ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man used construction equipment to drop a heavy boom lift onto a sculpture that has stood for 25 years outside St. Louis' Cathedral Basilica, badly damaging it, police said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Angel of Harmony, which stood 14 feet (4.3 meters) tall and depicts a Black angel protecting three children of various races, could be saved. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that part of one of the children was broken off and the angel's wings appeared to be damaged.
The motive for Tuesday night’s vandalism was unknown, said police, who arrested a 35-year-old suspect.
The Angel of Harmony, created by Polish sculptor Wiktor Szostalo, was installed in 1999, months after Pope John Paul II's visit to St. Louis. The angel's wings include more than 100 wind chimes and the children are playing instruments. The pedestal is inscribed with quotes from the New Testament, Pope John Paul II and Martin Luther King Jr.
“The Angel of Harmony has graced the grounds of our city’s Cathedral Basilica since 1999, as a joyful reminder that our diversity is something to be celebrated, that truth, beauty and goodness unite us all,” St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski said in a statement. “We need to be reminded of that daily. We are still learning about the extent of the damage, with great hope that this special sculpture can be restored."
Police arrived at the ornate Catholic cathedral in St. Louis' Central West End neighborhood after a caller reported that a man was tampering with construction equipment. The statue had been knocked off its pedestal. Police said the suspect also apparently fired a gunshot into an unoccupied car. It was not clear why.
Surveillance video helped point officers to the man. Officers spotted the him, but he ran off. A police dog helped find the suspect hiding a few blocks from the cathedral.
The man was charged Wednesday with institutional vandalism, two counts of property damage, tampering, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest.
"The Angel of Harmony" sculpture damaged outside the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 in St. Louis. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is roaring toward records as a delayed reaction of jubilation sweeps markets worldwide following the Federal Reserve’s big cut to interest rates. The S&P 500 was 1.6% higher in early trading Thursday and above its all-time closing high set in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 527 points, or 1.3%, and on track to top its record set on Monday. The Nasdaq composite was 2.3% higher. Stocks of smaller companies led the market, as did other businesses that can feel the most relief from lower interest rates. Markets in Europe and Asia also rallied.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Markets on Wall Street were positioned to open at record highs Thursday after the Federal Reserve issued a bigger-than-usual interest rate cut intended to fortify a cooling labor market and prevent a recession.
Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 1.7% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 1.2%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq shot more than 2% higher.
Thursday's premarket gains came after investors largely shrugged off the Fed's half-point rate cut a day earlier. Because the Fed’s first cut to interest rates in four years was so well telegraphed, markets had already risen in anticipation of it.
It was the first cut to the federal funds rate since the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. in March of 2020, ending a stretch where the country's central bank kept rates at a two-decade high to slow the economy enough to stifle the worst inflation in generations.
The Fed’s move may help financial markets both by easing the brakes on the economy, which has been slowing under the weight of higher rates and by boosting prices for all kinds of investments. Besides stocks, gold and bond prices had already rallied in recent months on expectations that rate cuts were coming.
Now that inflation has eased significantly from its peak two summers ago and appears to be heading toward 2%, the Fed says it it can turn more of its attention toward protecting the slowing job market and overall economy.
“The time to support the labor market is when it’s strong and not when you begin to see the layoffs,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference Wednesday. “That’s the situation we’re in.”
Darden Restaurants climbed 7.5% in premarket, even as the owner of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse posted first-quarter sales and profit that fell short of expectations. Investors may have been encouraged that Darden reiterated its previous guidance, saying sales trends were on an upward trajectory since a July swoon dragged down its most recent results.
Trading in Tupperware Brands remained halted after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Its stock has been sinking, down to 51 cents, since a mini-revival early in the pandemic sent its stock above $30.
Package deliverer FedEx and homebuilder Lennar report their latest results after the bell Thursday.
In Europe, Germany's DAX added 0.8% by midday and the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 1.3%.
In London, the FTSE 100 gained 0.9% after the Bank of England left its interest rate untouched at 5% as expected.
In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index rose 2.1% to 37,155.33, lifted by major export manufacturers' shares. Toyota Motor Corp. surged 5.1%, Sony Group Corp. added 2.9% and Hitachi Ltd. climbed 5.8%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2% to 18,013.16.
The Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.7% to 2,736.02, while Taiwan's Taiex closed 1.7% higher.
South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,580.80.
The Bank of Japan and the Bank of England are also holding monetary policy meetings this week. Neither central bank is expected to move on rates, though the language of what the officials say could be an indicator of later moves and still influence markets.
In other dealings, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 70 cents to $70.58 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard, was up 65 cents at $74.30 per barrel.
The dollar rose to 142.93 Japanese yen from 142.29 yen. The euro rose to $1.1158 from $1.1120.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3% and the Dow dipped 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.3%.
Trader Michale Conlon, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's news conference appears on a television screen behind him, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The news conference of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appears on television screens on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Specialist Genaro Saporito, foreground, works with traders at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The news conference of Federal' Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appears on a screen as trader Neil Catania works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Leon Montana works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
