Business Highlights

___

Tech companies lead another steep sell-off in US stocks

NEW YORK (AP) —Another torrent of selling gripped Wall Street Wednesday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting more than 600 points and extending a losing streak for the be nchmark S&P 500 index to a sixth day. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite bore the brunt of the sell-off, leaving it more than 10 percent below its August peak, what Wall Street calls a "correction." The Dow and S&P 500 erased their gains for the year.

___

Tesla delivers on Elon Musk's 3Q profit pledge

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tesla Motors delivered on CEO Elon Musk's promise to make money during its latest quarter after fulfilling his pledge to boost production of its first electric car designed for the mass market. The company earned $311.5 million during the three months ending in September, swinging from a loss of $619 million at the same time last year. It's only the third time that Tesla has posted a quarterly profit in its eight-year history as a public company and the first time in two years.

___

Ford's 3Q net profit falls 37 percent on slowing sales

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co.'s net profit fell 37 percent in the third quarter as sales slowed in the U.S. and China. The company says it made $991 million from July through September, or 25 cents per share. Revenue was up 3 percent to $37.67 billion. Excluding one-time items, Ford says it made 29 cents per share, beating Wall Street expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 28 cents per share. Revenue fell slightly short of estimates

___

Boeing 3Q profit rises 31 percent, tops expectations

DALLAS (AP) — Boeing's third-quarter profit soars 31 percent to $2.36 billion as airlines keep buying new planes. The company is raising its forecast for full-year earnings. Boeing says global passenger traffic is up 6.8 percent so far this year, a sign of demand that it expects will continue to grow for years. The company is also upbeat about long-term sales for two new military planes.

___

Turkey keeps pressure as Saudi prince addresses forum

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince is calling the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi a "heinous crime that cannot be justified." Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, addressing the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, said separately that the killing will not "drive a wedge" between the kingdom and Turkey.

___

No US high-ranking officials to attend China investment fair

BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. says it will not send a high-ranking official to attend a major investment fair in China next month, in a move underscoring worsening trade friction between the world's two largest economies. A U.S. Embassy official said China needs to end unfair practices that harm the world economy.

___

US brands falter in Consumer Reports auto reliability survey

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto companies such as General Motors, Tesla and Ford faltered this year in Consumer Reports' reliability rankings as readers reported more mechanical trouble with their vehicles. The magazine said all U.S.-based brands fell to the bottom half of 29 brands in the rankings. At the top were Lexus, Toyota, Mazda, Subaru and Kia.

___

US new-home sales slump for 4th straight month

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of new U.S. homes plunged 5.5 percent in September. It's the fourth straight monthly drop as the housing market is quickly cooling amid higher mortgage rates. The Commerce Department says that newly built homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 553,000 last month. After revisions to August, new-home sales have declined for the past four months.

___

Christmas wish for UPS: A better holiday shipping season

DALLAS (AP) — UPS is adding automation and seasonal workers in a bid to avoid bottlenecks in its shipping network this holiday season. Last year, the company underestimated a surge around Thanksgiving, leading to delivery delays. UPS executives discussed their strategy as they disclosed third-quarter results, including a 20 percent jump in profit to $1.5 billion.

___

FCC: Company created fake accounts, misused funds to buy jet

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Federal regulators have proposed a $63 million fine against an Ohio company they say bought a yacht and jet with money meant to help low-income people get phone and internet service. The Federal Communications Commission says the company created fake accounts using the identities of dead people to get government reimbursements. The company says it told the FCC two years ago about compliance and reporting issues and has repaid nearly all of the money.

___

The S&P 500 lost 84.59 points, or 3.1 percent, to 2,656.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 608.01 points, or 2.4 percent, to 24,583.42. The Nasdaq slid 329.14 points, or 4.4 percent, to 7,108.40. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 57.89 points, or 3.8 percent, to 1,468.70.

Benchmark U.S. crude edged up 0.6 percent to settle at $66.82 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, slid 0.4 percent to $76.17 a barrel in London. Heating oil was little changed at $2.25 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline slipped 0.8 percent to $1.82 a gallon. Natural gas declined 1.4 percent to $3.17 per 1,000 cubic feet.