US stocks retreat from record highs set last week

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has been thrust into the centre of an antitrust fight over real estate brokerage commissions, with one of its subsidiaries named in a potential class action lawsuit against some of the biggest US property agents.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which owns the HomesServices of America property broker, was added as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging estate agents engaged in price-fixing and broke the law by requiring home sellers to pay the commissions for a buyer’s agent.

The case was brought by Michael Ketchmark, the attorney who last year won a $1.8bn verdict against the National Association of Realtors including HomeServices over commissions paid by Missouri homeowners.

US stocks retreated from their recent record highs on Monday as government bond yields rose.

The S&P 500 hit a new intraday record in mid-afternoon trading but closed down 0.1 per cent for the day, with weakness in energy, consumer and tech stocks offsetting strength in utilities and real estate.  The Nasdaq Composite, which is dominated by tech stocks, fell 0.4 per cent.

In Treasury markets, the two-year yield rose 0.07 percentage points to 4.60 per cent, partially reversing a decline from late last week. The benchmark 10-year yield rose 0.04 percentage points to 4.22 per cent. Bond yields rise when prices fall. 

One of the biggest operators of mobile phone towers in the US has loosened a December deal it struck with Elliott Management, now giving the activist less influence in Crown Castle’s management.

The move on Monday comes after Crown Castle co-founder Ted Miller last week sued the company and Elliott over the previous bargain, which he argued improperly ceded the activist excessive direct control over the infrastructure group’s corporate governance.

Miller on Monday described the decision as vindication of his lawsuit but vowed to continue his litigation and a separate campaign to put his preferred directors on the Crown Castle board.

Elliott also on Monday sought in a Delaware court to push back Miller’s lawsuit, arguing the revised co-operation agreement resolved any need for immediate judicial intervention.

Uber has backed proposals by Brazil’s leftwing administration to boost labour rights for drivers of ride-hailing apps in Latin America’s largest economy.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday unveiled a bill that guarantees hourly pay and the minimum monthly wage, as well as social security contributions and maternity benefits.

Uber described the planned regulation as “an important milestone” and “balanced”.

“[It] expands the protections of this new way of working without compromising the flexibility and autonomy inherent in the use of applications to generate income.”

The draft legislation, which does not cover motorcycle users, was the outcome of a joint initiative involving companies, the government and worker representatives. It must now be approved by Congress.