UNITED STATES

Costco Wholesale Corp beat analyst expectations after posting a lower fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, suggesting an improvement in the weak U.S. retail environment.

U.S. government-controlled mortgage finance companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are working on a program to help independent mortgage banks get access to short-term credit needed to make home loans, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Canada's Nortel Networks said on Wednesday it plans to sell its optical networking and carrier ethernet businesses to U.S.-based Ciena in a stalking horse agreement worth $521 million.

The United States came under pressure to show leadership in U.N. climate talks on Wednesday with Mexico saying its neighbor is a stumbling block in efforts to try to craft a tough global climate agreement by December.

The U.S. office vacancy rate reached a five-year high in the third quarter, pushed up by extra unused space that just about wiped out all the gains made during the commercial real estate boom, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc.

(Corrects paragraph 3 to clarify membership fees rose 3 percent to $490 million, not fell 3 percent to $474 million. Also, corrects source in paragraph 7 to Thomson Reuters data, from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S)

Stock futures were little changed on Wednesday, but could build on the previous session's gains on the strength in commodities.

European shares were lower at midday on Wednesday after sharp gains in the previous session on global economic recovery hopes, with banking and industrial engineering shares leading the decline.

U.S. mortgage applications surged last week to their highest since mid-May as consumers sought to take advantage of the lowest interest rates in months, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Britain's top share index eased in mid-session trade on Wednesday, with weakness in energy and food retailers offsetting some strength in miners and banks, as investors await the start of the third-quarter corporate results season in the United States.

Millions of American job-hunters risk permanent unemployment as industries undergo radical change and some skills become irrelevant in the wake of the worst U.S. economic recession in 70 years.

* U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminium group Alcoa (AA.N) the first in line.

Stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday, but could build on the previous session's gains on the strength in commodities.

Stock futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminum group Alcoa the first in line.

Oil prices rose for the third straight day on Wednesday, edging above $71 a barrel after an industry report showed a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, boosting the view demand was recovering.

Americans will have to save more in the future, transforming the global economy, and Europeans and Japanese must work to boost domestic demand, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Vivendi (VIV.PA) is likely to sell its 20 percent stake in media company NBC Universal (NBCU) and may discuss the matter at a board meeting on Oct. 14, a source close to the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.

Britain's top share index was flat early on Wednesday as investors paused for breath after the previous session's sharp rise, with gains in miners offsetting weak energy stocks and ahead of the U.S. third-quarter earnings season.

Costco Wholesale Corp beat analyst expectations after posting a lower fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, suggesting an improvement in the weak U.S. retail environment.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminium group Alcoa (AA.N) the first in line.

Corrects to clarify in the first paragraph that the company made a lower fourth-quarter profit