The markets traded higher during the midday with the Dow rising 19 points to 18,139 as crude oil prices edged up. Nasdaq added a point to 5,235.
Seattle City Council approved a new secure scheduling law to protect hourly retail and food-service employees from unpredictable work schedules. The new measure requires work schedules to be posted two weeks in advance. Workers must be paid extra for last minute scheduling changes. Before hiring additional workers, hours must be offered to current employees.
The Federal Government announced its Federal Automated Vehicles policy that will encourage the safe operation of self-driving vehicles and provide guidance to manufacturers regarding safety requirements. Autonomous car makers must demonstrate how self-driving vehicles will function and what will happen if the cars fail. To ensure transparency, manufacturers must provide vehicle performance assessments.
August housing starts fell by a more than expected 5.8% due to bad weather in the South. Single family home construction dropped 6% while construction of multifamily homes fell 5.4%. Housing starts plunged 14.8% in the South. Permits for future construction unexpectedly slipped 0.4%.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by more than 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 added a point to 2,140. Bitcoin held steady at $609.
