Business

More investors are watching the shares of discount retailers like Dollar General Corp and Dollar Tree Inc , which perform better during economic downturns, in the hopes of gauging changes in consumer behavior, though higher tariffs may erode the companies' ability to act as economic bellwethers.

FedEx Corp , United Parcel Service Inc and the U.S. Postal Service said on Friday they are already working to stop traffickers from using their services after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered delivery firms to refuse packages of the powerful painkiller fentanyl from China.

The United States and Japan have made "big progress" in bilateral trade talks and shared the understanding of the directionality of the trade talks, Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Friday.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and AT&T Inc reached a settlement agreement on a 2014 case that accused the company of slowing down data sent to wireless devices, a federal court ruling showed on Friday.

The owner of the only U.S. rare earths mine is going on a hiring spree as it looks to significantly boost production, part of a strategy to build out American refining capability after China raised tariffs on the minerals amid an escalating trade war.

The Trump administration is considering ramping up biofuel blending quotas in the coming years to assuage anger in the Farm Belt over its recent broad use of waivers for small refineries, but is not planning to rescind any of the exemptions it has granted so far, four sources familiar with the matter said.