TOP STORIES 
 
METLIFE TO PAY $25 MILLION FINRA PENALTY OVER VARIABLE ANNUITIES 

MetLife Inc. agreed to pay $25 million for allegedly misleading customers about retirement-income products, regulators said Tuesday, in one of the largest such settlements to date.

STOCKS SINK ON GLOBAL GROWTH FEARS 

U.S. stocks fell sharply Tuesday after a downbeat reading on Chinese manufacturing added to concerns about the global economy.

U.S. AUTO SALES BACK ON TRACK IN APRIL 

U.S. light-vehicle sales regained momentum in April as cheap credit, low gasoline prices and rising consumer confidence helped drive more buyers to showrooms. Fiat Chrysler and Ford sales rose, while GM slipped on a fleet-business pullback.

MORE CHARGES AGAINST SHKRELI LIKELY, PROSECUTORS SAY 

Prosecutors say they are likely to file additional charges against former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli and his one-time lawyer Evan Greebel.

HALLIBURTON'S LOSS DEEPENS 

Halliburton's loss widened, hurt by lower revenue from its North American oil-field business, as well as charges from its failed deal with Baker Hughes.

PFIZER GUIDES HIGHER, MULLS BREAKUP OF COMPANY 

Pfizer reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its guidance for the year as both new and established product lines showed revenue growth.

FREDDIE MAC SWINGS TO LOSS, WON'T MAKE DIVIDEND PAYMENT 

Mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac posted a loss for the second time in three quarters, throwing a spotlight on the government-controlled company's dwindling capital reserves.

CVS HEALTH'S RESULTS TOP VIEWS 

CVS Health's first-quarter sales surged, helped by more prescription claims and specialty drug sales at its pharmacy-benefits business, and added revenue from recent acquisitions on its drugstore side.

SPRINT LOSS WIDENS 

Sprint reported a wider fiscal-fourth-quarter loss, though revenue fell less than anticipated, and added more postpaid subscribers than Verizon and AT&T for the first time.

GRUBHUB AGREES TO ACQUIRE LABITE, PROFIT FALLS 6% 

GrubHub reported a 6% decline in first-quarter earnings and announced plans to acquire Southern California restaurant-delivery service company LAbite.

VALERO ENERGY EARNINGS TUMBLE ON TIGHTER MARGINS 

Valero Energy Corp. reported its profit nearly halved in the first quarter of the year as the refiner's margins contracted on depressed gasoline and crude oil prices.

DUKE ENERGY PROFIT FALLS ON MILD WINTER WEATHER 

Duke Energy Corp.'s profit decreased in its latest quarter, hurt by mild weather and winter storm repairs, and results fell short of Wall Street expectations.

HCA HOLDINGS PROFIT RISES 18% 

HCA Holdings Inc. said its first-quarter earnings rose 17% as the hospital operator continued to benefit from rising admissions.

FED'S MESTER SAYS THERE ARE MANY DEFINITIONS OF MARKET LIQUIDITY 

Cleveland Fed leader Loretta Mester said that, amid complaints of bond-trading challenges, there isn't a clean definition of market liquidity and she conducted her own informal poll to try to find one.

SPORTS AUTHORITY EXPECTS BUYER FOR  STORES 

Sports Authority expects "substantial parties" to make offers for all "or at least major portions" of its operations, a company lawyer said.

J&J ORDERED TO PAY $55 MILLION IN BABY-POWDER CANCER SUIT 

A Missouri jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $55 million to a South Dakota woman who claimed the company's talcum powder caused her to develop ovarian cancer.

NORTEL U.S. CHALLENGE TO CASH SPLIT SHUT DOWN BY CANADIAN COURT 

A Canadian court has shut down a legal challenge by Nortel Networks' U.S. unit to a ruling on how to divide some $7.3 billion raised in the defunct telecommunications giant's international bankruptcy.

UBS SHARES DROP AS PROFIT SLUMPS 

Shares in UBS dropped more than 8% after the Swiss bank reported a sharp fall in first-quarter profit as its wealth-management business suffered and its investment bank failed to pick up the slack.

HSBC EARNINGS HIT BY MARKET VOLATILITY 

HSBC reported a sharp fall in first-quarter profit, saying market volatility at the beginning of 2016 crimped its performance.

BIOGEN TO SPIN OFF HEMOPHILIA UNIT 

Biogen Inc. said it plans to spin off its hemophilia business as a publicly traded company so the biotechnology company can increase its focus on its neurology drugs.

 
 
 
  ======= DOW JONES NEWSWIRES ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARIES ======= 
 
 
Heard on the Street 
APPLE: WHAT WILL MAKE THE STOCK TICK AGAIN 
 

As Apple's recent share-price travails show, the tech giant needs to be about more than just the iPhone. But the company faces challenges in trying to diversify its business. In that regard, the performance of the Apple Watch is telling.

 
China News 
CHINA LEANS ON ECONOMISTS TO BRIGHTEN THEIR OUTLOOKS 
 

Chinese authorities have issued verbal warnings to economists, analysts and business reporters whose gloomy public remarks on the economy are out of step with the government's upbeat statements.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 03, 2016 13:00 ET (17:00 GMT)

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