Markets on Wall Street were mixed early Wednesday but remain at or above record levels as more results from retailers take center stage amid a dearth of economic news.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average just barely edged into positive territory, rising less than 0.1% before the bell, while futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.1%.

Cars, trucks and SUVs in the U.S. keep getting older, hitting a record average age of 12.6 years in 2024 as people hang on to their vehicles largely because new ones cost so much.

S&P Global Mobility, which tracks state vehicle registration data nationwide, said Wednesday that the average vehicle age grew about two months from last year's record.

Global nickel prices have soared since deadly violence erupted in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia last week.

The overseas territory, which has been under French rule for over 170 years, is a major global producer of the critical material that is needed to make electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, steel and other everyday items.

Global shares retreated Tuesday, even as most U.S. stock indexes finished higher, especially technology issues like Nvidia.

France's CAC 40 lost 0.7% in early trading to 8,137.16, while Germany's DAX declined 0.3% to 18,704.35. Britain's FTSE 100 fell nearly 0.4% to 8,393.84.

As president, Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on foreign steel, which hurt Clips & Clamps Industries, a Michigan auto supplier — raising its materials prices, making it harder to compete with overseas rivals and costing it several contracts.

Jeff Aznavorian, the company president, thought he might enjoy some relief once Joe Biden entered the White House. Instead, Biden largely preserved Trump's tariffs — on steel, aluminum and a mass of goods from China.

Saudi Arabia's national airline ordered more than 100 new Airbus jets, a reflection of the kingdom's ambitious drive to lure more tourists.

Saudia Group, which represents the Saudia airline and its budget carrier Flyadeal, said Monday that it ordered 105 aircraft from the French aerospace company's A320neo family of jets, including 12 A320neos and 93 A321neos. That brings Saudia Group's Airbus aircraft order backlog to 144 of the A320neo family planes.

A court in the Russian city of St. Petersburg has ordered the seizing of assets of Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank in the country, the Russia state news agency Tass says. The order is in response to a lawsuit over the planned construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Baltic Sea.

The banks were among the guarantors in the contract for building a gas processing plant by a multinational construction firm, Renaissance Heavy Industries, and German company Linde. But the project was cancelled after Western sanctions, with the banks withdrawing their guarantees.

China's Ministry of Commerce announced sanctions against Boeing and two other defense companies Monday for arms sales to Taiwan, on the day of Taiwan's presidential inauguration.

The move is the latest in a series of sanctions Beijing has announced in recent years against defense companies for weapons sales to Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers as part of its own territory.

It was a time of fear and chaos four years ago.

The death count was mounting as COVID-19 spread. Financial markets were panicked. Oil prices briefly went negative. The Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark interest rates to combat the sudden recession. And the U.S. government went on a historic borrowing spree — adding trillions to the national debt — to keep families and businesses afloat.

China announced a slate of fresh measures Friday to reinvigorate its ailing property industry after the latest data showed housing prices have slumped nearly 10% since the start of the year.

Among other things, the central bank said it would reduce the minimum down payment for mortgages and remove the floor on interest rates for first and second homes.