The daily business briefing: January 30, 2023

1. Boeing to deliver last 747 plane

Boeing will deliver its last 747 on Tuesday, ending the 53-year-run of the aircraft maker's original Jumbo Jet, which helped revolutionize air travel, Reuters reported Sunday. The company will deliver the last 747, a freighter version of the plane, to Atlas Air. The 747 was designed in the late 1960s as demand for mass travel was rising. The jet was the first with twin aisles, and its upper deck gave it its easily recognizable humped appearance, plus room for club space that added to the luxury for high-end travelers. Recently, the number of the planes sold decreased as newer aircraft with updated technology became popular. Only 44 passenger versions of the 747 remain in use, CNN reported, citing data from analytics firm Cirium.

Reuters CNN

2. Nissan, Renault announce major changes to their alliance

Nissan Motor Co. and Renault announced Monday that they had agreed to an overhaul of their longstanding alliance. Under the deal, which came after four months of talks, Nissan will invest in Renault's new electric-vehicle business, and the two automakers will become more equal partners. Renault, which bailed out Nissan two decades ago, will reduce its stake in its Japanese partner to 15 percent, from about 43 percent, with the other 28 percent of its former stake placed in a French trust, easing Nissan executives' concerns about the old, unequal relationship. The partnership between the two companies, which also includes junior partner Mitsubishi, had been strained by the ouster of former chair Carlos Ghosn, the architect of the alliance.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Bloomberg Reuters

3. McCarthy and Biden to discuss debt ceiling, spending cuts

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Sunday that he would meet with President Joe Biden on Wednesday to discuss a "reasonable and responsible" way to make spending cuts Republicans want and raise the debt ceiling to prevent a default that could devastate the economy. The Treasury Department has said the federal government has bumped into its borrowing limit and has resorted to "extraordinary" accounting measures to avoid a default. The moves bought about five months for Republicans and Democrats to agree on raising the debt ceiling before the government starts running short of money to cover all of its obligations. President Biden has said he isn't going to "let anyone use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip."

USA Today

4. Stock futures fall ahead of earnings, Fed rate decision

Stock futures fell early Monday ahead of a busy earnings week that is expected to include another interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down 0.7 percent and 1.0 percent at 6:30 a.m. ET. Nasdaq futures were down 1.3 percent. All three of the main U.S. averages made solid gains last week, extending a January rally. Tech giants Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta report earnings this week. The Federal Reserve starts a two-day meeting on Tuesday that is expected to end with a quarter-point interest-rate hike, marking a slowdown in the central bank's aggressive rate increases aiming to slow the economy and bring down high inflation.

CNBC

5. Adani Group selloff sparked by short-seller continues

Shares and bonds in companies of the Indian conglomerate Adani Group on Monday resumed a plunge that has erased $70 billion in market value following a short-seller report that prompted the selloff last week. Hindenburg Research's report described concerns about Adani's debt levels and use of tax havens. Adani Group, headed by billionaire Gautam Adani, said Sunday that Hindenburg's allegations were "unwarranted," and amounted to "a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity, and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India." Hindenburg responded, saying, "fraud is fraud, even when it's perpetrated by one of the wealthiest individuals in the world."

Financial Times Yahoo Finance