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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are moving broadly higher in early trading on Wall Street, placing the market on pace to extend its milestone-setting run. The S&P 500 was up 0.6%, with technology, health care and communication stocks driving the rally. Energy companies were the only laggard as oil prices headed lower. Treasury yields were mixed. Investors appeared to shrug off a report showing that U.S. companies added 428,000 jobs in August, far fewer than economists had expected.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A private survey finds that U.S. companies added jobs at a modest pace last month, a sign that while hiring continues, it is only soaking up a relatively small proportion of the unemployed. Payroll processor ADP says businesses added 428,000 jobs in August, a figure that before the pandemic would have represented a healthy gain. But the increase represents a small slice of the 12 million jobs that have been lost to the spread of the coronavirus. The ADP survey comes ahead of the government’s more comprehensive monthly hiring report due out Friday.
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. will offer early retirement incentives with hopes of cutting its U.S. white-collar workforce by 1,400 more positions. The company says it’s part of an $11 billion restructuring plan that started more than a year ago. Most of the reductions will take place in the area of Dearborn, Michigan, where Ford has its headquarters. A spokesman says Ford expects to meet its goals with the offers. If it doesn’t, then it may consider involuntary separations. The offers will go to U.S. salaried workers who are eligible to retire as of Dec. 31.
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy’s is reporting a fiscal second-quarter loss of $431 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier. The retailer said it had a loss of $1.39 per share. Losses, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 81 cents per share. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of $1.78 per share. The department store operator posted revenue of $3.56 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts.
NEW YORK (AP) — Britain’s High Court has approved Virgin Atlantic’s $1.6 billion restructuring plan, allowing the international airline to continue rebuilding its operations after the devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The matter must still be confirmed in a U.S. court tomorrow. The airline announced the refinancing package in July to ensure its survival after passenger numbers dropped 98% in the second quarter. It includes 600 million pounds of support from the airline’s owners, Virgin Group and Delta Airlines, 450 million pounds of deferred payments to creditors and 170 million pounds of financing from U.S.-based Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP.
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