Remy Blaire brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets close for trading Tuesday, March 19.
Full Video Transcript Below:
REMY BLAIRE: I’m Remy Blaire - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks were in the green to close out today's session. The Dow closed up over 300 points, the Nasdaq closed up three-tenths of a percent, and the S&P closed just over half a percent higher. This comes as the Fed’s two-day policy meeting kicks off and investors look ahead to a decision on interest rates on Wednesday. Markets are expecting the central bank to keep rates unchanged.
In other news, Unilever is getting out of the ice cream business. The U.K.-based company announced it would be spinning off its entire ice cream unit in an effort to become a "simpler, more focused company."
Unilever is home to some of the world’s biggest ice cream brands like Ben and Jerry’s, Magnum, and Breyer’s. It owns more than two dozen brands around the globe. Sales from its entire ice cream unit totaled $8.6 billion in 2023. However, in an effort to drive growth and boost sales, the company has decided to focus on just 30 of the organization’s hundreds of brands.
Unilever’s brands can be found in more than 60 countries, and it accounts for almost 20 percent of all global ice cream sales. The move, which also calls for 7,500 job cuts, will save the company almost $868 million over the next three years.
The spinoff will leave Unilever with four core divisions: beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care, and nutrition.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Remy Blaire with TheStreet.
