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FINANCIAL MARKETS
Stocks broadly lower
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are moving broadly lower on Wall Street as the market gives back some of its recent gains following a record-setting run.
The benchmark S&P 500 index has risen five straight weeks, notching multiple all-time highs along the way. It's on track to end the month about 2.6% higher.
Technology and communication services companies led the selling today. Homebuilders are down after a report on pending U.S. home sales came in below analysts' expectations. Energy stocks are the only gainers.
FINANCIAL MARKETS-STOCKS
iHeartMedia shares fall
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares in iHeartMedia dropped 1.3% after the New York Post reported that the Department of Justice may block the purchase of the radio station operator by Liberty Media.
Axsome Therapeutics rose 2.9% after the pharmaceutical company reported enouraging results from a trial of its migraine treatment drug.
Lending Tree climbed 2.9% after analysts at Compass Point upgraded the online loan marketplace operator to “buy.”
PENDING HOME SALES
Pending homes sales rebound in November
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans signed more contracts to purchase homes in November, bouncing back from last month's decline, indicating that the housing market is still strong.
The National Association of Realtors says its pending home sales index, which measures the numbers of purchase contracts signed, rose 1.2% last month, to 108.5.
The trade association says that contract signings measured year over year are up a robust 7.4%.
Mortgage rates have fallen sharply in the past year in large part due to the Federal Reserve lowering its benchmark short-term interest rate. Lower rates have somewhat helped to offset rising home prices across the U.S., but affordability remains a persistent challenge for would-be buyers. The median sales price has climbed 5.4% from a year ago to $257,400, outpacing wage growth.
McDONALD’S-COFFEE-EXPLETIVE
McDonald's denies officer was handed coffee with expletive
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — McDonald's is disputing allegations that a Kansas police officer was handed a coffee with an expletive and the word “pig” written on it when he stopped there on his way to work.
Junction City McDonald's owner Dana Cook said in a written statement that the store has video showing it wasn’t their employee.
The coffee situation gained attention after Herington Police Chief Brian Hornaday said in a Facebook post that one of his officers was handed the cup with the obscenity Saturday when he went through the McDonald's drive through in Junction City, which is near Fort Riley.
TURNER ISALND-RENTAL
South Carolina to rent out former Turner family beach house
ST. PHILLIPS ISLAND, S.C. — Guests will soon be able to rent a beach house that once belonged to billionaire Ted Turner's family on a private South Carolina island.
The state's director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism tells The Post and Courier that his department is finishing rehab work on the property and expects to open it for rental starting in spring 2020.
The four-bedroom, four-bathroom house sits on what was once the Turner family compound on St. Phillips Island, across the sound from Hilton Head Island.
The newspaper says the state purchased the land from the media magnate's family in 2018 for $4.9 million after it originally went on the market for $24 million.
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