Tuesday’s business headlines

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Here’s a look at Tuesday’s business headlines with Jane King.

February inflation report out today

Consumer inflation may have cooled in February, but only slightly.

Economists expect prices to have risen year over year by six percent.

Rising inflation has been complicated by the banking crisis as it may force the Federal Reserve to slow down interest rates.

Regional bank shares plummet as worries over next collapse grow

Wall Street’s confidence in regional banks remain shaky today.

First republic shares fell more than 60% and were briefly halted for volatility. Western Alliance Bancorporation stock also fell 47%, and PacWest Bancorp fell more than 20%.

Some people who bank at those places are taking money out and putting into “too big to fail” banks.

Gas prices rise again, still much cheaper than a year ago

President Biden’s assurances that their deposits are safe didn’t help.
For the second straight week, the nation’s average price of gasoline has risen, jumping eight cents from a week ago to $3.44 per gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy data.

With the transition to more expensive summer gasoline underway coast to coast, wholesale gasoline prices continue to inch up at a rate typical for this time of year.

AAA says the current average in Central Indiana is $3.34 a gallon.

Pfizer buys Seagen for $43 billion, boosts access to cancer drugs

Pfizer agreed to purchase cancer-drug maker Seagen for 43 billion dollars.

Seagen is a leader in precision medicines. They have a cancer-killing drug so potent they might otherwise be too toxic to use. The new delivery mechanism uses antibodies to deposit a strong concentration of the drug directly at a tumor site, which may increase efficacy with fewer side effects.

Stock update

The Dow dropped Monday as a plan to backstop all the depositors in failed Silicon Valley Bank, along with other extraordinary measures, failed to boost bank shares.