Consumer confidence dips again, group says

U.S. consumer confidence dipped for the second consecutive month in January, a business research group said Tuesday.

The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index retreated this month to 104.1, from 109.5 in December. That is worse than the economist projections for a reading of 105.8.

December’s reading was revised up by 4.8 points but still represented a decline from November.

The consumer confidence index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months.

Consumers appeared increasingly confident heading into the end of 2024 and spending during the holiday season was resolute. In the face of higher borrowing costs, retail sales rose 0.4% in December and stores generally reported healthy sales during the winter holiday shopping season.

The board said that consumers’ view of current conditions tumbled 9.7 points to a reading of 134.3 in January and views on current labor market conditions fell for the first time since September.

The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell 2.6 points to 83.9. The Conference Board says a reading under 80 can signal a potential recession in the near future.

However, the proportion of consumers expecting a recession over the next 12 months remained stable at the low end of the series range.

Chevron gas plants to power AI data centers

Chevron, investor Engine No. 1 and GE Vernova Inc. formed a partnership to develop natural gas-fired power plants next to data centers, aiming to tap into artificial intelligence’s surging demand for electricity.

The companies plan to have their first multi-gigawatt plant up and running by the end of President Donald Trump’s term, providing power directly to a nearby data center, according to a statement Tuesday.

U.S. demand for electricity is projected to surge almost 16% over the next five years, more than triple the estimate from a year ago, driven by data centers, new factors and the electrification of the economy.

But Chinese AI company DeepSeek has thrown those forecasts into doubt. Power stocks plunged Monday on concern that DeepSeek’s model, which appears to be more efficient, can achieve the same results as competitors like OpenAI for a fraction of the energy use.

Some large technology companies including Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. are pushing to tap nuclear power and renewables to run data centers.

Ozempic gets u.s. approval for kidney disease

Novo Nordisk A/S’s blockbuster Ozempic won U.S. approval to treat chronic kidney disease in patients who also have type 2 diabetes, further expanding the popular drug’s use.

Chronic kidney disease is a common complication of type 2 diabetes and affects more than 35.5 million U.S. adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The approval is the latest example of how Ozempic and other drugs like it, called GLP-1s, are being used to treat diabetes-related conditions, like heart disease.

Novo’s American depositary receipts pared earlier losses to fall 2% at 2:49 p.m. in New York. Shares of rival Eli Lilly Co. were up less than 1%.

The approval “allows us to more broadly address conditions within cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, which affects millions of adults and could have serious consequences if left untreated,” said Anna Windle, a senior vice president at the Danish drugmaker.

Compiled from Associated Press and Bloomberg reports.