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NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are mixed in early trading today, as investors work through the first batch of earnings from the first quarter of the year. At 10:50 a.m. Eastern Time, the Dow was up 51 points, the S&P 500 was up four points and the Nasdaq was down seven points. Benchmark U.S. crude oil was up 18 cents at $40.54 a barrel in New York. U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.76 percent from 1.73 percent late Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund is again downgrading its forecast for world economic growth, citing unexpected weakness in the U.S. and Japan. The IMF expects global growth of 3.2 percent this year, down from the 3.4 percent it predicted in January. Even the scaled-back forecast would mark an improvement over last year's 3.1 percent growth, the slowest pace since the recession year 2009.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive wants thousands of multinationals doing business in its 28 nations to show where they pay tax and make their profit on a country-by-country basis to be able to close loopholes many have exploited to avoid paying taxes. The proposals would affect companies with more than 750 million euros ($850 million) in global revenues doing business in the EU. The EU estimates that each year it loses up to $80 billion in taxes through avoidance.
DENVER (AP) —Ortho says it will stop using a class of chemicals widely believed to harm bees. The company plans to phase out neonicotinoids (nee-oh-NIH'-kuh-tuh-noyds) by 2021 in eight products used to control garden pests and diseases. It'll change three products for roses, flowers, trees and shrubs by 2017 and other products later. The chemicals, called neonics (NEE'-oh-niks) for short, attack the central nervous systems of insects.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Today is Equal Pay Day, a symbolic event dramatizing how much longer it takes a woman to earn as much as a man. It's also an annual opportunity for Democrats to lambast Republicans for inaction on the issue. Democrats support legislation requiring employers to show that pay disparity is not based on gender, among other steps. But a bill, which passed the House when it was under Democratic control, was blocked by Senate Republicans.
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