NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed slightly lower as investors returned from the Christmas holiday. The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq all fell less than 0.1% Friday. Trading was light with institutional investors largely closed out for the year. With three trading days left, the S&P 500 has climbed nearly 18% this year. Gold…… MORE
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and must pay 13.5 billion ringgit ($3.3 billion) for his role in the 1MDB corruption scandal. On Friday, the High Court found him guilty of abuse of power and money laundering, linked to over $700 million channeled…… MORE
BRUSSELS (AP) — France, Germany, the European Union and the United Kingdom are hitting out at a U.S. decision to impose travel bans on five Europeans the Trump administration accuses of pressuring tech firms to censor or suppress American views. The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, which supervises tech regulation in Europe, is warning…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy economy expanded at a strong 4.3% annual rate from July through September as consumer spending, exports and government spending all grew. Tuesday’s report from the Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — up from its 3.8% growth rate in…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week and remain at historically healthy levels despite some signs that the labor market is weakening. U.S. applications for jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 20 fell by 10,000 to 214,000 from the previous week’s 224,000, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.…… MORE