Update on the latest business

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^FINANCIAL MARKETS

S&P 500 touches record high

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks have touched a record today, driven by solid corporate profits and gains by technology companies.

Chipmaker Intel jumped after reporting a standout quarter and lifted the tech sector. Communications stocks also made solid gains.

Banks rose as bond yields moved higher.

Consumer product makers, utilities and real estate companies lagged the market.

The rally is helping to solidify the broader market's weekly gains. It would be the third straight weekly gain.

Friday marks the close of a busy week for earnings that have mostly been surprisingly good. More big names will release their earnings results next week, including Apple, Pfizer and General Motors.

^WALL STREET PROFITS

Average Wall Street salary dropped to $399K last year

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state's comptroller says salaries on Wall Street dropped by 5.6% last year.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli reports Friday that the average 2018 salary, including bonuses, for securities industry employees in New York City was $398,600. That's down from $422,500 in 2017, which was the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

The salary drop tracks with a decline in bonuses, which can account for more than a third of Wall Street wages.

Pretax profits in the securities industry reached $15.1 billion in the first six months of 2019. That's an 11% increase over the same period last year and the best start in a decade.

But DiNapoli said a slowdown in the global economy and other factors pose threats to Wall Street profits in the second half of 2019.

^BREXIT

EU envoys agree that Brexit extension is needed

BRUSSELS (AP) — EU ambassadors have agreed on the principle of granting Britain's request for another extension to the Brexit deadline but have yet to decide on the length of the new delay.

Speaking Friday after EU ambassadors met with the EU Brexit chief negotiator Michel Barnier, European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said ambassadors "have agreed to the principle of an extension" and their work will "continue in the coming days."

Britain is scheduled to leave the 28-nation bloc on Oct. 31 but has asked for a three-month extension to that deadline.

A European diplomat, speaking anonymously because discussions are ongoing, said EU ambassadors will meet again on Monday to discuss the length of the Brexit extension.

^INDONESIA-LION AIR CRASH

Lion Air report says various issues led to crash

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian investigation has found a Lion Air flight that crashed and killed 189 people a year ago was doomed by a combination of aircraft design flaws, inadequate training and maintenance problems.

A report released Friday said Lion Air flight 610, from Indonesia's capital Jakarta to the island of Sumatra, crashed partly because the pilots weren't told how to quickly respond to malfunctions of the Boeing 737 Max 8 jet's automated flight-control system.

The jet plunged into the Java Sea minutes after its takeoff on Oct. 29, 2018.

Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee said the automated system, known as MCAS, relied on a single "angle of attack" sensor that provided erroneous information, automatically shoving the nose of the Max jet down.

The report identified various missteps prior to the crash.

Boeing issued a statement vowing "to prevent the flight control conditions that occurred in the accident from ever happening again."

^GERMANY-ECONOMY

German consumer confidence drops over Brexit, other concerns

BERLIN (AP) — A new study shows German consumers are growing more pessimistic amid growing concerns about the global economic downturn, trade conflicts and Brexit.

The forward-looking GfK consumer climate index dropped to 9.6 points for November, down 0.2 points over October, the Nuremberg-based company said Friday.

In underlying figures, consumers' economic expectations dropped to minus 13.8 in October from minus 9 in September, their income expectations dropped to 39 from 46.8, and their propensity to buy dropped to 51.7 from 55.1.

GfK says: "besides known risk factors such as the global economic downturn, trade conflicts and Brexit chaos, there are increasing reports of job losses, such as in the automotive industry and on the financial markets... these events have dampened the mood of consumers again and optimism is dwindling."

^FACEBOOK-NEWS TAB

Facebook launches a news section - and will pay publishers

Facebook is introducing the "News Tab," a new section in its mobile app that will display news headlines selected by journalists. Publishers will be paid for the use of their material.

The social network has long been at odds with news publishers who complain it benefits from sharing of their stories without paying for them.

It's potentially a big step for a platform long characterized by its difficulties stamping out misinformation and its unwillingness to contract with publishers.

The tab will include headlines from the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, Business Insider, NBC, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, as well as local headlines from several of the largest U.S. cities.

^DEVOS-CONTEMPT

Education Secretary held in contempt of court in loan forgiveness dispute

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt of court for violating an order to stop collecting loans from thousands of former for-profit college students.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim issued the ruling Thursday in San Francisco. She also fined the Education Department $100,000.

Kim previously ordered DeVos to stop collecting federal loans from former Corinthian Colleges students who applied for loan forgiveness after the chain shut down in 2015 amid allegations of fraud.

The Obama administration sought to make it easier for defrauded students to get loans forgiven, but the Trump administration has worked to tighten the rules.

The Education Department acknowledged in September that it continued to collect loans from more than 3,000 former Corinthian students, prompting Kim's response.

The department did not immediately comment.

^CLIMATE FUND

Pledges for global climate fund reach about $11 billion

PARIS (AP) — France's finance minister says pledges to replenish an international fund meant to help poor nations tackle climate change will reach nearly 10 billion euros ($11 billion).

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, speaking at a conference in Paris set to replenish the Green Climate Fund, said "it's a great success."

He added "this is a European success," noting that almost half of the amount is provided by France, Germany and Britain alone.

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withhold $2 billion of the $3 billion pledged by his predecessor, Barack Obama, has contributed to a shortfall at the fund that other countries have struggled to fill.

The meeting takes place a little over a month before the U.N.'s annual climate conference, which will be held in Santiago, Chile, this year.

^BELGIUM-EARNS-AB INBEV

World's largest beer maker sees sales dip

BRUSSELS (AP) — The world's largest brewer, the maker of Budweiser and Corona, says the amount of beer it sold fell in the third quarter largely due to weaker demand as well as temporary shipping disruptions in China.

AB Inbev, a multinational based in Belgium, said sales of beer by volume fell 0.9%. Its overall revenue grew 2.7% to $13.2 billion as it managed to increase the profitability of some products.

The company noted consumers are looking for more sophisticated products, a trend that has hurt sales for some of its top brands in recent years.

While trying to develop more premium beers for wealthier consumers, it is also focusing on cheaper products in developing countries, where sales have been particularly good in Latin America.

^WEST VIRGINIA GOVERNOR-COAL FINES

West Virginia governor's companies ordered to pay $35M

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — Companies tied to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice have been ordered to pay $35 million in damages for defaulting on a mining contract.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the lawsuit stems from a 2005 deal in which Kentucky Fuel gained the right to mine coal in Breathitt County in exchange for royalties. The company, operated at the time by Justice, never mined the coal.

New London Tobacco Market and its agent, Fivemile Energy LLC, sued in 2012.

The $35 million judgment against Kentucky Fuel and the James C. Justice Companies won't end the case.

The Justice companies are asking the judge to reconsider how much they will have to pay and vowing to appeal if he doesn't change his mind.

^AMERICAN DREAM-OPENING

American Dream to open with fanfare but will shoppers come?

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — American Dream is opening its doors to the public as the second largest mall in the country. But changing shopping behaviors raise questions about who will show up.

The mall was conceived in New Jersey more than two decades ago, when the iPhone didn't exist, Amazon was only selling books online and malls were a destination for all shopping needs.

That has changed dramatically, with many consumers making their purchases online and from their phones without ever having to leave their couch.

Amid that new reality, American Dream is trying to stay relevant by offering more than a dozen entertainment attractions like a 16-story indoor ski slope, rollercoaster, waterpark and eventually 450 retail, food and specialty shops.