Finance
Rent the Runway gains $60 million in new funding
The mutual fund arm of Fidelity Investments is leading a $60 million round of venture financing for Rent the Runway, a New York-based company that rents designer clothing to women. Fidelity Management and Research Co. is joined by a group of existing investors that include Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures and Highland Capital Partners of Cambridge. The new funding round brings Rent the Runway’s total funds raised to $190 million, the company said Tuesday. The business was founded in 2009 by Harvard Business School graduates and has grown to 6 million members nationwide. The company will use the money to grow its subscriber base, to invest in its operations, and to expand its brick-and-mortar presence, it said. Rent the Runway also has opened stores in six cities. Jennifer Hyman, cofounder and chief executive, said in a statement that 2016 has been Rent the Runway’s strongest year yet. She said the new round of funding would help “as we continue to disrupt the closet and remain at the forefront of the access economy.’’ Other investors in the company are Silicon Valley’s Technology Crossover Ventures and Advance Publications Inc., a Staten Island, N.Y., media company. — BETH HEALY
Trends
Consumer confidence levels still climbing
Consumer confidence climbed in December to the highest level since August 2001 as Americans were more upbeat about the outlook than at any time in the last 13 years, according to a report Tuesday from the New York-based Conference Board. The confidence index increased to 113.7 from a revised 109.4 in November. American households are expecting a Trump administration to deliver. They are more upbeat about the prospects for the economy, labor market, and their incomes, according to the Conference Board’s report. ‘‘The postelection surge in optimism for the economy, jobs, and income prospects, as well as for stock prices, which reached a 13-year high, was most pronounced among older consumers,’’ Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said in a statement. ‘‘Looking ahead to 2017, consumers’ continued optimism will depend on whether or not their expectations are realized.’’ — BLOOMBERG NEWS
Retail
Holiday sales close on strong note
Holiday shoppers abandoned their early reluctance and boosted spending as the season wore on, pushing US sales to the biggest increase in more than a decade, according to research firm Customer Growth Partners. On Tuesday, the firm raised its holiday sales estimate to a 4.9 percent gain over last year to $637 billion. Sellers of consumer electronics, home-improvement goods, beauty products, and toys saw robust sales and minimal markdowns, according to Craig Johnson, Customer Growth’s president. Low unemployment and fuel prices, as well as real disposable income gains, boosted spending. Then there was clothing. ‘‘You saw rampant discounting,’’ with 40 percent off required to even get customers in the door and half off to get them to buy, he said. ‘‘If your name is Home Depot, your margins are going to be great,’’ Johnson said in an interview. For clothing and department-store chains, ‘‘you’re going to have trouble.’’ The post-Christmas week is shaping up strong, Johnson said. Retailers in recent years have increasingly seen the week after the holiday, when customers make returns and exchanges, as a chance to lure them with a new selection of full-price merchandise. ‘‘Instead of just being a neutral or a negative, it’s a plus,’’ he said.
— BLOOMBERG NEWS
Retail
Season of returns is upon us
And if Christmas is the season of giving, then January is the month of returns. UPS expects to deliver 1.3 million packages back to retailers on Jan. 5, celebrated by the delivery service, but few others, as ‘‘National Returns Day.’’ Surging online sales have been followed by a surge of returns by air, and if UPS is right, it will be its busiest returns day ever, topping last year’s 1 million. By the end of January’s first week, the Atlanta company said Tuesday that it will likely have returned 5.8 million packages, topping last year’s 5 million, which was also a record. A survey by the National Retail Federation estimated that more than $260 billion worth of merchandise was returned 2015. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Energy
Gasoline prices still rising in state
The average price of a gallon of gas in Massachusetts inched up another 2 cents. AAA Northeast said Tuesday that self-serve, regular is now selling for an average of $2.22 per gallon. That’s 7 cents per gallon below the national average but 24 cents higher than the average Bay State price a year ago. AAA found a range of 28 cents for self-serve, regular from a low of $2.11 per gallon to a high of $2.39. AAA says prices in the new year will depend greatly on whether OPEC and their partner countries stick to a recent agreement to limit crude oil production by 1.8 million barrels per day beginning in January. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Labor
Airline settles government’s suit over baggage handlers’ work conditions
United Airlines has reached a settlement with the US Department of Labor over the working conditions for baggage handlers at Newark Liberty International Airport. A lawsuit was filed after inspectors found baggage handlers too often were forced to lift heavy bags or perform other functions while leaning over, twisting, or reaching overhead. The Labor Department says United baggage handlers reported more than 600 musculoskeletal injuries between 2011 and early 2015. As part of the settlement announced Tuesday, United has agreed to install conveyor belts on jet bridges so handlers won’t have to manually lift and lower gate-checked passenger luggage. The airline also will retain an expert on repetitive stress injuries to evaluate injury risks. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Banking
Italian bank short of capital
The European Central Bank said Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA needs about 8.8 billion euros ($9.2 billion) to bolster its balance sheet, almost twice the amount the Italian lender had sought to raise in a failed capital increase. The calculation is based on the results of a 2016 stress test, the Italian bank said in a statement late Monday, citing two letters from the ECB. While the ECB saw worsening liquidity at Monte Paschi between Nov. 30 and Dec. 21, it still considers the Italian bank to be solvent. The Italian government said Friday it will plow as much as 20 billion euros ($21 billion) into Monte Paschi and other banks after the lender failed to raise about 5 billion euros ($5.23 billion). Ignazio Angeloni, a member of the ECB’s Supervisory Board, told Italian daily La Stampa the central bank “will continue to do everything we can to ensure that the bank finds a sustainable business model.’’
— BLOOMBERG NEWS
Economy
China growth surges for third straight quarter
China’s economy is closing out the year on a high note as the earliest December indicators show an expansion is showing no sign of faltering after three straight quarters of 6.7 percent growth. Large and small firms reported stronger momentum, private surveys show. The mood among executives was the best since August 2014. Sales managers had a stable outlook, even as conditions at factories and steel makers edged down. Two years of monetary easing and fiscal stimulus have helped the world’s second-largest economy. The expansion picked up to about 7 percent last month, according to a monthly tracker from Bloomberg Intelligence. Policy makers this month pledged prudent and neutral monetary policy and greater focus on deflating asset bubbles as they work to ensure stability in the lead up to a key party congress late next year. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
Technology
Tesla, Panasonic to build solar cells in Buffalo
Tesla Motor Inc. and Panasonic Corp. will begin production of solar cells and modules next year at a plant in Buffalo. Production will begin in the summer, with the factory’s output capacity expanding to 1 gigawatt by 2019, the companies said in a statement Tuesday. The announcement underscores deepening ties between the two companies. They are jointly building a $5 billion lithium-ion factory in Nevada to produce batteries for electric cars and energy storage products for homes and utilities. In October, Tesla revealed plans to work with Panasonic to make solar cells and modules for solar-roof installer SolarCity Corp., which Tesla acquired last month for $2 billion. “When production of the solar roof begins, Tesla will also incorporate Panasonic’s cells into the many kinds of solar glass tile roofs that Tesla will be manufacturing,’’ according to the statement. Tesla chairman Elon Musk revealed plans for solar roofs made of glass tiles in October. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
