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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are tumbling in early Wall Street trading as investors find little to like in the latest batch of corporate earnings. Simmering tensions with North Korea are also weighing on the market. Macy's slumped 4.3 percent after reporting its 10th straight decline in a key sales measure. Meal kit company Blue Apron plunged 14.6 percent after reporting a decline in customers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for unemployment aid last week. The Labor Department says weekly applications rose by 3,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 244,000. But the less volatile four-week average declined 1,000 to 241,000. Jobless claims have come in below 300,000 for 127 weeks in a row. That's the longest such stretch since 1970, when the U.S. population was much smaller.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices at the wholesale level have posted their first decline in 11 months, though it's only a slight dip. The Labor Department says its producer price index edged down one-tenth of a percent last month, after rising by the same amount in June. Food prices were flat and energy prices declined for the third straight month. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, also fell 0.1 percent in July.
UNDATED (AP) — Consumer Reports is pulling its recommendation of four Microsoft laptops after one of its surveys found users were complaining of start-up and freezing problems. The consumer advocacy group says it can no longer recommend Microsoft laptops or tablets because of poor reliability compared to other brands. The devices losing their "recommended" status are the Surface Laptop (128GB and 256GB versions) and Surface Book (128GB and 512GB versions). Microsoft says the findings don't accurately reflect Surface owners' "true experiences."
VIENNA (AP) — Production of crude oil across all OPEC countries rose again in July, to above the estimated level of global demand. In a market report today the cartel said its members' production rose by 173,000 daily barrels in July to an average of 32.9 million barrels a day. That puts it above the estimated global demand for OPEC oil this year of 32.4 million barrels a day. The group agreed in May to extend a production cut to March next year in an effort to support market prices, but not all countries are observing the commitment.
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