National Business

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rallied closer to their records after the head of the Federal Reserve finally said out loud what Wall Street has been expecting for a while: Cuts to interest rates are coming soon to help the economy.

British Columbia grain producers are closely watching developments in the nationwide railway dispute triggered on Wednesday night, saying its impacts could soon spread beyond farmers to producers of food and beer.

The ongoing labour dispute between Canada’s largest railway companies and their workers is driving up the cost of shipping by truck, with smaller businesses disproportionately affected.

HALIFAX — A commercial lobster fishing group in southwestern Nova Scotia is seeking a court to have a lobster fishery run by a First Nations community declared illegal.

JACKSON, Wyoming (AP) — With inflation nearly defeated and the job market cooling, the Federal Reserve is prepared to start cutting its key interest rate from its current 23-year high, Chair Jerome Powell said Friday.

The road to recovery is starting to clear for businesses in Jasper, Alta., a month after some 25,000 visitors and residents were forced to flee a raging wildfire.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit Friday against real estate software company RealPage Inc., accusing it of an illegal scheme that allows landlords to coordinate to hike rental prices.

Retail sales dropped in June as Canadians continued to grapple with high interest rates. Statistics Canada said Friday that retail sales fell 0.3 per cent to $65.7 billion that month, led by a drop in sales at new car dealers.

GABORONE, Botswana (AP) — The largest diamond found in more than a century has been unearthed at a mine in Botswana, and the country's president showed off the fist-sized stone to the world at a viewing ceremony Thursday.

Some commuters in the Toronto area will have to make alternate travel plans for a second day despite Ottawa's intervention in an unprecedented Canada-wide rail lockout.