The daily business briefing: May 13, 2016

1. Apple announces investment in Chinese Uber rival after stock plunge

Apple's stock price dropped below $90 a share on Thursday for the first time since 2014 as fear increased over weak iPhone demand ahead of the release of the latest version of the long-dominant smartphone later this year. The stock's drop helped Google briefly push past Apple as the world's most valuable company. Later Thursday, Apple announced that it was investing $1 billion in Didi Chuxing, a Chinese ride-sharing service that is battling UberChina for riders and investors.

Apple Insider MarketWatch

2. New jobless claims hit highest level in more than a year

First-time jobless claims rose for the third straight week last week, hitting the highest level since February 2015. The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial applications for unemployment benefits rose by 20,000 to 294,000. Economists said the numbers were not anything to panic about, yet, as the U.S. has now seen 62 consecutive weeks with jobless claims under 300,000, a sign of strength. Some analysts blamed the spike on a strike by Verizon workers, not a weakening of the labor market.

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Bloomberg

3. Cyber thieves reportedly hit second bank

Inter-bank messaging system Swift warned customers that hackers have attacked a commercial banking client. Investigators are still trying to figure out how the cyber thieves pulled off the first crime, an $81 million heist from the central bank of Bangladesh in February. The robbers in that case, one of the biggest cyber heists in history, managed to get the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to move money to accounts in the Philippines. Swift last month warned it knew of several similar malware attacks.

Bloomberg The New York Times

4. Zuckerberg promises investigation of Facebook anti-conservative censorship claim

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that the social-networking company was investigating claims by former workers that they had suppressed pro-conservative news on a list of trending topics. "We have found no evidence that this report is true," Zuckerberg said. "If we find anything against our principles, you have my commitment that we will take additional steps to address it." Zuckerberg invited input from conservative politicians, some of whom have called for Congress to investigate.

CNBC

5. Honda reports quarterly loss as it tries to get past recall

Honda on Friday posted a quarterly loss partly blamed on the costs of a massive recall of vehicles fitted with Takata air bags. Honda, Takata's biggest customer, also said it would recall 21 million more vehicles on top of the 30 million already called in so their potentially deadly Takata air-bag inflators could be fixed or replaced. Honda, Japan's third largest automaker by sales, said it hopes to rebound later this year. "The worst could be over," one analyst said, "and that's positive."

Reuters