Stock markets surge Monday on signs of a trade truce between US and China
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McDonald's plans summertime hiring binge
McDonald's Corp. and its franchisees plan to recruit as many as 375,000 workers across the United States this summer in what the burger chain says is its biggest hiring spree in years. The Big Mac seller is gearing up to serve more customers as the weather warms up and the company expands, according to an announcement Monday. McDonald's said in 2023 that it would open 900 US locations over the following four years. The positions aren't intended to be seasonal or temporary. Roughly 800,000 people work at McDonald's restaurants. About 95 percent of the chain's more than 13,500 US locations are franchised, meaning they're run independently by operators who hire their own staff and set wages. The hiring announcement follows a disappointing first quarter for McDonald's, with executives pointing to consumer economic distress. Third-party data suggest that US trends have improved in April, thanks in part to the launch of a limited-time Minecraft meal. McDonald's estimates that about one in eight Americans have worked for the chain. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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AIR TRAVEL
Flying through Newark? Keep waiting
Most flights destined for Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were being delayed at their origin airports by more than an hour and 40 minutes Monday because of a shortfall in air traffic control staffing. The Federal Aviation Administration said in an advisory that it was delaying the incoming flights from all US airports and some in Canada. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Limited staffing, software and hardware problems, and runway construction have caused sometimes lengthy delays at Newark in recent weeks. While incoming flights were being held, few flights to or from Newark had been canceled, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking firm. Delays can have cascading effects on flights around the world. Monday's delay is the latest in a string of setbacks for Newark, one of the nation's busiest airports and a large hub for United Airlines. On Friday, an air traffic control facility that guides planes at the airport had a brief radar outage. A similar outage earlier in the month had left controllers unable to communicate with pilots for about 90 seconds. The Trump administration has also promised to install new fiber-optic cables connecting the airport and the facility, which was recently moved from Long Island in New York to Philadelphia. — NEW YORK TIMES
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FUND-RAISING
US clean-tech firms are eyeing the exits, expert says
Clean-tech companies that were eligible for support under former president Joe Biden are now considering leaving the United States as the Trump administration pulls the plug on financing, according to the former head of the program that vetted the firms. As director of the Loans Programs Office at the US Department of Energy when Biden was president, Jigar Shah helped select roughly 400 companies with development plans to receive grants and loans upwards of $100 million each. Shah, who last year was included in Time magazine's list of the most influential people for his contribution to advancing the clean-energy transition, said that since the inauguration of Donald Trump in January, many of the companies that benefited from Biden-era programs are now looking to shift all or part of their business outside the United States. Against that backdrop, Shah said in an interview that he's been talking to officials in Brussels about re-domiciling companies in Europe. About two-thirds of the businesses are currently headquartered in the United States, he said. Among clean-tech industries represented are nuclear power generation, suppliers for heat pumps and batteries, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
ECONOMY
N.Y. wind farm developer gets no help from White House visit, may kill project
Equinor ASA got no new signals that the Trump administration would reconsider the halt imposed on the Empire Wind project when its CEO met with a top White House official last week. Now the company must decide whether it will kill the project. 'If no progress is made within days, Equinor will be forced to terminate the project,' Molly Morris, president of Equinor Renewables Americas, said Monday. 'We are still fighting every day to find a resolution.' That came after there was no indication of a change in stance from US officials when the Norwegian oil and gas company's chief executive Anders Opedal and other top officials met with US National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on May 6, spokesperson Magnus Eidsvold said Monday. A termination would cause the company to lose much of its $2.7 billion investment on the project. 'It would be a direct impact to Equinor and our balance sheet,' Morris said. The $5 billion project was halted in April when Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the Biden administration had rushed its approvals. Empire 1 was fully-permitted and slated to start commercial operation in 2027. Its 54 turbines were designed to power 500,000 homes. The halt on Empire is bigger than Equinor or even offshore wind, Morris said. 'It's about honoring contracts and financial investments made in the US,' she said. 'They are setting a dangerous precedent by stopping a project in mid-execution.' — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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TECHNOLOGY
Trump, Apple CEO Cook speak as phonemaker weighs first major price hike since 2017.
President Trump said he spoke with Apple Inc. chief executive Tim Cook on Monday, just as the iPhone maker was reported to be considering price increases later this year. Apple is weighing whether to raise prices for an iPhone lineup coming in the fall, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter whom it didn't identify. The company is exploring whether to 'couple' price increases with new features and designs, while trying to avoid the perception that any hikes are tied to US tariffs, the Journal reported. Apple didn't respond to Bloomberg's request for comment. A few hours after the Journal report, Trump said he had spoken to Cook. He didn't address the potential price increases, instead focusing on how he thinks the company will end up raising its US spending plan beyond the $500 billion that it had pledged in February. 'He's going to be building a lot of plants in the US for Apple,' Trump said. Consumers and analysts have been bracing for Apple price increases for more than a month. Apple hasn't changed the starting price of its flagship iPhone model since it debuted the iPhone X in 2017 — keeping it at $999. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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CNN
33 minutes ago
- CNN
US and China set to kick off fresh round of trade talks in London over intractable issues
A new round of trade negotiations between the United States and China is set to begin Monday in London as both sides try to preserve a fragile truce brokered last month. The fresh talks were announced last week after a long-anticipated phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which appeared to ease tensions that erupted over the past month following a surprise agreement in Geneva. In May, the two sides agreed to drastically roll back tariffs on each other's goods for an initial 90-day period. The mood was upbeat. However, sentiment soured quickly over two major sticking points: China's control over so-called rare earths minerals and its access to semiconductor technology originating from the US. Beijing's exports of rare earths and their related magnets are expected to take center stage at the London meeting. But experts say Beijing is unlikely to give up its strategic grip over the essential minerals, which are needed in a wide range of electronics, vehicles and defense systems. 'China's control over rare earth supply has become a calibrated yet assertive tool for strategic influence,' Robin Xing, Morgan Stanley's chief China economist, wrote in a Monday research note. 'Its near-monopoly of the supply chain means rare earths will remain a significant bargaining chip in trade negotiations.' Since the talks in Geneva, Trump has accused Beijing of effectively blocking the export of rare earths, announcing additional chip curbs and threatening to revoke the US visas of Chinese students. The moves have provoked backlash from China, which views Washington's decisions as reneging on its trade promises. All eyes will be on whether both sides can come to a consensus in London on issues of fundamental importance. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng. On Saturday, Beijing appeared to send conciliatory signals. A spokesperson for China's Commerce Ministry, which oversees the export controls, said it had 'approved a certain number of compliant applications.' 'China is willing to further enhance communication and dialogue with relevant countries regarding export controls to facilitate compliant trade,' the spokesperson said. Kevin Hassett, head of the National Economic Council at the White House, told CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday that the US side would be looking to restore the flow of rare earth minerals. 'Those exports of critical minerals have been getting released at a rate that is higher than it was, but not as high as we believe we agreed to in Geneva,' he said, adding that he is 'very comfortable' with a trade deal being made after the talks. In April, as tit-for-tat trade tension between the two countries escalated, China imposed a new licensing regime on seven rare earth minerals and several magnets, requiring exporters to seek approvals for each shipment and submit documentation to verify the intended end use of these materials. Following the trade truce negotiated in Geneva, the Trump administration expected China to lift restrictions on those minerals. But Beijing's apparent slow-walking of approvals triggered deep frustration within the White House, CNN reported last month. Rare earths are a group of 17 elements that are more abundant than gold and can be found in many countries, including the United States. But they're difficult, costly and environmentally polluting to extract and process. China controls 90% of global rare earth processing. Experts say it's possible that Beijing may seek to use its leverage over rare earths to get Washington to ease its own export controls aimed at blocking China's access to advanced US semiconductors and related technologies. The American Chamber of Commerce in China said on Friday that some Chinese suppliers of American companies have received six-month export licenses. Reuters also reported that suppliers of major American carmakers – including General Motors, Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis – were granted temporary export licenses for a period of up to six months. While China may step up the pace of license approvals to cool the diplomatic temperature, global access to Chinese rare earth minerals will likely remain more restricted than it was before April, according to a Friday research note by Leah Fahy, a China economist and other experts at Capital Economics, a London-based consultancy. 'Beijing had become more assertive in its use of export controls as tools to protect and cement its global position in strategic sectors, even before Trump hiked China tariffs this year,' the note said. As China tackles a tariff war with the US head on, it's clear that it is continuing to cause economic pain at home. Trade data released Monday painted a gloomy picture for the country's export-reliant economy. Its overall overseas shipments rose by just 4.8% in May compared to the same month a year earlier, according to data released by China's General Administration of Customs. It was a sharp slowdown from the 8.1% recorded in April, and lower than the estimate of 5.0% export growth from a Reuters poll of economists. Its exports to the US suffered a steep decline of 34.5%. The sharp monthly fall widened from a 21% drop in April and came despite the trade truce announced on May 12 that brought American tariffs on Chinese goods down from 145% to 30%. Still, Lü Daliang, a spokesperson for the customs department, talked up China's economic strength, telling the state-run media Xinhua that China's goods trade has demonstrated 'resilience in the face of external challenges.' Meanwhile, deflationary pressures continue to stalk the world's second-largest economy, according to data released separately on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In May, China's Consumer Price Index (CPI), a benchmark for measuring inflation, dropped 0.1% compared to the same month last year. Factory-gate deflation, measured by the Producer Price Index (PPI), worsened with a 3.3% decrease in May from a year earlier. Last month's drop marks the sharpest year-on-year contraction in 22 months, according to NBS data. Dong Lijuan, chief statistician at the NBS, attributed the decline in producer prices, which measures the average change in prices received by producers of goods and services, to a drop in global oil and gas prices, as well as the decrease in prices for coal and other raw materials due to low cyclical demand. The high base of last year was cited as another reason for the decline, Dong said in a statement. CNN's Hassan Tayir, Simone McCarthy, Fred He contributed reporting.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NATO chief Rutte calls for 400% increase in the alliance's air and missile defense
LONDON (AP) — NATO members need to increase their air and missile defenses by 400% to counter the threat from Russia, the head of the military alliance plans to say on Monday. Secretary-General Mark Rutte will say during a visit to London that NATO must take a 'quantum leap in our collective defense' to face growing instability and threats, according to extracts released by NATO before Rutte's speech. Rutte is due to meet U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing St. ahead of a NATO summit in the Netherlands where the 32-nation alliance is likely to commit to a big hike in military spending. Like other NATO members, the U.K. has been reassessing its defense spending since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Starmer has pledged to increase British defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027 and to 3% by 2034. Rutte has proposed a target of 3.5% of economic output on military spending and another 1.5% on 'defense-related expenditure' such as roads, bridges, airfields and sea ports. He said last week he is confident the alliance will agree to the target at its summit in The Hague on June 24-25. At the moment, 22 of the 32 member countries meet or exceed NATO's current 2% target. The new target would meet a demand by President Donald Trump that member states spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense. Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the U.S. provides security to European countries that don't contribute enough. Rutte plans to say in a speech at the Chatham House think tank in London that NATO needs thousands more armored vehicles and millions more artillery shells, as well as a 400% increase in air and missile defense. 'We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,' he plans to say. 'Wishful thinking will not keep us safe. We cannot dream away the danger. Hope is not a strategy. So NATO has to become a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance.' European NATO members, led by the U.K. and France, have scrambled to coordinate their defense posture as Trump transforms American foreign policy, seemingly sidelining Europe as he looks to end the war in Ukraine. Last week the U.K. government said it would build new nuclear-powered attack submarines, prepare its army to fight a war in Europe and become 'a battle-ready, armor-clad nation.' The plans represent the most sweeping changes to British defenses since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US stock futures little changed ahead of US-China trade talks
U.S. stock futures are little changed with inflation data due and possibly, some clarity on where the U.S. and China stand on trade issues and how the Senate may vote on the more than 1,000-page tax bill before it. The May consumer price index report, due midweek, could provide insight into whether the tariff rollercoaster is reviving inflation. It is the first full month of data since President Donald Trump announced his aggressive tariff plan on April 2. Many of the harshest tariffs have been rolled back or paused, but some have kicked in. Wholesale price data are due the next day and could give investors an idea of whether there is inflation coming down the pipeline to Americans. Wholesale prices are what businesses pay for their goods and services. At the end of the week, a new consumer sentiment reading from the University of Michigan also includes data on inflation expectations. Separately, officials from the U.S. and China are expected to hold trade talks in London, Trump said last week. The talks follow a phone call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping after Trump accused China of violating terms of a tariff pause agreed on last month in Switzerland. At 5:45 a.m. ET, futures linked to the blue-chip Dow rose 0.12%, while broad S&P 500 futures added 0.12% and tech-heavy Nasdaq futures were flat. All three indexes closed higher last week, and the S&P 500 is now less than 3% from its record high. The S&P 500 topped the 6,000 mark for the first time since Feb. 21. Investors will also continue to watch the path of the One, Big Beautfil bill in the Senate after a public and fierce tit-for-tat exchange between Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and Trump over social media about the tax bill. Musk called the bill a "pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination," and Trump called Musk "crazy." Cryptocurrency platform Gemini said it confidentially submitted a draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering of class A shares. The IPO is expected after the SEC review process, it said in a release. Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@ and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US stock futures little changed ahead of US-China trade talks Sign in to access your portfolio
