Ticker: Oil prices jump; AI stocks drag Street lower

The day’s business news at a glance

Oil prices got back to jumping, while sinking technology stocks dragged Wall Street lower amid uncertainty about what the Federal Reserve will do to get high inflation under control.

The S&P 500 fell 1.5% Wednesday after briefly erasing all of an earlier drop of 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 2.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.7%. The price of Brent oil leaped back above $88 per barrel to add further pressure on inflation.

Minnesota prediction market ban blocked

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Minnesota's law banning prediction markets, which was set to take effect Saturday.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez found that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Kalshi and Polymarket are likely to succeed in their challenge. The law would have criminalized creating or operating prediction markets.

Meta shares drop as Q2 profit declines

Meta Platforms says its second-quarter profit declined even as revenue beat Wall Street's expectations, as legal expenses and severance costs for recent layoffs weighed on its results.

The Facebook and Instagram parent company earned $15.85 billion, or $6.18 per share, in the April to June period. Revenue grew 28% to $60.8 billion. Total expenses were $42.03 billion, an increase of 55% year-over-year.

Russia: Telegram CEO Durov aids terrorism

Russian authorities have charged Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, with aiding terrorism and placed him on an international wanted list.

The Federal Security Service, or FSB, accused Telegram of failing to remove content allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence and extremist groups. This comes as Russia intensifies efforts to control the internet, restricting Telegram and other platforms.

US bans foreign-made humanoid robots

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is banning imports of new foreign-made humanoid robots and power inverters, citing national security risks.

The move targets China, which dominates the global market for humanoid robots. The FCC's ban also includes quadruped robots, often called robot dogs.

Microsoft beats quarterly Wall Street expectations

Microsoft has posted strong quarterly earnings, surpassing expectations with significant growth in its cloud computing platform and a boost in paid AI users.

The company earned $90 billion, or $4.81 per share, in the April-June quarter, up 18% from a year earlier. Analysts had expected $4.24 per share on $87.62 billion in revenue.

Trump unveils makeover of Dulles airport

President Donald Trump has announced a $22.5 billion renovation of Washington Dulles International Airport.

The plan includes building new passenger terminals and doing away with the mobile lounges, or "people movers," the airport has used for decades to get travelers to and from the main terminal. A new 32,000-vehicle parking garage is also in the offing.

Starbucks reports strong quarterly sales

Starbucks has reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit. The Seattle company says its business grew across customer income levels and in the morning as well as the afternoon.

Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said Wednesday's results were further proof the company's turnaround efforts are working.