Markets continue rally on gains of oil and gas

Oil and gas companies led the stock market up Friday, helping the Standard & Poor’s 500 index notch its second-best week this year.

With little news to give them direction, traders continued to push indexes higher. That extended a rally from Wednesday when the Federal Reserve said it was in no hurry to hike interest rates.

Benchmark U.S. crude bounced up from recent lows, climbing $2.36 to settle at $56.52 a barrel in New York, as traders bet that a 6-month plunge in prices had gone too far.

The S&P 500 gained 9.42 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,070.65, bringing its weekly gain to 3.4 percent. The Nasdaq composite picked up 16.98 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,765.38, and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 26.65 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,804.80.

‘Cramming’ claims to cost T-Mobile USA $90 million

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T-Mobile USA agreed to pay $90 million to resolve federal and state claims that it charged consumers for extra services without authorization, a practice known as “cramming” that has become a target of regulators.

The fourth-largest U.S. wireless carrier, a Deutsche Telekom unit, was accused by the federal government and all 50 states of tacking on third-party charges not requested by customers, such as $9.99-a-month premium text message subscriptions for horoscopes, celebrity gossip and sports scores.

U.S. selling remaining shares in GM bailout firm

The government is selling the last of its shares in Ally Financial Inc., the former financing arm of General Motors that was bailed out during the financial crisis.

Detroit-based Ally said Thursday that the Treasury Department is selling its remaining 54.9 million shares. At the close of trading Thursday, that would be worth about $1.25 billion.

Air-bag accidents on new Boeing jets worry workers

Two new seat-belt air-bag accidents on Boeing jets being prepared for delivery have raised safety concerns among workers. Last month, a passenger-seat air-bag inflator accidentally discharged during installation inside a 777 jet, injuring two people, one of whom later died of head injuries

No one was seriously hurt Saturday when an air bag deployed while workers from seat supplier Zodiac Aerospace were troubleshooting the system inside a 787 Dreamliner for Etihad Airways of Abu Dhabi.

– From news service reports


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