CHINA

The stock market edged higher on Wednesday as stocks in the transportation and financial sectors made significant gains.

A city with a distinct architectural style has a certain draw to travelers. Great architecture is both artistic and scientific, both beautiful and practical. Even more, architecture gives us cultural clues about a city's past, present and future.

Fred Hu is stepping down as a partner of Goldman Sachs, according to an internal memo, as sources said he plans to launch a new private equity fund.

Novartis has taken an exclusive option to develop Transgene's cancer vaccine TG4010, but the deal fell short of investors' hopes, pulling the shares in the French biotechnology company down 12 percent.

The outlook for precious metals remain positive over the medium term and bearish over the long term.The sharp rise in gold prices over prior months, set against the prospects for economic recovery over the coming quarters, have eroded gold's attractiveness for investors, pushing capital towards riskier assets such as equities. Meanwhile, unwinding of government stimulus measures and monetary easing have dulled gold's lustre as a hedge.

American International Group could learn the fate of the stalled $2.2 billion sale of its Taiwan unit Nan Shan Life Insurance as early as Thursday.

A distinct lack of momentum will drag on the rich world's economic recovery this year, according to the latest Reuters economic outlook in which economists largely bucked a recent trend of rising forecasts.

The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, voiced his support on Wednesday for an ethnic minority in China's troubled Xinjiang province, risking further worsening his fraught relations with Beijing.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged Afghans on Wednesday to push energetically for a peace settlement with Taliban insurgents and said Afghanistan's neighbors must support such an agreement.

U.S. stock index futures barely budged on Wednesday after data showed Chinese exports and imports grew faster than expected and after a slew of new corporate deals.

U.S. stock index futures barely budged on Wednesday after data showed Chinese exports and imports grew faster than expected and after a slew of new corporate deals.

Chinese exports and imports grew faster than expected in February, underlining the momentum behind the world's third-largest economy and reinforcing the case for a rise in the yuan.

Oil failed to find momentum in either direction for a clear move away from $81.50 on Wednesday as investors waited for data on U.S. stocks or OPEC's monthly report ahead of next week's meeting to provide impetus.

China is setting up a new agency to help streamline its trade negotiating bureaucracy as the world's third-largest economy faces a growing number of commercial disputes.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.07 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.09 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.25 percent.

The parent of China's Geely Automobile has secured financing to buy Ford-owned Volvo cars for about 15 billion Swedish crowns ($2.10 billion), a Swedish business daily reported on Wednesday.

Concerns over Europe's fiscal problems hit the euro and sterling on Wednesday, while world stocks hovered near their recent six-week highs, though they were still up 66 percent from a low hit one year ago.

The euro and sterling were under pressure on Wednesday after renewed concerns about Europe's fiscal problems but oil, copper and the Australian dollar were supported by China's strong export and import data.

Oil fell toward $81 a barrel on Wednesday in volatile trade as expectations for a gain in U.S. crude stockpiles offset surging Chinese imports.

More than 100 Chinese consumers have filed an official complaint against Hewlett-Packard Co over faulty laptop computers, leaving the door open for a lawsuit against the U.S. technology company, a lawyer for the group said on Wednesday.

Oil reversed earlier losses to gain a few cents toward $82 on Wednesday after China said imports jumped in February, boosting evidence that emerging Asian economies will lead global demand back into growth this year.