BIOTECH

Chiasma announces more job cuts

Waltham biotech company Chiasma Inc. said Tuesday that it will cut its workforce by another 44 percent to conserve cash and lower its operating expenses in the aftermath of a setback to its clinical development program. It was the company’s second announced cutback in the past three months. Chiasma in June pared a third of its 70 employees after the Food and Drug Administration rejected its experimental drug Mycapssa to treat a pituitary gland growth disorder. FDA regulators called on the company to perform another, broader clinical trial of the drug. The new cuts will affect Chiasma’s research and development, which is centered in Israel, as well as general administrative functions, the company said. The earlier round of cuts primarily affected its commercial workforce. In a statement, Chiasma chief executive Mark Leuchtenberger said the company plans to continue its development of Mycapssa in consultation with the FDA. — ROBERT WEISMAN

HEDGE FUNDS

Cohen settles with CFTC

Billionaire hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen, who was earlier accused of failing to prevent insider trading at his firm, has agreed in a settlement with the government not to engage in any activities overseen by federal commodities regulators until at least Dec. 31, 2017. The settlement announced Tuesday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission follows on the action brought against Cohen by the Securities and Exchange Commission over insider trading at his firm, formerly called SAC Capital Advisors. In an agreement with the SEC in January, Cohen was barred for two years from managing other people’s money. He wasn’t fined under the agreement, and neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s allegations. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

RETAIL

TJX profit beats expectations

T.J. Maxx’s parent company reported a second-quarter profit and sales results Tuesday that beat Wall Street expectations as shoppers keep flocking to its stores to grab name brands at deep discounts. Framingham-based TJX Cos., which also operates HomeGoods and Marshalls among other stores, raised its profit guidance for the year but offered a third-quarter outlook that fell short of expectations. It cited wage increases for its workers and negative currency effects as factors depressing quarterly profits. Its shares fell more than 5 percent Tuesday. Despite the underwhelming outlook, TJX has been one of the bright spots in retailing since the Great Recession. It continues to draw shoppers away from mall-based stores as it rapidly expands its footprint. It now has more than 3,600 stores, compared to more than 2,800 five years ago. The chain is also improving — offering increasingly current merchandise at big discounts. Now department stores like Macy’s are testing the off-price concept. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRAVEL

Airbnb to expand into concierge services

Airbnb Inc. is pressing ahead with plans to expand into new travel services including restaurant reservations and city tours, transforming the company from a single-minded home-rental service to a multipurpose trip planner. The company is testing a standalone mobile app for finding and organizing travel plans, highlighting the importance of the initiative to the company. A test version of the software is called Airbnb Trips, according to an Android app listing on the Google Play Store. The app offers access to personal itineraries with information about upcoming Airbnb rentals, city guidebooks, dining, and happy hour events. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

AUTOMOTIVE

New emissions standards for heavy trucks

The Obama administration on Tuesday issued aggressive new emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks — rules that are expected to achieve better fuel efficiency and a bigger cut in pollution than the version first proposed last year. Officials said the new standards would require up to a 25 percent reduction in carbon emissions for big tractor-trailers over the next 10 years, and somewhat smaller improvements for delivery trucks, school buses, and other large vehicles. Overall, administration officials said the new rules would cut 1.1 billion tons of carbon emissions through 2027 and represent a global benchmark for reducing vehicle-exhaust pollutants linked to climate change. The carbon-reduction target is 10 percent more than when the rules were proposed last year, and was made tougher after a public comment period. — NEW YORK TIMES

RETAIL

Struggling Claire’s turns to boldholders

Claire’s Stores Inc. is turning to its creditors to help it avoid becoming the latest mall chain to succumb to a mountain of debt. The tween jewelry chain that’s bounced along the bottom of the junk-debt market since its 2007 buyout by Apollo Global Management, is asking bondholders to swap almost $800 million of securities for a smaller amount of new loans. The deal would chip away at the retailer’s almost $2.5 billion debt load and give it more time to boost earnings after it lost more than $500 million in three years as mall traffic declined and competition intensified from online and specialty stores. Claire’s joins a number of national retailers confronting a wall of debt, including Sports Authority Inc., Aeropostale Inc., and the Fairway Group Holdings Corp. supermarket chain, all three of which filed for bankruptcy this year amid sluggish sales and a shift to e-commerce. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

CONSTRUCTION

Home building starts rose in July

Apartment construction in the Northeast fueled a jump in home building in July as housing starts nationwide reached their strongest pace in six months. The rate of overall construction rose 2.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.21 million from 1.19 million in June, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That was the highest level since February. Most of the gain came from an 8.3 percent acceleration in the construction of multifamily buildings. Construction of single-family houses edged up just 0.3 percent. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUTOMOTIVE

2017 Audis to tell you when the light’s turning green

Waiting for a green light is perhaps the worst of all driving frustrations. You’re sitting there idling behind some station wagon, there’s nothing but commercials on the radio, and you’re wondering when the red traffic light will turn to green. Now, your car will tell you. Audi will debut software in select 2017 models that communicates with municipal traffic light systems to predict when lights will go from red to green. — WASHINGTON POST

RETAIL

Home Depot earnings rise as home spending continues

Home Depot Inc., the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, posted second-quarter profit that rose 9.3 percent and boosted its earnings forecast for the year as Americans continued spending on their houses. Net income increased to $1.97 a share in the fiscal second quarter, which ended July 31, the Atlanta-based company said Tuesday in a statement. That matched analysts’ average estimate. The results reinforced that consumers are still willing to splurge on fixing up their dwellings, spurred along by rising home values. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

AUTOMOTIVE

Sensor company lands $150m in funding

Ford and the Chinese search engine company Baidu will each invest $75 million in Velodyne, a company that makes laser sensors that help guide self-driving cars. Velodyne, based in Morgan Hill, Calif., says it will use the $150 million investment to expand design and production and reduce the cost of its sensors. The laser sensors are called Lidar, which stands for light, detection, and ranging. They can also be used in conventional vehicles as part of driver assist systems such as automatic emergency braking. — ASSOCIATED PRESS