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WALL STREET
S&P 500 closes at a record high amid signs of recovery from winter freeze
NEW YORK (AP) — The Standard & Poor's 500 stands at a record high this morning.
New signs of life in the U.S. manufacturing sector helped push the stock market higher yesterday. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to 53.7 in March, as the nation's factories revved up following a severe winter. And, the Commerce Department said construction spending rose by 0.1 percent in February, rebounding from 0.2 percent drop in January.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 13.18 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 1,885.52. The gains were broad, with eight out of the ten sectors rising.
The Dow rose 75 points, or 0.5 percent, to 16,532.61. And the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 69 points, or 1.6 percent, to 4,268.04.
WORLD MARKETS
Asian stocks rise on US data, Japan stimulus hopes
MUMBAI, India (AP) — Asian stock markets pushed higher today on signs of a pickup in the U.S. economy and expectations of further stimulus in Japan.
Markets have been optimistic since Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen vowed to keep interest rates low and a survey showed an improvement in U.S. manufacturing activity, with the news apparently outweighing China's manufacturing reports.
The dollar gained against the yen and fell against the euro.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil inched up to remain just below $100 a barrel.
ECONOMY-THE DAY AHEAD
Light day for economic data
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Commerce Department's report on factory orders for February is the lone piece of major economic data expected today.
Orders fell in both January and December. But in the January report was a sign of a potential rebound in business investment. Orders for core capital goods were up 1.5 percent, recovering after a 1.6 percent drop in December.
Investors will also have a corporate earnings report to examine. Monsanto reports quarterly financial results before the market opens this morning.
PIPELINE EXPLOSION
PG&E criminally charged in fatal pipeline blast
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas and Electric has been charged with federal felony counts involving safety violations linked to a 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The indictment charges the utility with 12 felonies and accuses the company of violating numerous federal pipeline safety laws.
Federal prosecutors allege that PG&E knowingly relied on erroneous and incomplete information when assessing the safety of the pipeline that eventually ruptured, sparked a fireball and leveled 38 homes in San Bruno.
About a year after the explosion, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board found that these lapses by PG&E led to the blast.
PG&E Chairman and CEO Tony Earley says the company is holding itself accountable and is deeply sorry.
GENERAL MOTORS-RECALLS-FEINBERG
GM hires Feinberg to advise on recall victims
WASHINGTON (AP) — General Motors has hired attorney Kenneth Feinberg to explore ways to compensate victims of accidents connected to defective ignition switches in its small cars.
GM CEO Mary Barra announced Feinberg's hiring during a House subcommittee hearing Tuesday.
Feinberg, an expert in disaster fund management, handled the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund as well as funds for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and the BP oil spill.
GM has recalled 2.6 million small cars for defective ignition switches. The company says the defect is linked to 13 deaths and dozens of accidents.
Under terms of its 2009 bankruptcy, GM is shielded from liability for injuries that happened before the bankruptcy. But some consumer advocates want the company to set up a fund for victims.
OBIT-CHARLES KEATING
Savings and loan figure Charles Keating dies at 90
PHOENIX (AP) — The financier who was disgraced for his role in the costliest savings and loan failure of the 1980s has died. Charles H. Keating Jr. was 90.
The collapse of the thrift that Keating's home construction company bought cost taxpayers $2.6 billion and tarnished the reputations of Arizona Sen. John McCain and four other U.S. senators who became known as the "Keating Five."
Keating became a national poster boy for corporate greed as the public heard testimony of elderly bondholders who had lost their life savings.
Keating was convicted in state and federal court, but the convictions were thrown out and he agreed to a federal plea deal that freed him after nearly five years in prison.
APPLE-SAMSUNG TRIAL
Samsung: Patents developed by Google engineers
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Samsung attorneys say patents that Apple claims in a lawsuit were infringed are part of the Android software package developed by Google engineers.
Samsung attorney Peter Quinn told jurors in his opening statement Tuesday that Apple is a great company but doesn't own everything and its claims are unfounded.
The finger-pointing occurred in U.S. District Court in San Jose, where, Apple and Samsung are accusing each other of stealing ideas.
Apple lawyer Harold McElhinny says evidence in this case will show that Samsung copied the iPhone.
If Apple prevails in the current case, the cost to Samsung could reach $2 billion. Apple's costs, if it loses the litigation, were expected to be about $6 million.
The two companies have battled in litigation around the world.
NATURAL GAS EXPLOSION
Officials seek clues in natural gas facility blast
UNDATED (AP) — State and federal regulators looking for what caused an explosion at a liquefied natural gas facility on the Washington-Oregon border have begun interviewing injured workers.
Meanwhile, the Benton County Sheriff's Department says a team went inside the damaged processing building with infrared imaging equipment Tuesday and confirmed that there was no lingering fire.
An explosion Monday at the Williams Northwest Pipeline facility outside Plymouth, Wash., injured five employees and ruptured a huge LNG storage tank.
Deputy Joe Lusignan says one worker is still being treated at a hospital in Portland, Ore., for burns to the face and hands, and four others were released after treatment at a different Oregon hospital.
Lusignan says gas continued to leak from the damaged tank, but it was being dissipated by the wind.
OSHA-POWER PLANTS
Government mandates new safety rules for power plants and lines
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is mandating new safety regulations that it says will help protect workers on transmission lines and at electrical power plants.
Assistant Labor Secretary David Michaels says the update to 40-year-old safety standards could save nearly 20 lives and prevent 118 serious injuries each year. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that 74 workers die each year from accidents in these industries.
The agency says the new rules will require better fall protection for workers on poles and towers, protective clothing for some workers and training to avoid electrical hazards.
OSHA announced Tuesday that the new rules will take effect 90 days after being published. Publication is scheduled for April 11.
OSHA has been working on the rules for about a decade.
CHICKEN CHAINS
Chick-fil-A again tops KFC as top chicken chain
NEW YORK (AP) — Chick-fil-A has widened its lead over rival KFC as the No. 1 chicken chain in the U.S. by sales.
Preliminary data from food industry researcher Technomic shows that Atlanta-based Chick-Fil-A held the lead last year because its locations are much busier, even though there are far fewer of them.
Chick-fil-A first surpassed KFC as the top U.S. chicken chain in 2012. KFC is still much bigger globally.
KFC, owned by Yum Brands Inc., has been struggling in recent years, despite a variety of new menu items like boneless chicken pieces and snack cups designed to fit in a car cup holder. It even began testing a more upscale restaurant concept called "KFC eleven."
FACEBOOK LAWSUIT
Federal judge dismisses New York man's claim he's entitled to part-ownership of Facebook
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A federal judge has officially closed the book on a New York man's multibillion-dollar lawsuit claiming half-ownership of Facebook.
Judge Richard Arcara has granted Facebook and founder Mark Zuckerberg's motion to dismiss Paul Ceglia's (SEHG'-lee-uhz) lawsuit.
Last week's ruling affirms a magistrate judge's recommendation from a year ago saying the lawsuit should be thrown out because the contract Ceglia based it on was faked.
Ceglia claimed he and Zuckerberg signed a 2003 software development contract that included a provision entitling him to half-ownership of Facebook in exchange for startup money for the budding company.
Facebook lawyers say the two had a contract but references to Facebook were slipped in for the lawsuit.
Ceglia awaits trial on related criminal fraud charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
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