Marketplace Minute

Small business optimism falls; gold hits a new record; EPA tightens rules for chemical plants.

Small business hiring plans are at the lowest levels since May 2020, NFIB finds; Norfolk Southern agrees to $600 million settlement for East Palestine derailment; EPA issues tougher chemical plant emissions rule; European countries along North Sea form alliance to protect infrastructure.

A muted day on Wall Street; consumers’ inflation expectations are stable; Biden Administration to provide more student loan relief.

A slow period for tourism has gotten an eclipse boost; salvage crews begin removing containers off ship that crashed into Baltimore bridge; Biden administration is canceling accrued interest on student loan debt; Commerce Department to provide $6.6 billion to TSMC to build chip manufacturing hub in Phoenix.

Stocks close higher; average pay continues to outpace inflation; unemployment rate ticks down; consumer credit rises.

Private and public employers added 303,000 jobs in March; average wages increased 0.3% between February and March; engineers expect to increase vessel access to Baltimore’s port by the end of the month; Yellen, in China visit, points to manufacturing overcapacity.

Stocks fall; imports of consumer goods, food and vehicles increase; Cleveland Fed president wants to see a couple more months of data; unemployment claims rise.

Disney CEO says password crackdown coming in June; Boeing pays Alaska Airlines $160 million for Max problems; Kiss sells catalog to virtual concert creator; initial jobless claims rise to two-month high, but are still historically low.

Stocks close mixed; leisure and hospitality sector adds most jobs; service sector expands at slower pace; Powell says the Fed remains on track for rate cuts.

U.S. car sales soar in Q1; Tesla sales plummet; Disney shareholders to vote on proxy battle; Intel’s production unit loses $7 billion.