UNITED STATES

The Aussie's three-week ascent towards US90.50 came to an abrupt halt yesterday immediately after the release of the much-anticipated June quarter inflation data.

Visa Inc , the world's largest credit and debit card processing network, posted higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, but analysts said new processing fee regulations could cut into future profits.

Sprint Nextel Corp said it lost fewer valuable contract customers in the second quarter than analysts expected, helped by its most advanced smartphone, the EVO from HTC Corp .

Visa Inc , the world's largest credit and debit card processing network, beat expectations with a quarterly profit of $716 million on Wednesday, as consumers resumed spending.

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday approved the nomination of three new members to the Federal Reserve's powerful board, including Janet Yellen for vice chairman, clearing the way for a final vote by the whole Senate.

New orders for long-lasting manufactured goods fell unexpectedly for a second straight month in June, posting the largest drop since August in a sign economic recovery cooled in the second quarter.

ConocoPhillips , the third-largest U.S. oil company, reported a 150 percent increase in underlying quarterly profit, in a dramatic bounceback of its volatile refining business.

With fist pumps and perfect tans, Jersey Shore returns to TV on Thursday for a new season of shows that has audiences wondering if the cast that put some reality back into reality TV is still really real after its brush with Hollywood stardom.

Shares of Research In Motion jumped on Wednesday on speculation that next week it would unveil a new touchscreen BlackBerry that could compete more effectively with Apple Inc's iPhone and other smartphones.

U.S. media companies are set to report revenue increases of 5 to 15 percent as they issue earnings reports over the next two weeks -- the best the industry has looked in at least two years.

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after weak durable goods figures and a downbeat assessment of the economy from the Fed's Beige Book kept the benchmark S&P 500 trapped below its 200-day moving average.

U.S. home loan demand cooled last week as rising mortgage rates curbed refinancing requests that had soared to a 14-month high, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

New orders for manufactured goods like cars and planes fell unexpectedly for a second straight month in June, posting the largest drop since August in a sign economic recovery cooled in the second quarter.

Stocks were lower and the S&P 500 remained below a key technical level on Wednesday as conflicting reports showed improved corporate earnings and falling durable goods orders.

BP Plc may permanently shut the well that caused the worst off-shore oil spill in U.S. history as early as Monday, the company said on Wednesday as speculation grew over the assets it might sell to cover mounting costs.

Algae have been studied for many years as a potential renewable energy feedstock to produce motor fuels. Below, we discuss the attributes of algae that make it potentially attractive and some of the technological and economic challenges in algae cultivation, harvesting, and oil extraction that must be addressed before algae-based fuels can be commercially produced.

Shares of BlackBerry smartphone maker Research In Motion Ltd jumped early on Wednesday on speculation it is set to unveil a long-awaited touchscreen handset designed to battle Apple Inc's popular iPhone.

Oil prices fell a second straight day on Wednesday after economic and industry data fueled concerns about the pace of economic recovery and energy demand growth and also rising oil inventories.

CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler said on Wednesday the top-rated TV network was restless, motivated and paranoid about developing new shows and looking increasingly to social networking and the Internet for its next big hits.

Oil and gas producers ConocoPhillips, ENI and BG Group reported big jumps in second quarter profits on Wednesday thanks to higher oil and gas prices and firmer refining margins.

The S&P 500 struggled to break a key technical level as conflicting reports showing improved corporate earnings and falling orders for the most expensive manufactured goods kept U.S. stocks slightly lower on Wednesday.