Breaking business news: Wall Street hits record highs; tax plan hopes fuel optimism

Click to View in Browser Friday, October 20, 2017 Wall Street hits record highs; tax plan hopes fuel optimism NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks hit record closing highs on Friday and the S&P 500 posted a sixth week of gains after the U.S. Senate passed a budget resolution, lifting hopes that President Donald Trump's tax-cut plan may move forward. Merck to cut 1,800 U.S. sales jobs, add 960 in chronic care (Reuters) - Drugmaker Merck & Co Inc , moving to a new sales team structure in the United States, plans to cut 1,800 sales positions, while adding 960 jobs to a new chronic care sales force, the company said on Friday. Stock market's future in Trump's hands as Federal Reserve chair pick looms NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors awaiting the nomination of the next Federal Reserve chair are hoping whoever is nominated pursues the same monetary policy that has supported rising stock prices for the past nine years. Top oilfield services firms signal fourth-quarter uncertainty (Reuters) - The world's top two oilfield service firms on Friday warned slower producer spending and weakness in offshore exploration may weigh on current-quarter earnings, but said activity could improve in the longer term as the global crude market comes into balance. U.S. existing home sales unexpectedly rebound in September WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. home resales unexpectedly increased in September as the effects of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma began to dissipate, but a persistent dearth of properties for sale continued to weigh on overall activity. Bitcoin soars to record high above $6,000 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin surged to a record high of more than $6,000 on Friday, pushing its market capitalization to $100 billion at one point, as investors continued to bet on an asset that has a limited supply and has paved the way for a whole slew of crypto-currencies. Consumer Reports says Tesla misunderstands 'positive' Model 3 rating DETROIT (Reuters) - Consumer Reports said on Friday that Tesla Inc had apparently misunderstood the "average" reliability rating the magazine assigned to the electric carmaker's Model 3 sedan this week, calling it generally "positive" for an all-new vehicle. Gillette weakens P&G report after Peltz row (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co disappointed Wall Street with sales on Friday, hurt by continuing weakness in its Gillette business, a week after it claimed to have fought off hedge-fund manager Nelson Peltz's move to muscle onto the board. Nestle CEO praised by Third Point but hedge fund still wants more LONDON/BOSTON (Reuters) - Nine months into leading the world's biggest packaged food company, Nestle SA Chief Executive Mark Schneider got a tentative thumbs-up from a prominent investor, who praised his early steps on Friday but said there was more work to be done. Apple hit with trademark lawsuit over iPhone X 'animoji' feature NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Japanese software company is suing Apple Inc in a U.S. court over the trademark for the term "animoji", alleging the U.S. technology company stole the name to use on a feature of its iPhone X. Related Video Tech companies lobby for 'Dreamers' GE stock drops on earnings Counterparties is a curated snapshot of the best finance news and commentary around the web. Register Today News you can use with actionable, timely advice for managing your financial life, including retirement, taxes, real estate, education and more. Register Today » » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2017 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add newsletters@email.reuters.com to your address book. Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook