TheStreet’s J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets close for trading Tuesday, March 26.
FULL VIDEO TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
J.D. Durkin: I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.
All the major averages rose in the session Tuesday - on pace for their fifth-consecutive winning month, attempting to recover after back-to-back losses. A strong session from Tesla helped to boost consumer cyclical stocks, while utilities and energy were the biggest declining sectors in the S&P. The strongest performing names in the dow included Honeywell, United Healthcare, and Caterpillar.
In other news - two of the world’s largest credit card networks have settled a 19-year long legal battle with merchants. Visa and Mastercard will lower the swipe fees it charges merchants when customers use a credit card for purchases. The fees will decrease by a total of $30 billion over the next 5 years.
According to the National Retail Federation, swipe fees normally cost merchants between 2 and 4 percent depending on what kind card is used. Those fees are now set to drop by .04 percent for a minimum of three years. Visa and Mastercard will also keep the rates that currently exist as of December 31, 2023 for at least 5 years.
But if you think the savings might be passed on to you, think again. Merchants can still impose surcharges on customers who’s cards allow them to accuse rewards, like cash back or airline miles. However, merchants can now make deals with banks that could sway customers to use what a bank could consider a preferred card. Customers who use those cards could then be eligible for discounts or deals from the merchant.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.
