National Business

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A jury in Oregon says the electric utility PacifiCorp must pay punitive damages for causing devastating wildfires in 2020 — on top of an earlier verdict already expected to amount to billions of dollars.

TORONTO — Strength in industrials and metals helped buoy Canada's main stock index amid energy weakness Wednesday, while U.S. stock markets were mixed after the country's central bank held interest rates steady.

TORONTO — BCE Inc. is cutting 1,300 positions, shutting or selling nine radio stations and closing two foreign bureaus as the company plans to "significantly adapt" how it delivers the news in the face of rising financial pressure.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks swung to a mixed close on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve hinted it may raise interest rates two more times this year. The S&P 500 ended less than 0.

TORONTO — BCE Inc. announced Wednesday that it is cutting 1,300 positions, around three per cent of its workforce, and closing or selling nine radio stations as the company plans to "significantly adapt" how it delivers the news.

TORONTO — Oxford Properties Group says it's acquired the 330-room Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff National Park. The real estate firm says hospitality group Accor has signed with Oxford to operate the hotel, effective immediately.

OTTAWA — Canadians have less cash to spend even as they are taking on more debt, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday, at a time when interest rates are the highest they've been in decades.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States dropped 0.3% from April to May, another sign that inflationary pressures continue to ease in the face of repeated interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. is on the hunt for more savings after wrapping a transformation plan that delivered at least $400 million in savings over the last three years.

LONDON (AP) — Shell has effectively abandoned a plan to cut oil production by 1-2% per year until the end of the decade, instead maintaining output at current levels in a move that risks angering climate activists.