BUSINESS NEWS MAY 3RD, 2016
U.S. stocks plunged Tuesday after a private gauge of Chinese manufacturing edged lower, reviving growth fears around the globe. While stocks kicked off the first trading day of May in bullish fashion Monday, with the Dow gaining 118 points, the blue chip stock gauge reversed course and gave back all of those gains. In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down about 120 points, or 0.7%, after earlier being down roughly 200 points. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 stock index was 0.8% lower and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.7%. Earlier today, the Caixin purchasing managers index for April showed China's manufacturing gauge falling to 49.4, down from 49.7 in March. Any reading under 50 signals contraction.
AUTO SALES STAY HOT IN APRIL
America's love of trucks and SUVs helped push most automakers to healthy sales gains last month as Honda and Nissan reported best-ever April sales. Ford posted record SUV sales, and Toyota broke a record for SUV and truck sales. Honda led major automakers with a 14.4% sales increase as both its cars and SUVs sold well. Nissan's sales rose 12.8%. Fiat Chrysler was up 6% on record Jeep sales, and Ford rode an April record for SUV sales to a 4% increase. Toyota sales rose 3.8% largely because of the RAV4 small SUV, which broke a monthly record with sales up nearly 32%.
DESTINATION INDIA FOR CHINESE INVESTORS
India’s thriving ‘mobile-first’ internet economy — fuelled by 250 million mobile internet users, its youthful demographics and the fact that it’s the fastest growing economy in the world — has captured the interest of Chinese investors who are looking to make quick financial returns outside their country. A group of 15 Chinese investors representing nine firms who are in Bengaluru to meet and listen to the pitches made by 125 Indian start-ups in the mobile and internet space, told BusinessLine that they plan to collectively invest $1 billion in Indian start-ups over three years. The two-day speed-dating event, called “Date with Chinese Investors”, was organized by Mobile10X (an IAMAI initiative) along with Onionfans, a tech media and investment company.
J&J TO PAY $55M IN TALC-POWDER CANCER LAWSUIT
A jury ordered Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to pay $55 million to a woman who claims talc in the company’s baby powder caused her ovarian cancer. On Monday, a jury in St. Louis, awarded Gloria Ristesund $5 million in damages and $50 million in punitive damages, Reuters reported. The verdict comes months after a jury ordered the company to pay $72 million to the family of an Alabama woman who died from ovarian cancer allegedly caused by using the company’s Baby Powder and other products which contained talc.