Bloomberg US new-home construction rose by more than forecast in March on a rebound in multifamily starts, giving a boost to first-quarter economic growth, government figures showed on Tuesday. The results show a tight job market, improved finances and consumers’ elevated confidence to purchase big-ticket items are supporting construction. That means homebuilding probably contributed to economic growth for the second ...

Reuters UnitedHealth Group Inc on Tuesday posted a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street estimates, fuelled by growth in its core insurance and health-services businesses and raised its earnings forecast for the year. Shares of UnitedHealth rose 1.3 percent to $233.25 in premarket trading. The largest US health insurer has been adding more physicians through a series of acquisitions, helping ...

Reuters Johnson & Johnson reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Tuesday and raised its full-year sales forecast, helped by growing demand for its cancer drugs. J&J’s pharmaceuticals sales rose 19.4 percent to $9.84 billion, driven by sales of its cancer drugs such as Darzalex, Imbruvica and Zytiga that rose 45 percent to $2.31 billion in the quarter. J&J raised its ...