when Colorado’s Big Thompson Canyon flooded, killing 144 people, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections.

Crews used backhoes and their bare hands Wednesday to dig through piles of debris that stretched for miles along the Guadalupe River in the search of missing people.

“We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,” Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday. “Know this also: There very likely could be more added to that list.”

Officials face backlash for lack of preparations and warnings

Public officials in the area have come under repeated criticism amid questions about the timeline of what happened and why widespread warnings were not sounded and more preparations were not made.

“Those questions are going to be answered,” Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. “I believe those questions need to be answered, to the families of the loved ones, to the public.”

But he said the priority for now is recovering victims. “We’re not running. We’re not going to hide from anything,” the sheriff said.

The governor called on state lawmakers to approve new flood warning systems and strengthen emergency communications in flood prone areas throughout the state when the Legislature meets in a special session that Abbott had already called to address other issues starting July 21. Abbott also called on lawmakers to provide financial relief for response and recovery efforts from the storms.

“We must ensure better preparation for such events in the future,” Abbott said in a statement.

Local leaders have talked for years about the need for a flood warning system, but concerns about costs and noise led to missed opportunities to put up sirens.

Raymond Howard, a city council member in Ingram, said it was “unfathomable” that county officials did not act.

“This is lives. This is families,” he said. “This is heartbreaking.”

Number of missing has soared

A day earlier, the governor announced that about 160 people have been reported missing in Kerr County, where searchers already have found more than 90 bodies.

Officials have been seeking more information about those who were in the Hill Country, a popular tourist destination, during the holiday weekend but did not register at a camp or a hotel and may have been in the area without many people knowing, Abbott said.

The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died. Officials said five campers and one counselor have still not been found.

Just two days before the flooding, Texas inspectors signed off on the camp’s emergency planning. But five years of inspection reports released to The Associated Press did not provide any details about how campers would be evacuated.

Challenging search for the dead

With almost no hope of finding anyone alive, search crews and volunteers say they are focused on bringing the families of the missing some closure.

Crews fanned out in air boats, helicopters and on horseback. They used excavators and their hands, going through layer by layer, with search dogs sniffing for any sign of buried bodies.

They looked in trees and in the mounds below their feet. They searched inside crumpled pickup trucks and cars, painting them with a large X, much like those marked on homes after a hurricane.

More than 2,000 volunteers have offered to lend a hand in Kerr County alone, the sheriff said.

How long the search will continue was impossible to predict given the number of people unaccounted for and the miles to cover.

Shannon Ament wore knee-high rubber boots and black gloves as she rummaged through debris in front of her rental property in Kerr County. A high school soccer coach is one of the many people she knows who are still missing.

“We need support. I’m not going to say thoughts and prayers because I’m sick of that,” she said. “We don’t need to be blamed for who voted for who. This was a freak of nature — a freak event.”

Trump plans to survey damage Friday

President Donald Trump has pledged to provide whatever relief Texas needs to recover. He plans to visit the state Friday.

Polls taken before the floods show Americans largely believe the federal government should play a major role in preparing for and responding to natural disasters.

Catastrophic flooding is a growing worry. On Tuesday, a deluge in New Mexico triggered flash floods that killed three people.

Although it’s difficult to attribute a single weather event to climate change, experts say a warming atmosphere and oceans make these type of storms more likely.

___

Lathan reported from Ingram, and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.

North Carolina governor vetoes another set of bills, including one on guns in private schools

North Carolina governor vetoes another set of bills, including one on guns in private schools

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Josh Stein cleared his desk Wednesday of the deluge of bills passed to him from the North Carolina General Assembly last month, three of which he vetoed.

Stein topped off his veto total at 14 for this year’s legislative session. One of the vetoes prolongs the extensive battle between the governor’s office and GOP-controlled legislature over gun laws — an issue Republican lawmakers prioritized when they came to Raleigh.

Now that all of Stein’s vetoes have been returned to the Legislative Building, possible veto override attempts could occur starting later this month. House Speaker Destin Hall reaffirmed that possibility in a post on the social platform X.

“We’re keeping score. Overrides coming soon,” Hall said.

With Republicans one House seat short of a veto-proof supermajority, GOP leaders may have to pick and choose which measures to take action on. A few bills with some Democratic support may be able to skirt by.

The first vetoed bill would allow certain people to carry firearms onto private school property with permission from the school’s board of trustees or administrative director. The person — either an employee or a volunteer — would be required to have a concealed handgun permit and complete a training class. Republican proponents of the bill said it would keep private schools safe in rural areas where police response time is longer.

Stein argued in his veto statement that school employees and volunteers “cannot substitute” law enforcement officers, who receive hundreds of hours of safety education, when crises occur. The governor did voice support for another provision in the bill that would heighten penalties for threatening or assaulting an elected official. He urged the legislature to “send me a clean bill with those protections so I can sign it.”

“Just as we should not allow guns in the General Assembly, we should keep them out of our schools unless they are in the possession of law enforcement,” Stein said in the statement.

Some Democrats in the House and Senate voted for the bill originally, meaning a veto override is on the table.

The fight over guns was the focus of a previous bill Stein vetoed a few weeks ago that would allow adults to carry concealed weapons without a permit. That bill faces an uphill battle to becoming law after a handful of Republicans voted against the measure, making the chances of a veto override fairly slim.

GOP state legislators have continued to carve out further gun access over the past few years. In 2023, Republican lawmakers overrode former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto and put into law the elimination of the pistol purchase permit system that mandated character evaluations and criminal history checks for applicants.

The other two bills Stein vetoed Wednesday also received some Democratic votes and thus could be overridden if such support holds.

One of the bills would create an expedited removal process for homeowners and landlords to remove people unauthorized to live on their property. Stein said he was unhappy with a last-minute addition that would prevent local governments from enforcing their own prohibitions on pet shop animal sales and additional licensing beyond statewide rules. The other bill would bar public agencies from collecting or releasing certain personal information about donors to 501(c) nonprofits.

The governor signed nine bills into law Wednesday. Two were omnibus criminal justice and public safety measures, raising penalties on many crimes or creating new criminal counts. Another was designed to help active-duty military and veterans with reduced government fees and improved access to higher education.

___

Associated Press writer Gary D. Robertson contributed to this report.

Gains for tech stocks push Nasdaq to another record

Gains for tech stocks push Nasdaq to another record

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer

A rally in big tech stocks led the broader market to a higher close Wednesday, lifting the Nasdaq to an all-time high and helping Wall Street claw back most of its losses from earlier in the week.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6% for its first gain this week. The benchmark index remains near the record it set last week after a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, closed 0.9% higher. The gain was good enough to nudge the index past the record high it set last Thursday.

Nvidia rose 1.8% and became the first public company to exceed $4 trillion in value after its share price briefly topped $164 each in the early going. Shares in the AI boom poster child were going for around $14 per share at the start of 2023.

The tech rally came as Wall Street continued to weigh the latest developments in President Donald Trump’s renewed push this week to use threats of higher tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. in hopes of securing new trade agreements with countries around the globe.

Wednesday was initially set as a deadline by Trump for countries to make deals with the U.S. or face heavy increases in tariffs. But with just two trade deals announced since April, one with the United Kingdom and one with Vietnam, the window for negotiations has been extended to Aug. 1.

This latest phase in the White House’s trade war heightens the threat of potentially more severe tariffs that’s been hanging over the global economy. Higher taxes on imported goods could hinder economic growth, if not increase recession risks.

On Tuesday, Trump said he would be announcing tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs at a “very, very high rate, like 200%.” He also said he would sign an executive order placing a 50% tariff on copper imports, matching the rates charged on steel and aluminum.

Copper prices eased Wednesday after spiking a day earlier. Shares in mining company Freeport-McMoRan fell 1.5%.

Financial markets swooned from day-to-day for weeks after the White House rolled out its proposed tariff hikes in the spring. With the new batch of U.S. taxes on imports not set to kick in until next month, that gives Wall Street a breather just as the next corporate earnings season is set to begin.

“I think most people are tired of tariff news and they’re starting to realize it just doesn’t matter much,” said Jay Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure Capital Advisors. “We’re pretty bullish about earnings. I think the rest of the market is too.”

Wall Street analysts predict that companies in the S&P 500 will deliver a combined 5% annual growth in second-quarter earnings, according to FactSet. That would mark the lowest growth rate for the index since the fourth quarter of 2023.

Delta Air Lines kicks off earnings season on Thursday, with most analysts expecting the airline’s second-quarter profit to decline from a year ago. Delta and other major U.S. carriers have trimmed their flight schedules and pulled their forecasts this year as consumers pull back on travel and other nonessential spending due to uncertainty about how Trump’s tariffs will affect their budgets.

Gains in technology and communication services stocks outweighed declines in energy and other sectors Wednesday.

Microsoft rose 1.4%, Meta gained 1.7% and Google parent Alphabet added 1.3%.

Amazon rose 1.4% a day after the online retail giant kicked off Prime Day, extending it for the first time to four days.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 37.74 to 6,263.26. The Dow added 217.54 to 44,458.30, and the Nasdaq gained 192.87 to close at 20,611.34.

In bond market trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury slid to 4.34% from 4.40% late Tuesday.

In overseas markets, stock indexes closed broadly higher in Europe after a mixed finish in Asia.

Outside of trade talks, some corporate news surfaced Wednesday after a typically quiet early summer stretch.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck is buying Verona Pharma, a U.K. company that focuses on respiratory diseases, in an approximately $10 billion deal. If approved by Verona shareholders and U.K. officials, Merck will get access to Verona’s chronic obstructive pulmonary disease medication Ohtuvayre. Verona shares jumped 20.6% on the news, while Merck shares rose 2.9%.

Biden’s former doctor refuses to answer questions in House Republican probe

Biden’s former doctor refuses to answer questions in House Republican probe

By MATT BROWN and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s former White House physician refused on Wednesday to answer questions as part of the House Republican investigation into Biden’s health in office.

Dr. Kevin O’Connor invoked doctor-patient privilege and his rights under the Fifth Amendment during a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, his attorney and lawmakers said.

Republicans on the Oversight Committee subpoenaed O’Connor last month as part of a their sweeping investigation into Biden’s health and his mental fitness as president. They claim some policies carried out during Biden’s term through the use of the White House autopen may be illegitimate if it’s proven the Democrat was mentally incapacitated for some of his term.

Biden has strongly denied that he was not in a right state of mind at any point while in office, calling the claims “ridiculous and false.”

David Schertler, one of O’Connor’s lawyers, said the doctor had “no choice” but to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights in testimony before the committee. Schertler cited both O’Connor’s responsibilities to protect patient privacy as a doctor and the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into Biden’s use of the autopen.

Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Oversight chair, said O’Connor’s refusal to testify made it “clear there was a conspiracy.”

“The American people demand transparency, but Dr. O’Connor would rather conceal the truth,” Comer said in a statement.

Witnesses routinely invoke their Fifth Amendment rights in testimony to Congress. Allies of President Donald Trump, for example, invoked their rights when refusing to testify to the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

Comer has has sought testimony from nearly a dozen former Biden aides as he conducts his investigation, including former White House chiefs of staff Ron Klain and Jeff Zients; former senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn; former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, former counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti, former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and a former assistant to the president, Ashley Williams.

He has also issued a subpoena for Anthony Bernal, the former chief of staff to former first lady Jill Biden.

Trump’s White House has waived executive privilege, a right that protects many communications between the president and staff from Congress and the courts, for almost all of those senior staffers. That clears the way for those staffers to discuss their conversations with Biden while he was president.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, dismissed the Republican investigation as a waste of time.

“Oversight Republicans could be working to lower costs for American families and conducting oversight of President Trump’s corruption, but instead are obsessed with the past,” he said.

Comer has said his committee will release a report of all its findings after the probe is complete.

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