NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market has finished trading close to the record levels reached Friday. The Dow dropped 24 points to 17,366, while the S&P lost a fraction of a point, closing just above 2,017. The Nasdaq gained eight points at 4,638. A survey from the Institute for Supply Management survey today showed U.S. manufacturing remains on sound footing even as other parts of the global economy struggle. But falling oil prices weighed on energy stocks, as the price of U.S. benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.76 to $78.78 a barrel in New York.
DETROIT (AP) — Lower gas prices may be spurring sales of cars, pickup trucks and SUVs. GM, Chrysler, Nissan and Honda are all reporting U.S. sales gains last month. The exception is Ford. Its sales fell 2 percent as it cut back on F-Series pickup sales ahead of the launch of its new F-150 later this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sprint says it is eliminating 2,000 jobs or about 5 percent of its staff. It’s part of the wireless carrier’s effort to cut $1.5 billion in annual spending. Japan’s Softbank bought a majority stake in Sprint in 2013 and the company has eliminated thousands of jobs since then. Sprint is the third-largest cellphone carrier in the U.S. behind AT&T and Verizon.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A jury in South Florida has acquitted a former top executive at Swiss bank UBS AG on charges of helping wealthy Americans hide $20 billion in secret accounts from the Internal Revenue Service. The jury deliberated just over an hour before reaching its verdict in the case of Raoul Weil (whyl). He had faced up to five years in prison and $250,000 fine if convicted. Weil’s attorneys blamed any wrongdoing on lower-ranking bankers acting without Weil’s knowledge.
NEW YORK (AP) — Red Lobster is revamping its menu, dropping dishes such as Spicy Tortilla Soup and the Wood-Grilled Pork Chop, while tacking on more dishes featuring lobster. The non-seafood dishes had been added by the chain’s previous owner, Darden Restaurants, in hopes of attracting people who don’t like seafood. The new management says that was a mistake, and seafood is the reason people go to Red Lobster.
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