NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes drifted lower Tuesday in the runup to the highlight of the week for the market, the latest update on inflation that’s coming on Wednesday. The S&P 500 dipped 0.3%, a day after pulling back from its latest all-time high . They’re the first back-to-back losses for the index in nearly a month, as momentum slows following a big rally that has it on track for one of its best years of the millennium . The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 154 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%. Tech titan Oracle dragged on the market and sank 6.7% after reporting growth for the latest quarter that fell just short of analysts’ expectations. It was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, even though CEO Safra Catz said the company saw record demand related to artificial-intelligence technology for its cloud infrastructure business, which trains generative AI models. AI has been a big source of growth that’s helped many companies’ stock prices skyrocket. Oracle’s stock had already leaped more than 80% for the year coming into Tuesday, which raised the bar of expectations for its profit report. In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher ahead of Wednesday’s report on the inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling. Economists expect it to show similar increases as the month before. Wednesday’s update and a report on Thursday about inflation at the wholesale level will be the final big pieces of data the Federal Reserve will get before its meeting next week, where many investors expect the year’s third cut to interest rates . The Fed has been easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high since September to take pressure off the slowing jobs market, after bringing inflation nearly down to its 2% target. Lower rates would help give support to the economy, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation. Expectations for a series of cuts through next year have been a big reason the S&P 500 has set so many records this year. Trading in the options market suggests traders aren’t expecting a very big move for U.S. stocks following Wednesday’s report, according to strategists at Barclays. But a reading far off expectations in either direction could quickly change that. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.22% from 4.20% late Monday. Even though the Fed has been cutting its main interest rate, mortgage rates have been more stubborn to stay high and have been volatile since the autumn. That has hampered the housing industry, and homebuilder Toll Brothers’ stock fell 6.9% even though it delivered profit and revenue for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said the luxury builder has been seeing strong demand since the start of its fiscal year six weeks ago, an encouraging signal as it approaches the beginning of the spring selling season in mid-January. Elsewhere on Wall Street, Alaska Air Group soared 13.2% after raising its forecast for profit in the current quarter. The airline said demand for flying around the holidays has been stronger than expected. It also approved a plan to buy back up to $1 billion of its stock, along with new service from Seattle to Tokyo and Seoul . Boeing climbed 4.5% after saying it’s resuming production of its bestselling plane , the 737 Max, for the first time since 33,000 workers began a seven-week strike that ended in early November. Vail Resorts rose 2.5% after the ski resort operator reported a smaller first-quarter loss than analysts expected in what is traditionally its worst quarter. All told, the S&P 500 fell 17.94 points to 6,034.91. The Dow dipped 154.10 to 44,247.83, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 49.45 to 19,687.24. In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in China after the world’s second-largest economy said its exports rose by less than expected in November. Stocks rose 0.6% in Shanghai but fell 0.5% in Hong Kong. Indexes fell across much of Europe ahead of a meeting this week by the European Central Bank, where the widespread expectation is for another cut in interest rates. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.How to save money on new car models this holidaytreasures of aztec pg soft 。

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Audience Precision has promoted Jessica Bray and James Porter as it expands its technology-led insights and communications strategy offering. Bray moves into the newly created head of strategy and product role as former senior media manager Porter steps into the role of media team lead. Bray will lead strategy and product development and implementation for the business and clients as the independent media agency extends its services beyond media to focus on its insights and communications strategy, harnessing its proprietary Precise360 technology platform. Audience Precision’s media unit continues to report to Bray under this new structure. Under his new remit, Porter will report to Bray within Audience Precision’s media unit, managing local Australian campaigns and supporting the agency’s offshore teams and partners for international campaigns. Both Porter and Bray have been with Audience Precision for several years. Porter joined the business in 2022 from a senior media planner role at Discovery Inc, while Bray came to Audience Precision in 2016, joining as one of the foundation members of the business. Jessica Bray The structural changes are part of the agency’s global expansion as it extends its insights and communication strategy offering, including its Precise360 technology platform. Precise360’s comprehensive data analysis technology provides brands with a deep understanding of their target audiences and markets, enabling them to make data-driven decisions and execute precise marketing strategies. Since its 2022 launch, the platform has delivered more effective campaigns for dozens of brands, including Warner Music, R.M.Williams, Lyre’s Spirits and a number of international brands under a white labelled service generating media strategy at warp speed. “Our Precise360 technology platform continues to drive our business as an end-to-end strategy guidance system, delivering significant advantages for our clients and allowing us to create match-winning strategies and media plans worldwide,” Haydon Bray , Audience Precision global CEO, said. “From consumer behavioural research, identification of high-propensity audiences, insights that lead to connections planning and strategy, through to media planning and execution, the platform is designed to drive strategy to meet any client objective. Importantly, the inbuilt automation processes within Precise360 brings a single source of truth, delivering data-led, consumer-centric, human-proofed campaign strategies in just days. “The growth of Precise360 has necessitated a shift in our structure to focus on delivering communications strategy and product development for our clients. We now have a number of clients based in various countries who use our strategy services to deliver more effective campaigns to connect and engage with their high-propensity audiences. James Porter “Jess has been a critical part of Audience Precision’s global growth over the past few years and is well-positioned to take on this new role. Our media function has also continued to grow, as we welcome new clients and strengthen our current client offering. James has demonstrated his ability to be a consistent, motivated performer, with an innate ability to deliver results. I am confident he will take our media unit to new heights in his new role,” Bray added. Jessica Bray said of her promotion: ‘After nearly a decade at Audience Precision, I’ve witnessed the incredible growth of the business, particularly in the insights and technology space. I’ve seen the results from our Precise360 platform – it has been a game changer for our clients, allowing them to connect and engage with their highest propensity audiences whilst reducing media wastage and improving the effectiveness of their campaigns. “I’m looking forward to doubling down on this technology in my new role, finding new opportunities to enhance and improve on strategy and insights across the business.” Porter said: “Working as part of the team over the past two years, I’ve had a front-row seat to the business’ significant growth globally and the media unit’s ability to go above and beyond for its clients. I’m excited to be taking on this new challenge and focusing my efforts on continuing to grow the media division of the business while servicing our current clients.” – Top image: Jessica Bray and James PorterOpposition fighters are closing in on Syria’s capital in a swiftly developing crisis that has taken much of the world by surprise. Syria's army has abandoned key cities in the west and south with little resistance. Nervous residents in Damascus describe security forces on the streets. The state news agency has been forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad has left the country. Who are these opposition fighters ? If they enter Damascus after taking two of Syria’s largest cities , what then? Here’s a look at the stunning reversal of fortune for Assad and his government in just the past 10 days, and what might lie ahead as Syria’s 13-year civil war reignites . This is the first time that opposition forces have reached the outskirts of the Syrian capital since 2018, when the country’s troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The approaching fighters are led by the most powerful insurgent group in Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham , or HTS, along with an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army. Both have been entrenched in the northwest. They launched the shock offensive on Nov. 27 with gunmen capturing Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and the central city of Hama, the fourth largest. The HTS has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. But the group said in recent years it cut ties with al-Qaida, and experts say HTS has sought to remake itself in recent years by focusing on promoting civilian government in their territory as well as military action. HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani told CNN in an exclusive interview Thursday from Syria that the aim of the offensive is to overthrow Assad’s government. The HTS and Syrian National Army have been allies at times and rivals at times, and their aims might diverge. The Turkish-backed militias also have an interest in creating a buffer zone near the Turkish border to keep away Kurdish militants at odds with Ankara. Turkey has been a main backer of the fighters seeking to overthrow Assad but more recently has urged reconciliation, and Turkish officials have strongly rejected claims of any involvement in the current offensive. Whether the HTS and the Syrian National Army will work together if they succeed in overthrowing Assad or turn on each other again is a major question. While the flash offensive against Syria’s government began in the north, armed opposition groups have also mobilized elsewhere. The southern areas of Sweida and Daraa have both been taken locally. Sweida is the heartland of Syria’s Druze religious minority and had been the site of regular anti-government protests even after Assad seemingly consolidated his control over the area. Daraa is a Sunni Muslim area that was widely seen as the cradle of the uprising against Assad’s rule that erupted in 2011. Daraa was recaptured by Syrian government troops in 2018, but rebels remained in some areas. In recent years, Daraa was in a state of uneasy quiet under a Russian-mediated ceasefire deal. And much of Syria's east is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group backed by the United States that in the past has clashed with most other armed groups in the country. Syria’s government now controls just four of 14 provincial capitals. Much depends on Assad’s next moves and his forces' will to fight. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces have started carrying out the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces and are sending reinforcements to Homs. If that city is captured, the link would be cut between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where he enjoys wide support. “Homs to the coastal cities will be a very huge red line politically and socially. Politically, if this line is crossed, then we are talking about the end of the entire Syria, the one that we knew in the past,” said a Damascus resident, Anas Joudeh. Assad appears to be largely on his own as allies Russia and Iran are distracted by other conflicts and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah has been weakened by its war with Israel, now under a fragile ceasefire. The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, is calling for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition,” saying the situation is changing by the minute. He met with foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran on the sidelines of the Doha Summit. President-elect Donald Trump in his first extensive comments on the developments in Syria said the besieged Assad didn’t deserve U.S. support to stay in power. “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT,” Trump posted on social media.

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state government agencies will have to conduct reviews and publish reports that detail how they're using artificial intelligence software, under a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Hochul, a Democrat, signed the bill last week after it was passed by state lawmakers earlier this year. The law requires state agencies to perform assessments of any software that uses algorithms, computational models or AI techniques, and then submit those reviews to the governor and top legislative leaders along with posting them online. It also bars the use of AI in certain situations, such as an automated decision on whether someone receives unemployment benefits or child care assistance, unless the system is being consistently monitored by a human. State workers would also be shielded from having their hours or job duties limited because of AI under the law. State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the law an important step in setting up some guardrails in how the emerging technology is used in state government.Stephen A. Smith’s Giants rant was based on a glaring falsehood. Despite Smith ranting on Friday’s edition of “First Take” that a member of the Giants staff had reached out to ESPN offices or executives about host Elle Duncan’s criticism of Daniel Jones , nobody on the team actually did so, The Post has learned. “The New York Giants, respectfully, shut the hell up,” Smith said of Duncan’s criticism of Jones on Friday. “Y’all are awful as an organization. You won a Super Bowl in 2007, you won a super Bowl in 2011, outside of that, since 2011, that’s 13 years, the Giants have made the playoffs twice. They’ve won one playoff game. “And you’ve got the nerve to sit up there and call the offices and complain to executives about somebody that went on national television to do their job. Why don’t you do your damn job as an organization?” Though senior vice president of communications Pat Hanlon was critical of Duncan’s comments on X, nobody from the team reached out to ESPN offices or executives, as Smith emphatically claimed. Smith’s suggestion that the Giants did was either an exaggeration or a blatant lie. ESPN declined to comment on the discrepancy. Duncan on Thursday had ripped Jones for writing his comments, that he delivered to the media after he had been benched by the Giants , down on a piece paper to read off of. An emotional Jones was notably thankful to the Giants organization and his teammates when he spoke. Duncan quickly came under fire on social media for her ridicule. “You guys think he had this saved in his notes since like 2020? In all seriousness, DJ, I could have saved you like 90 seconds,” Duncan said during one of her “Taking the Elle” segments. “A rewrite: I’m sorry you paid me $108 million for one playoff win. And I look forward to reviving my career as Brock Purdy’s backup. The end.” On Friday, Duncan doubled down. “It started flurrying this morning after a surprising amount of snow on my drive yesterday,” Duncan wrote on X . “I guess you could say I can’t seem to escape all these snowflakes..” While Smith made his accusation on “First Take” on Friday, Duncan smirked and sipped from her mug. “This is a performance-based business,” Smith said. “Nobody is talking about your personal life, nobody has gotten into anything. Your performance was put on public display and you were 20 games under .500. You have been abhorrent. You have been awful as the quarterback for the New York Giants and on top of it all, they let go of Saquon Barkley to make sure they took care of you. They gave you the bag instead of him, which is another blemish.” The Giants named third-stringer Tommy DeVito their starting quarterback for Sunday’s clash against the Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium, bypassing backup Drew Lock. But Lock will remain the backup, and after the Giants signed Tim Boyle to their practice squad, Jones was relegated to fourth on the depth chart. He asked for and was granted his release from the Giants on Friday.

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Palantir Was Not Part Of 'Cool Kids Club,' Says Dan Ives, As Stock Surges 376%: 'Group Think' Mentality Of Institutional Investors Gave Retail The EdgeOrlando Magic forward Franz Wagner is out indefinitely after suffering a torn right oblique, the team announced Saturday. He is the second star forward the Magic have lost to a torn oblique this season. Paolo Banchero has been out with the same injury since Oct. 30. Wagner, whose injury occurred during Friday's 102-94 loss to the host Philadelphia 76ers, will be reevaluated in four weeks and "his return to play will depend on how he responds to treatment," the team said Saturday. Wagner is averaging a career-high 24.4 points this season, and his scoring average has gone up every season since Orlando picked him eighth overall in the 2021 NBA Draft out of Michigan. After averaging 15.2 as a rookie, he increased it to 18.6 in 2022-23 and then 19.7 last season to help Orlando win 47 games. Wagner goes down in the middle of an especially hot streak during his All-Star worthy season, having scored 30 or more in the past three games. He's also averaging 5.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds, helping Orlando go 16-9 for third place in the East. --Field Level Media