The daily business briefing: April 24, 2019

U.S. stock markets return to records after 2018 fall, a drug CEO faces criminal charges over the opioid crisis, and more

1. U.S. markets return to record territory

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, two of the three main U.S. stock indexes, rose to record highs on Tuesday, capping a swift recovery from a late 2018 plunge. Tuesday's gains came after stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings reports by several major companies, including Twitter, Lockheed Martin, and Hasbro. The S&P is now up 25 percent from a Christmas Eve low. Eighty percent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported so far this earnings season have beaten expectations. Futures for the main U.S. indexes were flat early Wednesday. Boeing shares fell by 0.8 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported first-quarter results that met expectations, but pulled its 2019 full-year guidance as it addresses problems with its 737 MAX jets after two deadly crashes.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.