Breaking business news: Wall St. hits new highs on earnings optimism, data

Click to View in Browser Friday, January 12, 2018 Wall St. hits new highs on earnings optimism, data (Reuters) - Wall Street continued its rally on Friday with record closing highs as the fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off with solid results from banks and robust retail sales drove investor optimism about economic growth. Rising rents, healthcare costs boost underlying U.S. inflation WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Underlying U.S. consumer prices recorded their largest increase in 11 months in December on strong gains in the cost of rental accommodation and healthcare, bolstering expectations that inflation will accelerate this year. Goldman thwarts fraud class action tied to Abacus CDO: U.S. appeals court NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court said a shareholder lawsuit accusing Goldman Sachs Group Inc of fraudulently claiming to put client interests before its own when creating risky subprime securities before the financial crisis, including a collateralized debt obligation known as Abacus, cannot proceed as a class action. D.E. Shaw takes stake in Lowe's: CNBC (Reuters) - Hedge fund D.E. Shaw & Co has built an active stake in home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc , CNBC reported on Friday, citing sources. Fiat Chrysler recalls 162,000 minivans over glitch that may cause stall WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said on Friday it was recalling more than 162,000 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivans because a software glitch may cause the vehicles to stall. Spark's price for Luxturna blindness gene therapy too high: ICER (Reuters) - The proposed price for Spark Therapeutics Inc's groundbreaking one-time gene therapy for a rare form of blindness is far too high, an independent U.S. nonprofit organization that evaluates clinical and cost effectiveness of new medicines said on Friday. Drugmakers see a pricing blueprint in an $850,000 gene therapy SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Global drugmakers are looking to a tiny biotech's $850,000 therapy for a rare type of blindness as a model for getting paid for highly expensive – and effective – new medicines. Viacom, CBS not in active discussions: sources (Reuters) - Viacom Inc and CBS Corp are not in active merger discussions, although controlling shareholder Shari Redstone has had exploratory conversations with CBS directors about recombining the companies, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday. MoneyGram opens office in Brussels (Reuters) - The U.S. money-transfer company MoneyGram International Inc confirmed on Friday that it had opened an office in Brussels and National Bank of Belgium had granted it license as a payment provider. Volkswagen agrees to $232 million 3.0-liter Canadian emissions settlement (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG has agreed to a settlement worth up to $232 million (C$290.5) with owners of vehicles in Canada affected by its diesel emissions-cheating scandal, the automaker said on Friday. Related Video Making mini-3D figurines of yourself Google takes on Amazon in the fight for smart devices 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 2018 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