Stock Market News: Fed’s Powell remarks, FedEx, Spotify shares active, missing sub latest

All three of the U.S. stock benchmarks slipped after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
reiterated interest rates will be higher by year-end. The Nasdaq Composite led the declines as Tesla and Intel dipped. On the flip side, discount retailers rallied after Dollar Tree delivered an upbeat forecast, shares of Big Lots rose in tandem.

The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon on Wednesday for what it called a years-long effort to enroll consumers without consent into its Prime program and making it difficult for them to cancel their subscriptions.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the agency accused Amazon of using deceptive designs, known as “dark patterns,” to deceive consumers into enrolling in the program.

It also alleged the company’s leadership slowed or rejected changes that made canceling the subscription easier.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk had a productive meeting with India’s Prime Minister Modi and signaled the automaker will soon make a big investment in the country.

Spotify may have parted ways with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle but its business as usual for the streaming giant who may be readying a new product rollout.

The IRS has processed tens of millions of tax returns faster this year compared with past years while getting through to customer service on the phone is slowly improving, according to a report to Congress released Wednesday.

The latest update on the IRS from National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins said the agency cut its backlog of unprocessed paper tax returns by 80%, from 13.3 million returns at the end of the 2022 filing season to 2.6 million at the end of the 2023 filing season. And now 35% of calls are answered, compared with 11% before.

“Overall, the difference between the 2022 filing season and the 2023 filing season was like night and day,” Collins said. “It marks a return to pre-pandemic levels.”

A second high profile Disney executive has departed the entertainment giant as CEO Bob Iger attempts to the right the ship after social and political tussles.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver his semi-annual testimony on Capitol Hill where he is expected to take questions on the economy, inflation and the future direction of interest rates.

FedEx shares sank Wednesday after revenues disappointed. Now, the delivery giant is talking about cost cutting.

A Canadian military surveillance aircraft has detected underwater noises as a massive operation searched in a remote part of the North Atlantic for a submersible that vanished while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.

A statement early Wednesday from the U.S. Coast Guard did not elaborate on what rescuers believed the noises could be. However, it offered a glimmer of hope for those now lost aboard the Titan as estimates suggest as little as a day’s worth of oxygen could be left if the vessel is still functioning.

Meanwhile, questions remain on how teams could reach the lost submersible, which could be as deep as about 12,500 feet below the surface near the watery tomb of the historic ocean liner.