News in brief

Retailer hires exec

for India tech hub

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has hired former Oracle and Wipro Ltd. executive K. Jaya Kumar to head technology operations in India and plans to add upward of 400 more jobs -- doubling its roster at a new e-commerce and technology facility in Bangalore.

Forbes reported Thursday that more software programmers moved to Bangalore, India's technology hub, in the past year than California's original Silicon Valley, citing data by LinkedIn. While Bangalore noted 44 percent new residents with technical talent, the San Francisco Bay Area had 31 percent more.

Kumar's title will be managing director and vice-president of Wal-Mart's global technology services. Wal-Mart estimates a 30 percent rise in e-commerce revenue this year. The company reported a 27 percent growth from the business in its first quarter of fiscal 2015. The world's largest retailer's e-commerce sales topped $10 billion in fiscal 2014 and are expected to hit the $13 billion mark in the current fiscal year.

-- Cyd King

Study: Port closure

would lose billions

As West Coast dock workers negotiate for a new contract agreement, a study released Thursday showed the U.S. economy could lose as much as $2.5 billion per day if a prolonged West Coast port shutdown occurs. The current contract, set to expire Monday, affects 13,600 dockworkers at 30 ports reaching from San Diego to Bellingham, Wash.

The study, conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation by economists at the Interindustry Forecasting Project at the University of Maryland, estimates that a five-day shutdown would reduce the gross domestic product by $1.9 billion per day, disrupt 73,000 jobs and cost the average U.S. household $81 in purchasing power. The numbers are expected to increase dramatically over the increased period of the potential shutdown.

"A protracted dispute between the negotiating parties could lead to reduced or shuttered terminal operations for an extended period," the joint study said. "If such disruptions occur, the economic impact would be significant and widespread."

-- Cyd King

Index dips slightly

as 9 decline, 8 rise

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 0.62 to 348.27 Thursday.

Nine stocks declined, and eight advanced.

J.B. Hunt Transport lost 2.6 percent on heavy volume.

Windstream fell 2.5 percent in light trading.

Tyson Foods rose 1.8 percent in average trading.

America's Car-Mart was up 1.2 percent in light trading.

Total volume of the index was 21.7 million shares.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 06/27/2014

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