ROME (AP) — Milan's La Scala, one of the world’s most prestigious and historic opera houses, has named Fortunato Ortombina as its new director, ending months of political controversy. He will step into the post in September at the famed Teatro alla Scala.
The city's mayor, Giuseppe Sala, made the announcement on Tuesday after the opera house’s board of directors finalized Ortombina’s appointment.
La Scala’s new leader, currently the general manager at Venice’s opera house La Fenice, takes over from Dominque Meyer, who has been at the helm of Milan’s opera since 2020. Meyer will remain in his current position until Aug. 1, 2025, while Ortombina will act as the director-designate until fully taking over.
Ortombina’s appointment comes as Italy’s far-right government of Premier Giorgia Meloni is trying to promote Italian nationals for leadership positions, favoring them over foreigners for major cultural posts.
Ortombina, 63, had already served as coordinator of La Scala's artistic direction from 2003-2007, before becoming the artistic director at La Fenice.
Italy's Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano — who has made bringing Italians back at the helm of the country’s main institutions one of his top priorities — hailed the new appointment.
“After three foreign general directors, Stéphane Lissner, Alexander Pereira and Dominique Meyer, an Italian returns to La Scala,” he said Tuesday.
“We have done everything for the good of La Scala, for dignity and fairness,” said Sala, the mayor, explaining that Meyer’s contract will be partially extended to ensure a soft transition.
Meyer, 68, has earned wide respect and recognition in Italy and abroad, over his years at the helm of La Scala. His replacement comes against the backdrop of new rules introduced last year by Meloni's government, which set an age limit of 70 for opera directors.
La Scala is no stranger to political issues. Last month, ahead of the final performance of an opera-ballet set in conflict, La Scala’s principal dancer Roberto Bolle, Meyer and other members of the dance company, orchestra and stage crew lined up on the stage under a large banner inscribed with “Cease fire" — a reference to the the war in Gaza.
FILE - A view of La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy, on April 4, 2022. Milan’s La Scala, one of the world’s most prestigious and historic opera houses, has named Fortunato Ortombina as its new director. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — More worries about inflation and interest rates staying high are knocking U.S. stocks lower on Tuesday, as the market closes out its worst month since September.
The S&P 500 was down 1% in late trading and on track to close out its first losing month in the last six. Its momentum slammed into reverse in April, falling as much as 5.5% at one point, after setting records through the early part of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 430 points, or 1.1%, as of 3 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% lower.
Stocks began dropping as soon as trading began, after a report showed U.S. workers won bigger gains in wages and benefits than expected during the first three months of the year. While that’s good news for workers and the latest signal of a solid job market, it feeds into worries that upward pressure remains on the economy and inflation.
It's the latest in a string of reports on inflation and the overall economy to come in stubbornly higher than forecast. That's pushed traders to largely give up on hopes that the Federal Reserve will deliver multiple cuts to interest rates this year. That in turn has sent Treasury yields jumping in the bond market, which has cranked up the pressure on stocks.
Tuesday's losses accelerated in the afternoon as traders made their final moves before closing the books on April, and ahead of Wednesday's afternoon announcement by the Federal Reserve on interest rates.
No one expects the Federal Reserve to change its main interest rate on Wednesday. But traders are now mostly betting the Fed will cut rates either one or zero times through the balance of this year, according to data from CME Group. That’s a big letdown after traders came into the year forecasting six or more cuts.
The Fed itself was earlier penciling in three cuts to rates during 2024, but top officials have recently hinted rates may stay high for longer as they wait for more confirmation inflation is heading down toward their 2% target. The Fed’s main interest rate is sitting at the highest level since 2001, which puts downward pressure on the economy and investment prices.
Without the benefit of easing interest rates, companies will need to deliver bigger profits in order to support their stock prices, which critics have called too expensive following their run to records.
GE Healthcare Technologies tumbled 13.1% after it reported weaker results and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. F5 dropped 7.8% despite reporting a better profit than expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts, and it said customers were remaining cautious and forecasting largely flat IT budgets for the year.
McDonald’s erased an early loss and was up 0.1% after its profit for the latest quarter came up just shy of analysts’ expectations. It was hurt by weakening sales trends at its franchised stores overseas, in part by boycotts from Muslim-majority markets over the company’s perceived support of Israel.
Helping to keep the market's losses in check was 3M, which rose 5.3% after reporting stronger results and revenue than forecast. Eli Lilly climbed 5.2% after turning in a stronger profit than expected on strong sales of its Mounjaro and Zepbound drugs for diabetes and obesity. It also raised its forecasts for revenue and profit for the full year.
This earnings reporting season has largely been better than expected so far. Not only have the tech companies that dominate Wall Street done well, so have smaller companies across a range of industries.
That’s a change from the recent past, and it helped push strategists at Deutsche Bank to raise their forecast for full-year earnings growth for the S&P 500. Many companies are topping forecasts because they’ve been able to wring more profit out of each $1 of revenue than analysts were expecting, according to Binky Chadha, chief strategist at Deutsche Bank.
Such strength could support stock prices even if interest rates end up staying high, according to Kristy Akullian, head of iShares Investment Strategy, Americas.
“Equities don’t need Fed rate cuts for the rally to continue, all they need is solid earnings growth,” she said.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.68% from 4.61% just before the report’s release.
The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, jumped back above the 5% level to 5.03% from 4.97% late Monday.
In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.2% after reopening following a holiday. The government reported stronger-than-expected gains in industrial production for March.
Indexes were mixed across much of the rest of Asia, but lower in Europe.
AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
A person passes the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Global shares are trading mostly higher as investors keep their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's stock prices at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A window cleaner works along the window of at a securities firm building Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Japanese characters read as "securities." (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan Yen/U.S. dollar exchange rate at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People pass by an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index, left, and U.dollar/Japanese yen conversion rate at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
