FINANCIAL MARKETS
Asian shares slide after more losses on Wall Street
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares have declined today after a late-afternoon sell-off wiped out gains for stocks on Wall Street Thursday.
Tokyo fell 0.9% after Toyota Motor Corp. announced production cuts due to parts shortages. Other major regional markets also fell.
Oil prices slipped, with the U.S. benchmark crude down 2.3%.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 lost 1.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%. The Nasdaq slumped 1.3% as technology stocks dropped. Investors are bracing for higher interest rates and shares in pricey tech companies and other expensive growth stocks look relatively less attractive. Stocks are headed for weekly losses in what has so far been a losing month.
JAPAN-TOYOTA
Toyota production in Japan hit by parts crunch from COVID-19
TOKYO (AP) — The shortage of parts caused by the coronavirus pandemic is further denting production at Toyota, Japan’s top automaker.
Toyota will halt production at 11 plants in Japan for three days, on top of reductions planned in February. Supplies are running short because of a lack of computer chips.
Toyota says this will reduce production in January by 47,000 vehicles. That means the automaker will fall short of the 9 million vehicles planned for the fiscal year through March, despite healthy demand. The pandemic has disrupted other areas including shipping, the oil supply and meat packing.
One analyst says supply problems aren’t expected to end soon and are costing manufacturers as much as $50 million a week.
NETFLIX RESULTS
Netflix stock plunges as subscriber growth worries deepen
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Netflix delivered its latest quarter of disappointing subscriber growth during the final three months of last year, a trend that management foresees continuing into the new year as tougher competition is undercutting the video streaming leader.
The company added 8.3 million worldwide subscribers during the October-December period, about 200,000 fewer than management had forecast. Netflix predicted subscriber growth well below analyst estimates for the first three months of this year, too.
The disappointing news caused Netflix’s stock price to plunge by 20 percent. The stock has experienced a steep decline during the past two months.
EARNS-CSX
CSX railroad’s Q4 profit jumps 23% even though volume slips
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — CSX railroad’s fourth-quarter profit jumped 23% even though volume slipped amid the ongoing supply chain challenges. The Jacksonville, Florida-based railroad says it earned $934 million, or 42 cents per share. That’s up from $760 million, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier.
CSX says the number of shipments it delivered declined 2% as auto production remained weak because of the shortage of computer chips but demand for most industrial shipments remained strong and the railroad delivered nearly the same number of containers of imported goods as it did the previous year.
The results beat Wall Street expectations.
PELOTON TUMBLES
Peloton pauses production on bikes, treadmills
NEW YORK (AP) — Peloton’s shares tumbled on Thursday after a media report said the exercise and treadmill company was temporarily halting production of its connected fitness products amid waning consumer demand. Shares were down nearly 24%, or $7.62 on the news.
Peloton plans to pause production of its main stationary bikes for two months, from February to March, according to CNBC, citing confidential documents. The news site says that Peloton already halted production of its more expensive Bike+ in December and will do so until June.
The move is the latest in a string of bad news for Peloton, which was one of the early pandemic success stories.
PLANES-CARBON MONOXIDE
NTSB: Require small planes to have carbon monoxide detectors
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. crash investigators want the government to require owners of small planes to install carbon monoxide detectors. The National Transportation Safety Board made the recommendation Thursday to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The NTSB says 42 people died in 23 fatal crashes since 1982 that were attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning.
The safety board says carbon monoxide from engines can get inside the cabin through defects or corrosion in exhaust systems or other parts of small planes.
The NTSB says it made a similar recommendation to the FAA in 2004. The FAA recommended that owners and operators of general-aviation planes install detectors, inspect exhaust systems and replace mufflers at regular intervals, but did not require those steps.
GEOTHERMAL PLANT-NEVADA LAWSUIT
Nevada geothermal power lawsuit bound for US appeals court
RENO, Nevada (AP) — A federal appeals court will have to decide whether protecting historical tribal lands and a rare toad warrant blocking a major geothermal plant in Nevada as the nation tries to move away from fossil fuels amid a looming climate crisis.
Ormat Technologies says it may abandon the project if a 90-day court order remains in place into March. The legal battle is headed to a U.S. appellate court in San Francisco after a judge in Nevada denied Ormat’s request to lift the injunction by Feb. 28. The site 100 miles east of Reno is home to a toad being considered for a U.S. endangered species listing.
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