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By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

U.S. stocks closed broadly higher Wednesday, extending Wall Street’s recent winning streak to a fourth straight day.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq composite added 0.8%.

Solid gains for technology companies led the rally, although the gains were widespread, with most of the sectors in the benchmark S&P 500 index finishing higher. Gainers also outnumbered decliners by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

U.S. markets have a shortened trading week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, closing on Thursday and opening for shorter hours on Friday. read more

A federal judge ruled that OpenAI needs to turn over all its internal communications with lawyers about why it deleted two massive troves of pirated books from a notorious “shadow library” that the tech company is accused of using to train ChatGPT.

Manhattan Federal Court Magistrate Judge Ona Wang ruled Monday that the tech giant’s shifting reasons for deleting the data tanked any argument that those reasons could be protected by attorney-client privilege.

“OpenAI continues to assert that it did not willfully infringe Class Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works. A jury is entitled to know the basis for OpenAI’s purported good faith,” Wang wrote in her 28-page decision. “What matters is that OpenAI has put its state of mind at issue, and OpenAI may not selectively use attorney-client privilege to restrict Class Plaintiffs’ inquiry into evidence concerning OpenAI’s purported good faith in this way.”

The judge is overseeing a massive consolidated class-action lawsuit against Microsoft and  OpenAI, which includes the Daily News, affiliated newspapers at Tribune Publishing and MediaNews Group and other news outlets that are accusing the technology giant of copyright infringement. read more

By ALEX VEIGA, Associated Press

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is increasing the size of home loans that the government can guarantee against default as it takes into account rising housing prices.

Beginning next year, mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be able to acquire loans of up to $832,750 on single-family homes in most of the country, the agency said Tuesday.

The new conforming loan limit is a 3.3% increase from its 2025 level.

FHFA oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy home loans from banks and other lenders, guaranteeing them against default. The loans are then bundled into securities sold to investors.

But FHFA sets limits to the size of the loans that Fannie and Freddie can buy. Such loans are known as conforming loans, while mortgages above the conforming loan limit are known as jumbo loans.

FHFA adjusts the limits of a confirming loan annually to reflect changes in U.S. home values, which have been rising this year, albeit more slowly.

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By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press

The Campbell’s Co. said Tuesday it has placed one of its executives on leave while it investigates claims that he made racist comments and mocked the company’s products and customers in an audio recording.

Martin Bally, Campbell’s vice president of information technology, was named in a lawsuit filed last week by Robert Garza, a former Campbell’s employee. The lawsuit was filed in Michigan, where both men live. Campbell’s is headquartered in New Jersey.

In the lawsuit, Garza claimed he met with Bally in November 2024 to discuss his salary. During the meeting, which Garza allegedly recorded, Bally described Campbell’s as “highly process(ed) food” and said it was for “poor people.”

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By R.J. RICO, Associated Press

Landlords could no longer rely on rent-pricing software to quietly track each other’s moves and push rents higher using confidential data, under a settlement between RealPage Inc. and federal prosecutors to end what critics said was illegal “algorithmic collusion.”

The deal announced Monday by the Department of Justice follows a yearlong federal antitrust lawsuit, launched during the Biden administration, against the Texas-based software company. RealPage would not have to pay any damages or admit any wrongdoing. The settlement must still be approved by a judge.

RealPage software provides daily recommendations to help landlords and their employees nationwide price their available apartments. The landlords do not have to follow the suggestions, but critics argue that because the software has access to a vast trove of confidential data, it helps RealPage’s clients charge the highest possible rent.

“RealPage was replacing competition with coordination, and renters paid the price,” said DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater, who emphasized that the settlement avoided a costly, time-consuming trial. read more