AP National Business

BAYTOWN, Texas (AP) — Crews have extinguished a large fire at a Houston-area refinery that left four people injured. The fire started at about 1 a.m. Thursday at ExxonMobil’s refinery in Baytown, which is about 25 miles east of Houston. The company says four people were hurt but everyone else on site has been accounted

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks rose in afternoon trading on Wall Street Thursday, putting the major indexes on track for weekly gains and driving the S&P 500 toward a record high. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% and the Nasdaq rose 1%. More

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Wrkiter WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of new single-family homes rose 12.4% in November, the fastest pace in seven months, with low mortgage rates continuing to fuel heightened demand. The November increase pushed the seasonally adjusted annual sales pace to 744,000 last month, the best showing since reaching 796,000 in April.

The Associated Press Stocks are off to a solid start on Wall Street Thursday, keeping the market on track for solid gains in this holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 index added 0.5% in the early going, led by technology companies and banks. Safe-play sectors like real estate and utilities lagged behind. The Dow Jones Industrial

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators have authorized a second pill against COVID-19, an antiviral drug from Merck that may help blunt the wave of infections driven by the omicron variant. The Food and Drug Administration granted the drug emergency use Thursday for adults with early COVID-19 who face the

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Wrkter WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years as a surge in inflation battered Americans as the holiday shopping season was getting under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prime minister has apologized for a large leak of personal records from a government database of state and private employees, which he said seems more like an inside job than a cyber attack. A file containing the personal identity card numbers, employment and salary data of some 637,000 people became

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s state-run agency says a joint Turkish and Qatari delegation is traveling to Afghanistan to discuss plans for their two countries’ companies to run Kabul’s international airport in a partnership. Anadolu Agency said officials from Turkey and Qatar met in Doha this week to coordinate details of the plan and were

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, remaining at a historically low level that reflects the job market’s strong recovery from the coronavirus recession last year. Jobless claims were unchanged from the week before at 205,000. The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week ups

BAYTOWN, Texas (AP) — Crews are working to extinguish a large fire at a Houston-area refinery that has left four people injured. The fire started at about 1 a.m. Thursday at ExxonMobil’s refinery in Baytown, which is about 25 miles east of Houston. The company says four people were hurt but everyone else on site

By MATT O’BRIEN and CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Computers have become amazingly precise at translating spoken words to text messages and scouring huge troves of data for answers to complex questions – as long as you speak English or another of the world’s dominant languages. Try talking to your phone in

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — World shares are higher after stocks advanced on Wall Street, buoyed by encouraging reports about the potential impact of the omicron variant of coronavirus. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the U.S. economy grew at a 2.3% rate in the third quarter, slightly better than previously

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The jurors assessing 11 charges of fraud and conspiracy against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes began their third day of deliberations Thursday. They’re also considering taking next week off, after initially that they’d be willing to deliberate during the week between Christmas and New

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Intel Corp. has apologized for asking suppliers to avoid sourcing goods from Xinjiang after the chipmaker became the latest foreign brand attacked by state media over the region where authorities are accused of widespread abuses. The company, in a statement on its social media account, said

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares are higher after stocks advanced on Wall Street, buoyed by encouraging reports about the potential impact of the omicron variant of coronavirus. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the U.S. economy grew at a 2.3% rate in the third quarter, slightly better than previously

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The globalized city-state of Dubai appears to be in the midst of a boom season. It’s a surge in growth spurred on by one of the world’s highest vaccination rates and government moves to de-escalate tensions with regional rivals and lure foreign businesses. Maskless

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares are modestly higher after stocks advanced on Wall Street with encouraging reports about the potential impact of the omicron variant of coronavirus. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the U.S. economy grew at a 2.3% rate in the third quarter, slightly better than previously

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, FELICIA FONSECA and BECKY BOHRER Associated Press WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (AP) — The massive infrastructure bill signed earlier this year promises to bring change to Native American tribes that lack clean water or indoor plumbing through the largest single infusion of money into Indian Country. It includes $3.5 billion for the federal