US Said to Target Apple in New Antitrust Suit

The US Justice Department is poised to sue Apple as soon as Thursday, accusing the gadget giant of violating antitrust laws by blocking rivals from accessing hardware and software features of its iPhone. The lawsuit would intensify the Biden administration’s antitrust fight against most of the biggest US technology companies. The Justice Department is already suing Google for monopolization while the Federal Trade Commission is pursuing antitrust cases against Facebook-parent Meta and delivery behemoth Amazon. The coming case will mark the third time that the Justice Department has sued Apple for antitrust violations in the past 14 years, but it is the first case accusing the iPhone maker of illegally maintaining its dominant position. Apple shares fell as much as 1.4% to $176.10 in late trading. They had been down 7.2% this year through Wednesday’s close.

Nope, no rate cuts yet. The US Federal Reserve maintained its outlook for three interest-rate cuts later this year and moved toward slowing the pace of reducing its bond holdings. Officials decided unanimously to leave the benchmark federal funds rate in a range of 5.25% to 5.5% for a fifth straight meeting. Policymakers signaled they remain on track to cut rates this year for the first time since March 2020, but they now see just three reductions in 2025, down from four forecast in December. Chair Jerome Powell, speaking after the Fed’s decision Wednesday, demurred when asked whether officials would lower rates at their coming meetings in May or June.