UNITED STATES

U.S. stocks advanced on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reaffirmed his commitment to keep interest rates low for an extended period to sustain the still fragile recovery.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday a weak job market and tame inflation warrant low interest rates for an extended period, dampening speculation a policy tightening might be nearing.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday repeated his call for Congress to pass financial reform legislation that curbs risk-taking by big financial firms and ensures they can absorb their own losses.

Toyota Motor Corp's president pledged to cooperate fully with U.S. government officials investigating safety problems on Wednesday as he prepared to tell a congressional panel that the automaker had let standards slip in its rise to the top.

U.S. stocks advanced on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reaffirmed his commitment to keep interest rates low for an extended period.

U.S. stocks extended gains on Wednesday, with the Dow and Nasdaq up more than 1 percent, as technology and financial shares advanced after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke vowed to keep interest rates low to foster an economic recovery.

The only time the U.S. dollar ever took a serious shellacking in the marketplace, the wounds were almost entirely self-inflicted.

The number of mass layoffs by U.S. employers edged up in January as manufacturers stepped up job cuts, data showed on Tuesday, but probably not enough to alter views that the economy is on the brink of creating jobs.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reaffirmed his commitment to keep interest rates low for an extended period.

Bloom Energy, the San Francisco based energy startup which has been drawing a lot of attention this week, is holding a press event Wednesday morning where the company is expected to unveil further details on its Bloom Box product.

Toyota Motor Corp's president pledged to cooperate fully with U.S. government officials investigating safety problems on Wednesday as he prepared to tell a congressional panel that the automaker had let standards slip in its rise to the top.

A coach's split-second lapse of concentration was all it took to add Sven Kramer's name to a roll call of athletes hit by mishap, mistake or miscalculation when they thought Olympic gold was already in the bag.

Thomson Reuters Corp reported a lower quarterly profit and signaled that cutbacks by financial customers last year would continue to hurt revenue in 2010, sending its shares down 2 percent.

Canada stormed into the Olympic men's ice hockey quarter-finals on Tuesday while Switzerland and the Czech Republic were pushed to the limit and Slovakia battled to a bloody victory over Norway.

Europe and U.S. stock indices edged up cautiously ahead of Fed Chairman Bernanke's semi-annual testimony on monetary policy and the state of the economy at 10:00 am EST.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for clues to the U.S. central bank's thinking on the economy.

Canada's Olympic inquisition was put on ice after an extraordinary day of raw emotion at the Vancouver Winter Games on Tuesday.

China's textiles and garments export value hit $15.57 billion in the first month of this year. In a statement issued here,China's General Administration of Customs said, this was an increase by 2.2 percent from the same month last year.

Toyota Motor Corp's president braced for tough questions from a U.S. congressional panel on Wednesday.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for clues to the U.S. central bank's thinking on the economy.

The U.S. government will pull the plug soon on a popular tax credit that has helped prop up the struggling housing sector amid hope that a pickup in hiring will give the market a fresh shot of life.