. this is "nightly business repoh" w bill griffeth and sue herera. getting closer, the u.s.-china trade deal is reportedly 90% done, but the last 10% could be the toughest. >> capping costs. cigna lowers the cost of insulin for some consumers as pressure from washington grows. >> crumbling inastructure. a new report says it will take 80 years to fix all of the structurally deficient bridges e in aca. those stories and much more tonight on "nightly business report" for wednesdril 3rd. ♪ ♪ >> and we do bid you a good evening, everybody, and welcome. wall street finished with just modest gains today, but don't let that foolou. the stock market's major averages are very quietly closing in on new all-time

highs. in fact the s&p and the nasdaq have now closed higher for the fifth straights continue to be cheered by reports that a u.-china trade deal is here even as they brush off more and more soft reads on the economy today the dow rose by 29 points and we are now at 26,218 and the nasdaq added 46 and the s&p added 6. bob pisani takes a lk now this slow, yet choppy march to new high >> the early gains were fueled by higher hop for this week's u.s.-china trade talks. china's vice premier meets with officials t ay and the two sides are getting close to a deal and we've heard this before. the markets don't necessarily see a rally higher and they do need to seear signs of concrete happening. tech stocks led the way higerr and there a whole bucket of semiconductor names with the trade talk optimism a you have names like advanced micro and

nvidia and broadcom and they all had heavy revenue exposure to china and most of the revenues come from china is broadcom has the group. the dow, s&p and the nasdaq are less than 2% fro all-time highs and it's not just a major averages that are inching closer to record territory and the sectors are as well and the technology and consumer discretionary stocks are 1% or 2% away from this year's high and health care is just abo 4% away from the mark and a couple of key catalysts c turn the tide in the coming days including the jobs report out on friday and t official start of the season. for "nightly business report," i'm bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. as we mentioned, those trade talks between the u.s. and china are nearing conclusion and at least one business leader characterized it as90% complete, but as kayla tausche reports what's left is the hard part. >> leo hub met with robert light

hiser and steve nuch ipo as trade talks enter a critical phase. he told larry kudlow negotiations are making progress. >> thinkhe chinese have knowledged these problems for the first time and they were in denial. >> which? all of them. all of them. the ipo theft, forced transfer and the lack of ownership and the cyber hacking, they' acknowledged it and before that they wouldn't acknowledge it. >> while the deal is near the finish line, the toughest y isss ha to be resolved and tariffs and enforcement. the u.s. has put tariffs on at least $250 billion in chinese goods and wants to keep some e th in place until china makes changes. the u.s. also wants to be able to put more tariffs onn china the future and not have china be able to retalte. that's n sitting well with beijing.

>> the negotiation around how much of those tariffs stay in place or is chi able to convince the united states to lift all of them and maybe snap back the tariffs if china doesn't live up to its obligations. id >> if the two are able to reach an agreement in the coming week, the big question is how i would be implemented from there. u.s. officials have said any agreement is just the beginning. >> for "nightly business report" i'm kayla tausche. >> elsewhere, a new report shows the private sector hiring fell to an 18-month low last month. private payrolls increase $129,000 in march well below the 173,000 that was expected. economists s the report could be a sign the job market is running out of steam since gains slow significantly across industries and company s >> a separate report showed that growth in the services sector felln mar.

activity hit a 19-month low weighed down by a drop in new orders and the services sector accounts for the bulk of u.s. economic activity. homebuyer rushed to refinance mortgages last week and it was something we told you was likely t g happenen the recent sharp decline in rates and today we got the proof. a new report shows that mortgage application volume rose to a 2 1/2-year high. diana olick has more. >> no question lenders were busy last week as mortgage plications surged thanks to a steep drop in interest rates. applications to refinance a home loan jumped 39% j int one week and were % higher than a year ago according to the mortgage bankers association, thiss the average rate on the 30-year fixed fell sharply at the end of just over 4 at the start of h it was 4.5% and that dropped 4. 9

billion borrowers could drop it by three-quarters of a percentage rate and that's a nearly 50% increase who could benet in a single week. potential homebuyers did not rush to lenders and purchase mortgage applications rose 3% for the week,ut were 10% higher than the same week one year ago and in the category of you snooze you lose, rates popped back up this week and could make the next big move on friday when the all-important monthly employment report is set for release. for "nightly business report," i'm diana olick in washington. two dow components out with news tonight. verizon isng rol out its 5g network earlier than expected. the nextseneration wirel service will hit chicago and minneapolis first and then the plan is to bring it to 30 other cities. the ceo explained the benefits of being first to maet. >> the theme has me working relentlessly to give customers 5g and the test is going so well so why wait when you have good

news for customers? we decided to turn it down today. we are selling the mobile phone in the stores. >> shares of verizon were up a fractionn today's trade. and fellow dow com bonence was aboard the 737om max. theny says the update worked as designed. >> well, firrt q earnings season kicks off in earnest next week, but not without some concerns. accordalg to thestreet journal invests on are worried at rising, are eating into corporate profits. senior ptfolio manager at river front investment group. good to see you. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you very much for having me. >> in fact, first quarter earnings may beiv neg this time around, right? >> right. you're looking perhaps at about earnings year in over year. that's about the fact that consensus at this point which f

would be thest time in three years that we've seen that type of decline. >> so howhiuch ofis already in the market? we know that, you know, wages and labor costs have been going up. we saw some pressure on oil prices, yet the market keeps approaching new highs. is most of this already in the market. >> i think folks are looking ahead to the next three quarte . arguably q1 will beost depressed and interestingly enough there's evidence that willing to look through it when you observe that energy, materials and t some of the best performers year lo date yet their earnings w be some of the poorest, relatively speaking in q1. how about the trade battle that we've been having elsewhere and how much o that is eating into that, as well? >> the management's guide last year,ight? for potentially being impacted by the trade wars.

so any positive news from that, and it perhaps can keep ag ceiln the market and the s&p at these levels. >> what sectors of the market do you think will outperform on the earnings front? >> well, i mean, tech has been a lid performer year to date so it's hard to gauge. momentum could carry it and as much may not mean and we should see good news out of the health care services ande each some of utility and some of the more boring types of sectorstay have the b earnings year over year. >> and on the other side, what are you wringing your hands over? >> again, i would haveold you that the three sectors i mentioned earlier, the materials and energy and tech shouldn't have had the year that they've had so i think in order for tm to have a poor response to an earnings announce you would havs company guidance go lower, i.e., perhaps higher labor cost and input cost that you mentie'ed and so far

not seeing too much of that. >> very good. >> the floods start next week, and rebecca felton withiver front investment group. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you for having mee >> it is tim to take a look at some of today'supgrades and downgrades. caterpillar was downgraded to hold from buyt deutsch bank. the analyst says synchronized global growth has collapsed. caterpillar is viewed as a llwether for the global economy. the price target is $128. the shares closed at $139.26. dunkin brands was downgraded to market perform from outperform at bmo capital. the analyst cites the stock's valuation 25% over the pastar the price is $175 and dunkin fell to $74.62. >> intel was initiated with a buy rating int new coverage nomura. the analysts cited intel's leadership in microprocessor and artificial intelligence and autonomous driving and $65 and

intel crept closing in 55 $48. upgraded totters was buy from neutral at d.a. davidson and the analyst cited fewer markdowns on items and overall stronger pricing and fundamentals. price target there now $36 and shares finished up more than 3% today to $31.77. >> still ahead, looking for the big fixwi why i take a lifetime to repair all of america's deteriorating bridges. ♪ >> the massachetts gaming commission questioned wynn resorts executives in day two of the hearing that could determine

whether wynn will hold a gaming license i.that sta >> at issue are allegations of sexual misconduct made against founder steve wynn and whether there was an internalr- co. today board member patricia mulroy was asked about an employee's claim whether the board was aware and if enough was done. >> the board was frozen in place. they were -- and was it a mistake? was itomhing that the board should not have done? >> yes. trust me. i absolutely agree with you, but i -- theyidt. . they did not conduct a full investigation. >> steve wynn has denied all allegations. the company is scheduled to open its $2.6 million report outside of boston in june. >> in washington, senator

elizabeth warren unveiled a bill tot would make it easie jail executives who have been accused of wrongdoing. the measure would widen criminal liability to ilude what they called negligent executives with corporationsmo o than $1 billion in annual revenue. aecutives could face up to year in jail for the first violation and up to three years for a second. separately, senator ron widen is proposing an annual tax on unrealized capital gains. that plan would treat the increased value of long-term investments like income although many analysts say the proposal ha little chancef becoming law. key house lawmakers have reachedbipartisan agreement to move forward on legislation aimed at loweringrug prices. the measure increases competition from cheaper generic drugs by banning pay for delay agreements between branded and generic drugmakers. as you know, pay for delay is when desg compa pay generic companies to delay the

introduction of their competing medicine. and a big focus of the debate on capitol hill over rising drug prices has involved insulin in large part because so many people need i and some have to pay a lot for it. well, today cigna said it is capping what some consumers will have to pay out of pocket for insulin. bertha coombs has the details. >> cigna says it wants to help its 7,000 diabe c members on health plans get more affordable insulin. it is now dropping co-pays to $25 for a one-month supply from an average of $41. executives at cigna's pharmacy benefits unit express scripts says the move comes after negotiating from insul producers. >> it really wasn't until probably the last couple of years that we really started hearing about issues of people rationing their insulin because of high out of pocketosts and from our standpoint that kind of snuck up on people. >> but why now?

insulin prices for patients with type 1 diabetes since 2012 and that's become a key focus on the drug price debate in washington. in the las two months congressional committees have launched probes specifically looking atul i prices. >> when it becomes a more discreet, concrete problemso it thing that people respond to versus the macro, drug pricers too high, but when you specify which one, then there are actions that either the government can take, the pharmaceutical manufacturers can take or all three. >> last month the nation's top insulin producer and eli lilly launched a blockbuster drug. consumers may benefit if other follow. university of pittsburgh's emma hernandez. >> there definitely has to be this type o -payment reduction and for instance

instead of lowering co-pays they can lower prices because they can benefit patnts and probably the one that struggled the most. >> the insulin makers are picking up most of the cost of the co-pay reductions and it will still b up to employer and group plan customers to decide whether they'll impl the program for their members. for nightly business report, i'm bertha coombs. >> cigna tries to regain its sign and that's where we begin tonight's market focus. >> after quarters of declining sales, the jewelry chain reported better than expected earnings and revenue, but sales at stores open at leasr a y fell 2% from a year ago. the company plans to improve its e-commerce operations and close some stores as part of its turnaroundplan. >> we're year one of a three-year transformion. we call it pass or brilliae. customer first, building an omni

channel experience and building a culture of agility and efficiency. i say we're making progress. we certainly aren't the yet, but we set a strong foundation for bolder and faster action this ?year. cigna was up $27.80.tion to a brands to profit estimate while sales of the quarter e ceo of the lighting and building management company says there's some concern the impact of tariffs and higher prices, but for the most part demand has not changed. acuity brandsrc jumped 9 $134.79. the drugmakerllaid the $4 n takeover of spark therapeutics is on track even though it is being scrutinized byat reguls and 30% of spark shareholders have voted to support the deal so far. spark fellce 1 f 112.90. >> t-mobile said it will offer via com channels to its 80 million cell phone customers. the content distribution deal

allows them to bring live feeds as well asn-demand content like nickelodeon. shares of the company went in opposite directions. via com was down 2% to $39.25 and t-mobile was down 1% to $69 even. hundreds of millions of facebook user records were found without password protection on aman cloud servers. the cybersecurity firm says the way the records were stored allowed them to be downloaded by the public. we should point out that the records did not contain sensitive data like passwords or credit card numbers.ce nonetheless, ok did acknowledge the issue and said that those databases have since been taken down. shares of the company were off a action to $173.54 and constellation brands is selling 30 of its brands to gallo winery for $1.4 million and it will

focus its growth to focus on premium wines and spirits and the stock fell following the announcement after t bell tonight and finished the regular session up to $176.69. >> there is a new report from the american road and transportation builder's association which says that more than $47,000 bridges across the united states are in crucial ed of repai and it will take more than 80 years to fix all of them. allisonpermablack conducted the study. she joins us now to discuss her findings. ,elcome, allis pleasure to be he and it was a shocking report and we'll break down some of the states that have the most exposure to defishence bridges in just a moment and what struck me, and the fact that some of these issues aren't beingss add and at such a slow pace and only a 1% net reduction of the structures. why is tha >> it really is. every year, bridges are repaired and they're taken o of that

structurally deficient category which means one of the key stctural elements of the bridge were in worse condition but as conditions deteriorate on other bridges after the sp tions, they fall into that can the gory. overall, we're moving in the right direction, but it's extremely slow and even despite increases in investment it has not been enough to move the needle in a meaningful way. >> so which states are we talking about that have the biggest problems with the deficient bridges? t>> there are different ways we can look at this and the first is the statesy where t may have the most sufficient bridges and it's a large part of the inventory and say rhode island and west virginia and the smaller states that havees challe there. >> the second way we can look at this is where t large number of deficient bridges are high and we do see midwestern states

and areas that havehallenges hath smaller and rural local bridges that top part in the list. >> so at this point, does deficient mean unsafe and how do yo break that down? >> what it means is that with the last bridge inspection whichiblely those are done by state o.t.s and there is a national bridge standards that are followed and in the last o inspecti of the key structural elements of the bridge, usually the t deck, super structure or the sub structure below, one of those elements was rated in poor or worse condition. >> so that's the problem. what about a solution? you've aggregated this altogether to about $171 billion is about what it would take to fix all ofef theseient bridges. is there a role f the private sector at all, do you think? >> i think it will take the private sector and it will take state, local and federal

investment and certainly we have seen them stephe up over years and they've raised their own gas taxes and user fee renues. we are looking to congress, as well to address the federal side. > it's not surprising, infrastructure has been a big issue in the congress and we need a political will to get something dont >> drives about half of all state, highway and bridge capital spending. >> on that note, allison permablack with the am road and builders associatioch thanks very >> thank you. coming up, a food fight with a twist. who foods announces up to hundreds of products. it's the latest round since amazon brought the grocery chain and ius with "nightlyess report" in new york and coming up, is this different and help attract customers to whole

foods. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> we work. the shared oe leasing company is buying company called managed by q which runs a platform for hiring services likeleaningrew, receptionists or i.t. support staff and if all of this sounds familiar, nightly business report profiled that company in 2015 as part of the monthly bright ide series. the financial terms of today's deal were not disclose but reports say the price tag was about 50 million which would make it the largest u.s. acquisition and you canou watch profile of managed by q on our website, mbr.com.

>> as you saw, whole foods is cutting prices and the grocer is owned by amazon and the decision has some investors, even shoppers wondering what exaly amazon is after. muck hail solomon is in new york for us >> there's a food fight in aisle 3. amazon today slashed prices at its whole foods stores around the country, about 500 products andostly produce a meat will be on average, 20% cheaper and perhaps the broadest that we've seen since e-commerce giant bought whole foods in 2017. >> walmart sells over $250 billion worth of grocery equivalent through the network every year and amazon is le than 10% of that. kroger is about half of walmart. >> whenomring whole foods to its competitor, it's most expensive. e recent analysis by morgan stanley found a basket of 60 items from whole foods cos $198 and that's about 20% more

expensive than kroger and sprouts and 15% higher than a conventional grocery store. o am prime members have not been willing to pay up. to get the 100 million customers in the stores, whole foods are cutting prices like on wildcod, and blueberries and crisp apples. >> they're trying to expand the avse and they don't to expand it that much.ry they're ting to draw a new shopper and trying to hang on to the existing shopper. >> existin shopperse spoke to had mixed reaction. some didn't even notice the new deal. >> thent might come shop, but i don't see the difference in the lower prices. >> i like shoppin at whole foods anyway, when i can and that would motivate me more to go. >> whole foods is announcing additional insensitives and twices many items on sale with the group as before and an additional 10% off store wide sales item, yet, despite this move, industry leaders a

analysts remain skeptical that this will attract newustomers to whole foods. for "nightly business report" i'm rahail solomon. >> here are the final numbers o wall street and the dow rose 46 and the s&p 500 was s up. and that is "nightly business report" for tonight. i'm suea. her thanks for joining us. >> i'm bill griffeth. have a great evening. see you tomorr ♪ ♪

>> this is "bbc world news america.">> unding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and judy and peter blum-kovlerpu foundationuing solutions for america's neglected needs. >> wow, that is unbelievable. ♪ >> i'm flying! ♪ >> stay curious. ♪