AP Business SummaryBrief at 12:15 p.m. EDT

Sluggish start for spring homebuying season as home sales fall in March with mortgage rates rising

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The spring homebuying season is off to a sluggish start as home shoppers contend with elevated mortgage rates and rising prices. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell 4.3% in March from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.19 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s the first monthly decline in sales since December and follows a nearly 10% monthly sales jump in February. Existing home sales also fell 3.7% compared with March last year. The latest sales still came in slightly higher than the 4.16 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet. Home prices climbed compared with a year earlier for the ninth month in a row.

NATO and the EU urge G7 nations to step up air defense for Ukraine and expand Iran sanctions

CAPRI, Italy (AP) — Top NATO and European Union officials are urging industrialized nations to take quick and concrete steps to provide more air defense systems to Ukraine. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned on Thursday that continued delays could tilt the war in Moscow’s favor. Borrell was speaking on the Italian island of Capri at the start of a G7 foreign ministers meeting. He told reporters that without Patriot air defense missile systems to guard against incoming Russian strikes, “the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed." And he said that no country can fight a war without electricity.

Starbucks is introducing a cold drink cup made with less plastic

Booming sales of cold drinks at Starbucks stores have created a problem: growing amounts of plastic waste from the single-use cups that Frappuccinos, Refreshers, cold brews and other iced drinks are served in. Starbucks said on Thursday that it plans to alleviate some of that waste with new disposable cups that contain up to 20% less plastic. The cups are due to be rolled out to stores in the U.S. and Canada starting this month. Although Seattle-based Starbucks got its start selling coffee, the company says cold drinks now account for 75% of its U.S. sales. Starbucks says the reduced-plastic cups are part of a commitment to cut its waste in half by 2030.

Stock market today: Wall Street ticks higher following more reports showing a resilient US economy

U.S. stock indexes are ticking higher after a rough run. The S&P 500 was up 0.6% Thursday and on track to break a four-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 294 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher. Stronger profit reports than expected from companies like homebuilder D.R. Horton, insurer Elevance Health and auto parts distributor Genuine Parts helped prop up the market. The rebound came despite a rise for Treasury yields, which added pressure to the stock market. Yields climbed following the latest reports to show the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected.

Average long-term US mortgage rate climbs above 7% to highest level since late November

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prospective homebuyers are facing higher costs to finance a home with the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate moving above 7% this week to its highest level in nearly five months. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 7.1% from 6.88% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.39%. When mortgage rates rise, they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford. Rates have been mostly drifting higher in recent weeks as stronger-than-expected reports on employment and inflation.

Europe wants 2 things from China. It may not get far on either of them.

BEIJING (AP) — Europe wants two things from China: First, a shift in its relatively pro-Russia position on the war in Ukraine. Second, a reduction in the trade imbalance. It’s not clear if it will get very far on either front. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz this week became the latest European leader to leave China with promises to talk but little more. There is some reason for hope on the European side. China badly wants foreign investment to boost its sluggish economy. But that may not outweigh the larger strategic reasons China has for promoting its green energy exports and aligning itself with Russia.

EU proposes youth mobility agreement with UK to help youngsters travel, work and live in both areas

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission is proposing to open negotiations with the United Kingdom to allow young people to move freely, work and study in both regions after Brexit — the U.K.’s departure from the EU four years ago. According to the EU, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU following a referendum in 2016 has damaged mobility between the two areas. When the UK was still a member of the economic and political bloc, UK nationals had the right to move and reside freely within the EU, with reciprocity for EU. Under the agreement proposed by the EU’s executive arm, EU and UK citizens between 18 and 30 years old would be eligible to stay up to four years in the destination country.

Biden vows to shield US steel industry by blocking Japanese merger and seeking new Chinese tariffs

PITTSBURGH (AP) — President Joe Biden has told an audience of cheering unionized steelworkers that his administration will block the acquisition of U.S. Steel by a Japanese company. And he's calling for a tripling of tariffs on Chinese steel. The Democratic president is seeking to use trade policy to win over working-class votes in Pennsylvania, an election-year battleground. He said Wednesday that U.S. Steel “has been an iconic American company for more than a century and it should remain totally American.” His administration is reviewing the proposed acquisition by Japan’s Nippon Steel. On the tariff front, Chinese imports account for only a small percentage of the steel products coming into the United States so the higher fees are largely symbolic.

Tesla asks shareholders to restore $56B Elon Musk pay package that was voided by Delaware judge

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is asking shareholders to restore a $56 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk that was rejected by a Delaware judge this year, and to shift the company’s corporate home to Texas. Stockholders will vote on the changes at a June 13 annual meeting. The proposals come as the electric vehicle maker struggles with falling global sales, slowing electric vehicle demand, an aging model lineup and a stock price that has tumbled 37% so far this year. In January, the Delaware court ruled that Musk is not entitled to the huge compensation plan that was to be granted over 10 years starting in 2018. But in a regulatory filing, Chairperson Robyn Denholm said Musk met all the stock value and operational targets in the package that was approved by shareholders.

The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits holds steady as labor market remains strong

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits didn’t change last week as the labor market continues to defy efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool it off. The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims for the week ending April 13 were unchanged from the previous week’s 212,000. Weekly unemployment claims are considered a proxy for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week and a sign of where the job market is headed. In total, 1.81 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended April 6, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week.

The Associated Press