Dockworkers dispute, cold Feb. chill auto sales Average price of a vehicle rises to $32,245
In this Jan. 13, 2015 file photo, Ford F-150 pickup trucks are lined up at the Lee Sapp Ford dealership in Ashland, Neb. Ford's U.S. sales were down 1.9 percent in February, the company reported Tuesday, March 3, 2015, as dealers lacked the inventory to meet demand for the new F-150 pickup truck.
(Nati Harnik, Associated Press)
Stock Market Headlines:
Stock futures are edging lower, alongside most European markets. Dow Jones futures are down 51points, Nasdaq futures are behind 12.25 points and S&P 500 futures are declining 6.5 points. (CNN Money)
Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower today as caution set in ahead of a European Central Bank meeting on Thursday and the all-important U.S. jobs report due out Friday, which could provide some clues about the timing of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike this year. (Alliance News)
U.S. crude-oil futures edged higher today ahead of U.S. inventory numbers. (MarketWatch)
U.S. Business Headlines:
Freezing temperatures affected U.S. auto sales in February. But even after considering the impact of cold weather, a majority of the automakers have reported gains all thanks to the strong economy. (West Texas News)
Abercrombie & Fitch posted a worse-than-expected 14 percent drop in sales in its holiday quarter and said it expects challenges to persist throughout the first half of the year. (Wall Street Journal)
The U.S. has so much crude it is running out of places to put it, and that could drive oil and gasoline prices even lower in the coming months. (Associated Press)
Pizza Hut is working with Visa and tech consultancy Accenture to develop a concept car that will test mobile online purchases on the go. (PC Magazine)
Technology Headlines:
The top U.S. patent court in Washington hears an appeal today in one of two remaining cases in the "smartphone war" between Apple and Samsung that at one point spanned four continents. (Bloomberg News)
Uber, one of the best-funded private technology groups in Silicon Valley, has made its first acquisition as it attempts to improve the taxi app service. (Financial Times)
Nvidia, a major manufacturer of PC graphics technologies, will enter the home console market this summer with the launch of its Android-based entertainment system, Shield. (The Guardian)
Audi and AT&T confirmed Tuesday all of the German car company's vehicles for the 2016 model year will come with 3G or 4G LTE connectivity courtesy of AT&T. (Modern Readers)
World Business Headlines:
Britain's state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland will axe up to 14,000 jobs by 2019 in a retreat from investment banking. (AFP News)
Toyota will elevate U.S. executive Julie Hamp and add Europe boss Didier Leroy to its board in a wide shuffle aiming to inject more diversity into the world's biggest automaker. (Automotive News)
The euro zone economy is sprouting more green shoots than anticipated just as the European Central Bank fires up a money printing program worth more than 1 trillion euros. (Reuters)
Indian banks hinted they could cut lending rates as early as next month, after a second interest rate cut in two months heaped pressure on lenders that have largely kept rates unchanged, citing weak credit demand and a lack of liquidity. (Reuters)
The British government has agreed to sell its stake in Eurostar, the high-speed rail service that connects London with Paris and Brussels through a tunnel under the English Channel, for $1.1 billion. (Associated Press)