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AIA exec named Construction Industry Round Table president

Robert Corey Clayborne will become president of the -based Industry Round Table (CIRT) April 1, according to a Thursday announcement.

Clayborne, who lives in , succeeds Mark Casso, who held the role for nearly 27 years before his sudden death in June 2025.

“Corey Clayborne is exactly the kind of leader CIRT needs as we look to the future,” Turner Construction President Thomas V. Reilly, who is chairman of the association’s board, said in a statement. “His record of driving meaningful results in complex organizations, combined with his deep roots in the and construction industry, make him well prepared to advance CIRT’s mission.”

A fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Clayborne most recently served as senior vice president of knowledge and practice at the AIA. There, he led a team of 35 professionals and directed strategic initiatives for member education, knowledge management and research. During his tenure, he also achieved record revenue growth in continuing education services, according to a news release.

Earlier in his career, Clayborne served as executive vice president and CEO of AIA Virginia. He also worked as a project manager and architect at Wiley|Wilson for more than a decade.

Clayborne earned a degree in architecture from and an MBA in public administration from Liberty University. He serves on the Albemarle County Planning Commission.

Founded in 1998, CIRT is a national of design and construction firms. It lists more than 100 members on its website.

Wall Street ends sharply lower; Middle East turmoil fans inflation fear

Summary:
  • ‘s major indexes declined sharply amid escalating U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
  • increased as rose and fell for a third session.
  • Fed rate futures indicate a higher likelihood of interest rate hikes by end of 2026.

March 20 (Reuters) – Wall Street ended sharply lower on Friday, with losses in heavyweights and , as the against Iran entered its fourth week, deepening worries about inflation and the potential for higher .

The conflict in the Middle East showed no signs of easing. The U.S. military was deploying a large amphibious assault ship with thousands of additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East, while Iran’s new supreme leader hailed Iran’s “unity” and “resistance.”

“The market is finally settling into the idea that this may go on longer than initially expected, and I think that’s why markets are selling off. This conflict may go on not for just a few weeks, but maybe beyond several months,” said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN COMPANIES FALL

Wall Street’s most valuable companies declined, with Nvidia, Alphabet, Tesla, Meta Platforms and Microsoft all losing ground.

U.S. Treasuries fell for a third session, in step with a broader selloff in UK and European government bonds, as the kept oil prices elevated and reinforced inflation worries.

U.S. rate futures show the Fed is more likely to raise interest rates than cut them by the end of 2026, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

“We just have a classic environment that is pushing rates up and it’s driven by higher inflation expectations, which relate back to the oil price. And the fact that we’re heading into the fourth week of the war suggests that that stress is not going away anytime soon,” said Padhraic Garvey, head of global rates and debt strategy at ING in New York.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 99.01 points, or 1.49%, to end at 6,508.32 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 436.98 points, or 1.98%, to 21,653.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 422.32 points, or 0.92%, to 45,599.11.

Friday marks the once-in-a-quarter simultaneous expiry of derivatives contracts tied to stocks, index options and futures, also known as “triple witching,” which can boost trading volume and aggravate volatility.

All three main indexes were heading for their fourth straight week of losses and were below their 200-day moving averages, underscoring the recent deterioration of sentiment on Wall Street.

Super Micro Computer tumbled after three people associated with the artificial intelligence server maker were charged with smuggling at least $2.5 billion of AI technology to . Rival Dell advanced.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian, Utkarsh Tushar Hathi in Bengaluru, and by Noel Randewich in San Francisco; additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Maju Samuel, Rod Nickel)

 

Aclara opens rare earth pilot plant at Virginia Tech

SUMMARY: 

  • Aclara opens rare earth separation plant at Corporate Research Center
  • Company wants to establish a vertically integrated rare earth supply chain in the Western Hemisphere
  • Aclara plans $277M Louisiana facility by 2028

They call it “Aclara Speed.”

The term, coined by executives of Canadian company Aclara Resources, means getting things done as quickly as possible — without sacrificing quality.

In February 2025, Aclara executives first spoke with Virginia Tech leaders about working together. On Wednesday, Aclara held a celebration for the company’s new separation pilot plant at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center.

“Twelve months have passed, and you see how impressively fast we’ve been able to work,” Costa said.

The company hopes to produce high-purity dysprosium, terbium, neodymium and praseodymium oxides. The facility is expected to produce its first separated light rare earth oxides in May 2026 and heavy rare earth oxides in August 2026.  

Rare earths are a group of 17 elements needed to make magnets used to manufacture a wide range of high-tech products, including smartphones, and defense systems. Light rare earths have smaller atomic weights than heavy rare earths, which are scarcer.

The United States imports almost 100% of the heavy rare earths it uses, and 90% of those come from , according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

That became a problem in April 2025 when China, in response to President ‘s trade war, restricted exports on seven heavy rare earths, including dysprosium and terbium. In October 2025, China’s leaders expanded additional controls over the export of rare earths.

Michael P. Cadenazzi Jr., the U.S. assistant secretary of war for industrial base policy, testified in February to the Senate Armed Services Committee that the U.S. Department of Defense has developed a comprehensive, multiyear strategy to create a secure, resilient and sustainable supply chain ecosystem of rare earths.

“We are sending a clear and sustained demand signal to the industrial base. We are working across the entire value chain, from mine to frontline, to build our resilience,” he said.

Last year, Aclara secured $5 million in project development financing from the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. to support the feasibility study for its rare earth project in Brazil.

“We know that these minerals are critical, so we’re prepared to deploy all of our resources in terms of professional talent, economic resources, etc., in order to make sure that the U.S. has the rare earths that they need as soon as possible,” Aclara CEO Ramón Barúa Costa said Wednesday.

Running a race

The goal behind creating the pilot plant in is to allow Aclara experts to demonstrate the company’s rare earth separation technology with feedstock from its ionic clay deposits in Brazil and Chile.

Basically, the facility gives employees the opportunity “to do the fine tuning,” explained Tommee Larochelle, managing partner of Quebec-based L3 Process Development, a chemical manufacturing consulting firm assisting Aclara. It allows the company to produce samples of rare earths to show clients and supports the ramp-up for the industrial plant.

On Oct. 24, 2025, Aclara announced plans to invest $277 million to build in Louisiana the first facility in the United States capable of producing significant volumes of heavy rare earth oxides integrated with ionic clay deposits. Aclara wants the facility to be operational by mid-2028.

Typically, according to Larochelle, it takes between three to five years to complete an economic analysis to validate a project and a demonstration plant. Aclara accomplished this in one year.

“By combining Aclara’s leadership, Aclara’s drive, Aclara’s vision with our technical expertise … we have been able to accomplish that at Aclara speed,” Larochelle said Wednesday.

Aclara is also working with Illinois’ Argonne National Laboratory, one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national labs for science and engineering research, to develop an artificial intelligence-enabled digital twin of Aclara’s heavy rare earth separation process.

“This is a race,” Costa said Wednesday. “The race has already started, and China is well ahead of us. How can we catch up? Through innovation.”

The digital twin, Aclara’s leaders believe, will enable advanced simulation, optimization and predictive control of heavy rare earth solvent extraction operations.

Solving real problems

The rare earth supply chain problem won’t be solved by having meetings, Aaron Noble, department head of mining and minerals engineering in Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering, said Wednesday.

“We talk about resilience,” he said. “We talk about domestic production. We talk about refining capacity. We talk. We talk. But aren’t built by press releases. They aren’t built by committee workshops or reports, and they certainly aren’t built by talk.”

Supply chains, he said, are built with people.

“People with vision, people with knowledge, people with courage and people with a bias towards action,” he said. “These are the people in the room today.”

Aclara invested about $5 million into building the pilot plant at Virginia Tech, according to a company spokesperson. It has 15 employees.

Right now, the facility operates 12 hours a day, four days a week. As more workers are trained, the plant will start more shifts, according to William Hedley, operations manager for the plant. “We will get to 24/7,” he said.

Hedley doesn’t believe the pilot plant will close when the industrial facility is completed. He expects the pilot plant will continue to be used to study other deposits and possibly other company’s materials.

“There will need to be validation of the process, and that’s what this facility is for,” he said.

Virginia Tech isn’t a partner in name only in the pilot plant.

“It takes folks from Virginia Tech, big brains with Ph.D.s to come in and help us figure this stuff out,” said Hedley.

Two senior research associates from the Virginia Tech Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering work with the facility.

Sam Evans, one of those associates, said his job duties include doing things like recommending equipment for the plant and running tests at the university lab to ensure the facility’s equipment is set up properly.

As a resident expert in the solvent extraction field, Evans said, he also gives input on the designs that L3 Process Development has developed and tries to “identify any holes in the engineering designs or areas that they can improve on, whether that’s extracting chemistry, whether that’s process flow, or whether that’s other external things,” he said.

Ultimately, the biggest success of the pilot plant won’t be in technical milestones met, according to Noble.

It will be with researchers like Evans and other Virginia Tech students who get to work at the facility, and who “are going to look back in years ahead and say, ‘This is where I learned to solve real problems and help real people,’” Noble said.

Gonzaga dean to head up University of Richmond School of Law 

Summary:
  • will become dean of University of Richmond School of Law on July 1.
  • Rooksby has served as dean at Gonzaga University School of Law since 2018.
  • is stepping down after a 15-year tenure as Richmond .

Gonzaga University School of Law Dean Jacob Rooksby will become the new dean of the University of Richmond School of Law on July 1. 

The University of Richmond announced Rooksby’s selection in a news release on March 20. 

Rooksby has served as dean at Gonzaga since 2018, where he is also a professor of law and leadership studies. His prior career as an and attorney included working in the IP litigations/patents department and higher education practice team at McGuireWoods in Richmond. 

Prior to serving at Gonzaga, Rooksby worked as associate dean of administration and an associate professor of law at the Duquesne University School of Law. 

A graduate of William & Mary and the University of Virginia School of Law, Rooksby  is a member of the , a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a member of the and a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

“I’ve long admired Richmond Law for its distinctive combination of academic excellence, collegial culture, and strong sense of place, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to build on what is already a thriving school,” Rooksby said in a statement. “The law school’s position within the liberal arts tradition of the University of Richmond and the faculty’s high scholarly standing are impressive, and I’m excited to be part of this community.” 

University of Richmond Provost and Executive Vice President Joan Saab said in a statement that Rooksby “brings a strong record of leadership and a depth of experience” to the role. 

“Jacob clearly recognizes the strength of Richmond Law today, including its outstanding faculty and the school’s excellent reputation,” Saab said. “Those involved in the search were struck by how closely his values align with the mission of our university.” 

Rooksby will inherit the role from current Richmond School of Law Dean Wendy Collins Perdue, who last spring announced her intentions to step down from the position at the end of this academic year after a 15-year tenure. Perdue will remain on faculty and return to teaching following a sabbatical. 

Powell’s decision on Fed board seat could shape Warsh’s leadership

Summary:
  • may stay on the Board until a criminal investigation led by U.S. Attorney concludes.
  • Kevin Warsh’s confirmation as Fed chair is delayed by Republican senators pending the investigation’s resolution.
  • Powell’s decision to remain could counter political threats to the Fed’s independence during Warsh’s potential leadership.

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming decision on whether to keep his seat on the ‘s Board of Governors after his leadership term ends is now a key factor in how the tenure of his would-be successor Kevin Warsh evolves, and whether President and Treasury Secretary can pursue any overhaul of the Fed’s structure, operations and monetary policy.

Powell spoke directly to the issue on Wednesday for the first time, saying he would not leave the Fed at least until a criminal investigation spearheaded by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro is “well and truly over with transparency and finality,” and that he had not yet decided whether to remain even longer in a governor’s seat that lasts until 2028 – well into Warsh’s potential leadership of the central bank.

Some analysts still feel it is unlikely the Fed will end up with “two popes” – a reference to a medieval schism in the Catholic Church – and feel the current back and forth between Powell and the Republican senators who back him, and Pirro and the will end with the investigation closed, Warsh confirmed as the head of the central bank by the U.S. Senate, and Powell retiring.

With key Republicans like North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis and others saying they will not confirm Warsh until Pirro stands down on her probe, Powell’s necessary condition for leaving will likely be met before a new Fed chief arrives, said Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital and co-author of a political history of the Fed.

“If the legal issues are resolved and Tillis stands down, (and) Kevin is confirmed, I believe Jay will retire,” Spindel said. “I think he would be respectful of the incoming chair” once the Pirro probe is ended, with the confirmation delay engineered by Tillis and others serving to both defend Powell and spare Warsh the difficult position of taking over an organization with a former, well-regarded leader still at the table.

Whether Powell, whose term as Fed chief ends in May, would remain at the central bank even longer is a separate issue. Other threats to the central bank are still in motion, including Trump’s effort to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, and Bessent’s comments about issues like imposing residency requirements for the Fed’s regional bank presidents, and Powell might want to see those resolved before leaving his seat and opening it for Trump to appoint another governor to the seven-member board.

NO MODERN-DAY TEMPLATE

Powell, speaking to reporters on Wednesday after the Fed held steady for the second time this year, said he would decide whether to remain on the board “based on what I think is best for the institution and for the people we serve,” a stance that could still put Warsh and the central bank in uncharted territory and open the question of what role Powell would play and for how long.

LH Meyer analyst Derek Tang, in two lengthy notes on the issue, said that for now Powell’s “source of leverage … lies more in not having decided yet, to induce better behavior from Trump.”

If there seem to be real threats to the Fed even as Warsh takes over, Tang said Powell might logically stay on until after the U.S. midterm elections in November, the results of which could shift the balance of power in , or beyond that time if risks to the Fed’s independence continue until his term as governor ends in 2028, the final year of Trump’s presidency.

It would be a gamble – other Fed governors might leave, for example, providing the administration with new openings to fill and increased influence regardless of Powell’s presence.

Without a modern-day template for the role Powell would be taking on as an ex-Fed chief, there also would be risks that he is seen as acting politically to defend the Fed’s independence from politics, a tricky needle to thread.

Powell remaining “is confrontational … to the new chair and to the White House and to the Senate who confirmed the new chair. Powell staying is basically the old guard announcing they’re going to the mattresses,” said Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at BNY Investments and a former head of the Fed’s monetary affairs division. The only similar situation occurred in the 1950s when outgoing Fed Chair Marriner Eccles was asked to stay on the board by President Harry Truman to help with post-war economic management. That dynamic was different, Reinhart said.

The unwritten rule of Fed chiefs leaving their governors’ seats is in part out of respect for the of the institution. While the Fed is meant to be independent of political influence in setting interest rates, it is not meant to be independent of election results – with the four-year terms for the top Fed official aligned with presidential election cycles, allowing each new president to name a Fed chief. Fed governors’ terms run on a separate 14-year timetable to insulate them from political concerns.

Christopher Hodge, chief U.S. economist at investment bank Natixis CIB, said a decision by Powell to remain as a governor could “be a beneficial counterpoint if the Fed was being unduly influenced by political factors. … The administration has shown they’re going to try whatever tools are at hand” to influence the central bank, an approach that won’t necessarily abate under Warsh.

But Hodge added that he felt the institutional guard rails would hold, and that Warsh, once installed as Fed chief, “is going to be looking at how history views him.”

Once confirmed by the Senate, “he’s outside the political touch of the president. He is going to use that independence to implement policy how he sees fit,” Hodge said.

 

(Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Paul Simao)

 

Trump releases AI policy for Congress to pre-empt state rules

Summary:
  • The Trump White House unveiled an AI policy framework urging Congress to enact national legislation to pre-empt state AI regulations.
  • The policy prioritizes protecting children’s privacy and online safety with parental controls and safeguards against exploitation.
  • The framework calls for streamlined permitting for data centers and measures to combat and national security risks.

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) – The White House on Friday unveiled an for Congress that urges lawmakers to enact legislation to pre-empt , protect children and shield communities from high energy costs related to the burgeoning technology.

The has been pushing for a single legislative framework that can be applied uniformly across the country, rather than leaving states to form their own plans.

U.S. President in December said he would withhold federal from states whose laws to regulate artificial intelligence are judged by his administration to be holding back American dominance in the technology.

Republican House leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson and leader Steve Scalise said the policy gives Congress a roadmap for legislation “that provides innovators with much-needed certainty, while protecting consumers and prioritizing kids’ online safety.”

The AI industry has been a powerful profit driver for the tech sector in recent years, propelling chipmaker to become the world’s largest company, while tech behemoths Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and pour billions of dollars into the sector.

The White House said it looked forward to working with Congress to turn the framework into legislation.

“We need one , not a 50-state patchwork,” Michael Kratsios, science and technology adviser to Trump, told The Daily Signal. “And I think one of the key provisions of it that will make it all work and come together is really focusing on the bipartisan consensus around protecting America’s children.”

Protections in the White House framework include giving parents control of accounts and devices to protect their children’s privacy and suggests features to combat potential sexual exploitation or self-harm.

The framework calls on Congress to streamline permitting so that electricity-gobbling data centers can generate their own power on site. It wants to increase the federal government’s ability to fight AI-generated scams and national security concerns.

The plan calls for removing barriers to innovation, accelerating AI deployment across business sectors and making it easier to build top-grade AI systems, with a goal of ensuring global AI dominance.

The framework includes provisions on rights, preventing censorship and protecting free speech and developing an AI-proficient workforce by educating Americans.

The four-page document barely touches on issues of national security, despite concerns from China hawks in Washington that sales of advanced AI chips to China will help Washington’s rival supercharge its military.

The Trump administration gave the greenlight earlier this year to China-bound exports of Nvidia’s second most advanced AI chip with conditions, and licenses to allow the shipments have been issued.

White House AI czar David Sacks argues that shipping advanced AI chips to China discourages Chinese competitors – such as heavily sanctioned Huawei – from redoubling efforts to catch up with Nvidia’s and AMD’s most advanced chip designs.

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Katharine Jackson, Chizu Nomiyama and Hugh Lawson)

 

S.B. Cox wins demolition contract for former Best Products HQ

Richmond-based company will tear down the former headquarters in western to make way for an -anchored development project, county officials announced Friday.

According to the Henrico Authority, which owns the land at 1400 Best Plaza Drive, a demolition kickoff event will be announced soon, and site work is expected to run through much of 2026. The two massive eagle statues outside the shuttered building will be moved before demolition so they can be preserved either at the site or elsewhere.

The nearly 50-year-old building was deemed structurally unsafe for renovations, the EDA’s announcement said. Henrico purchased the building in 2011 and has considered it for various uses, including as part of the defunct $2.3 billion GreenCity project.

Announced in 2020, GreenCity was expected to feature a 17,000-capacity arena, two hotels, 2.2 million square feet of office space, 280,000 square feet of retail space and 2,100 residential units. However, in March 2025, its developers failed to make $5 million in overdue payments to the county. In September 2025, the Henrico EDA repurchased the 93-acre property, which was assessed at $6.2 million. Meanwhile, in May 2025, the county issued a new request for interest to developers, including an arena.

Next week, Henrico is set to host a four-day public planning workshop to discuss the project, as well as plans for the nearby Brook Road corridor.

S.B. Cox President Mike Fanelli said Friday that he and the county are still finalizing the timeline for the building’s demolition and declined to give the project’s financial terms.

Energy crisis pulls stocks 5% below January high, but path to quick recovery remains

Summary:
  • The S&P 500 fell 5.1% on March 20, marking its first 5% drop from a record high since November.
  • Rising crude and the have driven recent U.S. stock market volatility.
  • Historically, most 5% pullbacks in the S&P 500 recover quickly and offer buying opportunities.

NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) – Stock markets are facing their sharpest volatility in months as the S&P 500 is down more than 5% from its record high for the first time since November, leaving investors to weigh whether this represents a buying opportunity or the onset of a more severe pullback.

With the U.S. and Israel locked in a deepening conflict with Iran and no immediate resolution in sight, U.S. stocks have slipped in recent weeks as rising revive .

Drawdowns of 5% are not rare, with some 60 occurring since the benchmark index’s launch in 1957, according to a Reuters analysis of LSEG data. The S&P 500 closed down 5.1% on Wednesday.

“People look at this and say, oh, you know, we’ve seen pullbacks like this before … they usually work out OK,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.

History offers both reassurance and warning: most 5% pullbacks present buying opportunities and recover quickly, but a significant minority deepen into corrections – or worse, full-blown bear markets.

Much depends on how long the Iran conflict lasts, whether the energy shock from soaring crude prices persists, and its ultimate knock-on impacts on economic growth in the U.S. and abroad.

NOT UNCOMMON

The S&P 500 has registered a drawdown of 5% or greater roughly once every 14 months over the last seven decades.

Out of the 60 episodes where the S&P 500 first slipped at least 5% below its then-record high, only 22 went on to fall 10% or more before a new high was set, while the other pullbacks remained shallower.

An even smaller subset, some 10 of them, saw the index keep falling to log a 20% or worse drop, technically termed a .

One aspect of the selloff favoring stock market bulls is how long the benchmark index has traded in a narrow range since logging its most recent new high in January.

“History shows – but does not guarantee – that when the S&P 500 churns below its all-time high for an extended period before falling into a pullback (a decline of 5.0% to 9.9%), any subsequent decline does not exceed 20%,” Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA, said in a note.

BUYING OPPORTUNITY

History suggests 5% pullbacks are typically good buying opportunities. In only 14 of the last 59 instances was the S&P 500 lower a month later, with a median gain of 2.44%. That’s well above the median 1-month forward return for the S&P 500 since 1957 of 1.09%.

The median returns three and six months out were 4.82% and 7.01% following the first slip below the 5% mark, compared with median forward returns of 2.59% and 4.97% for any given day since 1957.

Still, so far, investors have been cautious about scooping up battered stocks.

“Our customers still tend to be net buyers of stocks, but not nearly as aggressively as we’ve seen through other flushouts,” Sosnick said.

“The conviction is less intense … the level of buying is less intense.”

BEWARE THE BULL TRAP

While 5% may be routine, investors looking to take advantage of stocks on sale would do well to keep in mind that whether they make quick gains depends entirely on how shallow or deep the pullback becomes. The difference is dramatic in terms of how long they have to wait for new highs.

When the market steadies before dipping 10% from the record high, the recovery to a new high takes a relatively quick 37 trading sessions on average. When the index slips more than 10%, the average sessions to recovery balloons to 448 sessions, according to a Reuters analysis.

For now, investors appear to be in wait-and-watch mode, with various market volatility measures elevated but well short of levels touched at market bottoms.

“Part of this can be chalked up to investors having hedged any further downside, so not in panic mode,” Jim Carroll, portfolio manager at Ballast Rock Private Wealth, said.

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Editing by Megan Davies and Anna Driver)

 

FCC approves $3.5B sale of Tegna to Nexstar despite state objections

Summary:
  • The FCC approved ‘s $3.54 billion acquisition of on March 19.
  • Nexstar’s acquisition expands its coverage to 80% of U.S. television households by waiving the 39% ownership cap.
  • Several Democratic-led states, including Virginia, and DirecTV filed lawsuits to block the merger due to concerns over media consolidation.
  • On Friday, the eight states filed a temporary restraining order motion to stop the merger.

WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) – The said on Thursday it approved the $3.54 billion sale of local television station owner Tegna to Nexstar, despite objections from Democratic-led states.

Soon afterward, Nexstar said it had closed its acquisition of Tysons-based Tegna following approval from the FCC and U.S. Justice Department.

“This transaction is essential to sustaining strong local journalism in the communities we serve,” Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said in a statement.

The acquisition, if not reversed by courts, will expand Nexstar’s presence to cover 80% of U.S. TV households. The FCC said it is waiving a rule that allows broadcast television station owners to reach no more than 39% of U.S. television audience households as part of its approval.

In February, President said he supported the deal. Trump has repeatedly pressured Carr to revoke the licenses of NBC and ABC stations. Critics have said Carr is violating the free speech rights of broadcasters.

“By approving this transaction, which allows Nexstar to own less than 15% of television stations, the FCC acts mindful of the media marketplace that exists today — not the one from decades past,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement.

The approval comes a day after a group of eight states, including Virginia, filed a suit in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California, to block the merger that would make the combined entity the largest U.S. broadcast station group.

Streaming and satellite TV provider DirecTV also filed a separate suit, seeking to prevent the deal, late on Wednesday.

On Friday, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones announced that he and the seven other states had filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to stop the merger.

“Giving one company the control to decide what we see on TV and how much we pay for it erodes public trust and threatens to raise prices for consumers at a time when Donald Trump’s reckless and illegal policies are already making life unaffordable for most Virginians,” Jones said in a statement.

Carr argues national networks like Comcast-owned NBC and Walt Disney’s ABC have amassed too much power and has said he wants to empower local affiliates owned by companies like Tegna and Nexstar to preempt programming.

The FCC order said the deal “will help preserve Nexstar’s ability to influence network programming through collective negotiation and to preempt network programming in favor of programming that better serves the local community.”

Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized the deal, saying it concentrates “broadcast power in fewer corporate hands, shrinking independent editorial voices, and prioritizing national business interests over local needs.”

Nexstar is the largest U.S. local television , controlling more than 200 stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 220 million people, while Tegna owns 64 television stations in 51 media markets.

Nexstar has agreed to divest six stations within two years in the deal valued at $6.2 billion including debt.

In September, Carr praised Nexstar for briefly opting not to air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on its ABC-affiliated stations.

ABC temporarily suspended Kimmel’s show over comments he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Hours before the suspension, Carr warned local broadcasters who aired Kimmel could face fines or loss of licenses and said, “It’s time for them to step up.”

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Bhargav Acharya in Toronto and Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Alan Barona and Jamie Freed)

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews contributed to this story.

Stocks decline as crude gains with central banks on pause

Summary:

NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) – slumped on Thursday as spiked after the latest escalation in the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran, while a host of major central banks left interest rates unchanged as they attempt to assess rising price pressure.

Brent crude prices shot above $119 a barrel and further fanned inflation fears following attacks on Iran’s South Pars gas field, along with the world’s largest gas plant in Qatar as well as on oil refineries in both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Trading in oil futures was volatile, and U.S. crude settled down 0.19% to $96.14 a barrel while Brent settled at $108.65 per barrel, up 1.18%. The session high for Brent above $119 was the second time it crossed that threshold this month. Prices eased as the Trump administration took steps to try to expand supply and after comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks closed lower. Earlier declines in the small-cap briefly brought the index down more than 10% from its January 22 record closing high. The benchmark S&P 500 index closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time since May 9.

The 20-day daily correlation for the S&P 500 to both Brent and WTI crude is the most negative it has been since November 2004.

“It’s been fairly binary in terms of when oil’s rising and inflation and inflation expectations are rising, it’s risk off, and when there’s something out there to kind of stabilize oil prices, we tend to get a little bit of a rally,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Investment Management in Boston.

“What this suggests is that investors and capital market participants are still bought into the idea that this is a short-duration war with a resolution in sight in the next couple of months, and anything to refute that causes some challenges.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 203.72 points, or 0.44%, to 46,021.43, the S&P 500 shed 18.21 points, or 0.27%, to 6,606.49 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 61.73 points, or 0.28%, to 22,090.69.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 8.84 points, or 0.88%, to 996.62 while the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 2.39%, its biggest daily percentage drop since March 3 as the index closed at its lowest level in three months.

Benchmark government bond yields, which set the global cost of borrowing, also climbed as multiple central banks kept rates unchanged while assessing economic fallout from the surge in crude prices.

The Bank of England’s rate setters voted unanimously to keep UK rates on hold and said they were “ready to act” to stave off risks from war in the Middle East.

The yield on two-year gilts surged 29.8 basis points to 4.404% after earlier touching a 14-month high of 4.486%, although Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said financial markets were getting ahead of themselves in expecting interest rate rises. Sterling strengthened 1.35% to $1.3432 against the dollar.

The European Central Bank held its rates as well, warning that the Iran war was clouding the outlook for growth and inflation. The and the had both voiced their concerns about the conflict during their earlier policy statements, which left their respective rates unchanged.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes edged up 0.4 basis point to 4.261% while the 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Fed, climbed 5.6 basis points to 3.799 after hitting 3.96%. The two-year yield has shot up 42 basis points in March.

Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked rates to a 10-month high and warned of a “material” risk to inflation from the oil price spike.

Switzerland’s central bank kept its rates at zero, and signaled it was ready to intervene to curb the recent surge in the Swiss franc, one of the traditional safe havens in volatile markets.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, dropped 1.01% to 99.19, with the euro up 1.19% at $1.1586.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 1.41% to 157.61 but remained near the key 160 per dollar level following the BOJ’s policy statement, leaving investors on watch for possible FX intervention after strong comments from Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama earlier in the day.

The Bank of Japan had left its short-term policy rate at 0.75% as widely expected overnight, but it joined the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada in striking a cautious tone about the war and pricing pressures.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London and Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Aidan Lewis, Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio)