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BUSINESS Saturday 14 OctOber 2017
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Toshiba, Bain Techs lift US stocks higher, but insurers skid Energy surge sends
execs join push By MARLEY JAY tations or slightly above, stocks slid 2.51 points, or 0.2 consumer prices up
0.5% in September
for chips sale AP Markets Writer I think markets maintain percent, to 1,502.66. By M. CRUTSINGER
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S.
By YURI KAGEYAMA stocks finished mostly high- AP Economics Writer
AP Business Writer er Friday to wrap up a sub- WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S.
YOKKAICHI, Japan (AP) — dued week, and technol- consumer prices rose 0.5
At Toshiba’s flash-memory ogy companies did most of percent in September, the
chip plant in Yokkaichi, the the heavy lifting. Investors largest increase in eight
orderly quiet of the clean were also pleased to see months. The result reflects
room, with its metal boxes that shoppers spent more another big jump in energy
zipping around on over- money in September. prices in the aftermath of
head rails, contrasts sharp- Printer and PC maker HP Hurricane Harvey, which
ly with the messy feud be- sent technology compa- shut Gulf Coast refiner-
tween its owners over plans nies higher after releasing ies and caused gasoline
to sell this prized asset. a strong profit forecast for prices to spike around the
Toshiba plans to sell its next year. Big names like country.
memory chip business to Intel and Facebook also The September increase in
a multinational consortium rose. Companies in retail, the closely watched con-
led by Bain Capital invest- travel and entertainment Trader Michael Milano works on the floor of the New York Stock sumer price index was the
Exchange, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Stocks are opening slightly
ment fund. moved up after the Com- lower on Wall Street, a day after setting their latest record highs. biggest one-month gain
The Japanese electron- merce Department’s re- (AP Photo/Richard Drew) since a 0.6 percent rise in
ics and energy conglom- port on retail spending. January, the Labor Depart-
erate’s U.S. joint venture Health insurers and hospi- these gains,” he said. Lynch The Commerce Depart- ment reported Friday.
partner Western Digital op- tal operators skidded after said earnings for Standard ment said retail sales grew Energy prices shot up 6.1
poses the deal. President Donald Trump & Poor’s 500 companies 1.6 percent in September percent, led by a 13.1 per-
The plant in Yokkaichi, said he will stop govern- should rise five or six per- after a small decline in cent surge in gasoline. An-
290 kilometers (180 miles) ment payments to insur- cent for the quarter. If that August. Much of the gain alysts believe the impact
southwest of Tokyo, makes ance companies under the doesn’t happen, he said came from car and gas- of the hurricane will be
highly lucrative SanDisk Affordable Care Act. the S&P 500 could decline oline sales: sales of cars temporary.
memory chips — the busi- Bank of America climbed four or five percent by the jumped as people living Core inflation, which ex-
ness Toshiba has agreed to while Wells Fargo faded as end of the year. That’s in the Southeast and Gulf cludes volatile food and
sell to a consortium head- banks continued to report not a huge loss, but stocks Coast replaced vehicles energy, rose a tiny 0.1 per-
ed by investment compa- their third-quarter results. haven’t fallen that much that were destroyed by hur- cent in September.
ny Bain Capital for 2 trillion But in the early going, in- since early 2016. ricanes Harvey and Irma, Over the past year, overall
yen ($18 billion). vestors don’t seem as ex- The Standard & Poor’s 500 which also caused tem- prices are up 2.2 percent,
Executives heading Toshi- cited about this round of index added 2.24 points, porary spikes in gas prices. while core inflation has ris-
ba Corp.’s memory busi- company earnings com- or 0.1 percent, to 2,553.17. But other types of spending en 1.7 percent.
ness and Bain Capital Ja- pared to earlier in the year. The Dow Jones industrial grew by a solid amount as The changes in inflation
pan insisted Friday they will Sean Lynch, the co-head average picked up 30.71 well. HP forecast a larger from the third quarter this
go ahead with the sale by of global equity strategy points, or 0.1 percent, to annual profit than analysts year compared to the
March, if not earlier. for Wells Fargo Investment 22,871.72. The Nasdaq expected, and also said it third quarter a year ago
Toshiba Memory Chief Yas- Institute, said that unless this composite gained 14.29 will return at least 50 per- will result in a cost-of-living
uo Naruke and Bain Japan batch of corporate reports points, or 0.2 percent, to cent of its free cash flow adjustment of 2 percent
chief Yuji Sugimoto led a is surprisingly good, stocks close at a record high of to shareholders by paying next year for more than 70
media tour of the factory in won’t rise much further. 6,605.80. The Russell 2000 dividends or buying back million recipients of Social
Yokkaichi, an industrial hub “If we come in at expec- index of smaller-company stock.q Security and other govern-
in central Japan, where re- ment benefits.
porters were shown the site It is the biggest annual in-
for planned construction Storm surge: crease since a 3.6 percent
of a new building to make rise in 2012.
state-of-the-art chips, US retail sales surge; most in 2 ½ years So far this year, inflation by
called “3D.” That plan will a measure preferred by
go ahead with or without By CHRIS RUGABER ing price spikes after Hur- Americans are optimistic the Federal Reserve has
Western Digital’s consent AP Economics Writer ricanes Harvey and Irma. about the economic out- been falling farther from
or participation, they said. WASHINGTON (AP) — The storms damaged oil look. A measure of con- the Fed’s target of 2 per-
The tour was clearly intend- Americans increased their refineries and pushed up sumer sentiment released cent annual price gains. In
ed not only to highlight spending at retailers last gas prices 13 percent last Friday by the University of the latest month, the an-
the plant’s technological month by the most in two month. Even excluding the Michigan rose to its highest nual increase was just 1.4
prowess but also to dem- and a half years, driven volatile auto and gas cat- level since 2004. The U.S. percent.
onstrate the unity between by strong auto sales as egories, sales rose a solid unemployment rate has hit The Fed has been per-
Bain and Toshiba Memory. residents of hurricane-rav- 0.5 percent, up from a 0.1 a 16-year low, and wages plexed by the slowdown
Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp. aged areas replaced de- percent gain in August. have ticked up in recent in inflation this year, first
is suffering massive losses stroyed cars. Neil Saunders, managing months. That should boost believing it was caused by
from its nuclear business. Its Retail sales rose 1.6 percent director of Global DataRe- spending and broader temporary factors.
U.S. nuclear operations at in September, after slipping tail, said that many analysts economic growth in the But now Federal Reserve
Westinghouse Electric Co. 0.1 percent in August, the worried higher gas prices coming months. Chair Janet Yellen and
filed for bankruptcy earlier Commerce Department would lead Americans to Most of the gains last other Fed officials have
this year. said Friday. spend less elsewhere. month were likely fueled expressed concerns that
To survive, Toshiba must Auto sales jumped 3.6 per- “This did not materialize, by Hurricanes Harvey and something more funda-
part with the memory busi- cent, the most since March and consumers used mod- Irma, which slammed into mental may be at work.
ness, which it spun off in 2015. Gas sales climbed 5.8 est gains in wages ... to Texas, Florida and other The Fed has raised its
July as the last lucrative as- percent, the most in four carry on buying,” Saunders southeastern states in late benchmark lending rate
set it has left to sell.q and a half years, reflect- said. August and September. q twice this year. q