Oil prices fell back on Wednesday from a record of $100.10 a barrel on speculation U.S. crude stockpiles will rise.
Bain Capital Partners said on Wednesday it withdrew its application for U.S. national security approval for its planned $2.2 billion acquisition of network-equipment maker 3Com Corp.
Platinum ended a record-setting streak on Wednesday after 14 straight days of gains as profit-takers stepped in, but analysts said it was likely to recover after a pause because of persistent supply problems.
Inflation accelerated in January in a worrying sign for the Federal Reserve's campaign to bolster the flagging economy, while a separate report on Wednesday showed more troubling signs for beleaguered housing market.
Inflation fears and delays in debt payments by an affiliate of private equity giant KKR spooked financial markets on Wednesday, battering stocks and driving the cost of corporate debt insurance to all-time peaks.
Oil retreated on Wednesday, a day after hitting a record high above $100 a barrel, as investors focused on a U.S. inventory report expected to show crude stockpiles rose for a sixth week.
China Mobile Ltd signed up a record number of users in a single month in January, as the world's top cellular carrier built on its dominance in the world's largest wireless market.
Investors who have written off 2008 as a year of an economic slowdown and depressing stock market returns, are already gearing up to face a cocktail of new problems next year.
Fifty-four percent of Americans expect a recession in the next year as the housing downturn deepens, inlfation rises and credit conditions worsen, according to a new poll released Wednesday. As economic anxiety grows, nearly half said they planned to use their government tax rebate checks to pay down debt or pad savings.
British bank Alliance & Leicester on Wednesday suffered a double blow from the impact of financial market turmoil, warning of sharply higher funding costs to add to a big writedown on the value of risky assets. Britain's seventh largest listed bank is estimating higher funding costs as it seeks to avoid a crisis that hit rival Northern Rock last year.
Gold futures rallied near 3 percent on Tuesday, gaining the most in almost seven weeks on speculation of a weaker dollar while platinum surged more than 4 percent to another record high of $2,174 on persisting stockpile concerns from South Africa, the metals top producer.
Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday above $100 a barrel to set a new record before falling slightly on speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may diminish oil output next month and after an explosion shut off operations in a U.S. refinery.
The end of the format battle is finally here. Toshiba said overnight that it would withdraw from the HD DVD business causing U.S.-listed shares of Sony Corp rallied to a 3-week high on Tuesday on optimism about sales of its PlayStation 3 video game consoles and Blu-ray DVD players.
Oil prices surged more than 4 percent on Tuesday to hit a record over $100 a barrel on expectations OPEC will keep production levels steady when it meets next month. News Nigerian oil delta rebel leader Henry Okah had died raised worries about supplies from the OPEC country, but a spokesman for the government later said he was alive and in custody.
The dollar is weaker against the euro and Aussie as the US market returns from holiday, falling to its lowest level in 3-months versus the Aussie at 0.9236 and a 2-week low against the euro at 1.4756.
The dollar fell on Tuesday amid continuing speculation that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, and minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia indicating that it had wanted to raise its interest higher than it did earlier this month.
U.S. stocks gained on Tuesday for the first time in three days after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. released higher-than-expected fourth quarter results and energy stocks climbed led by oil which surpassed $98 a barrel.
Credit Suisse has written $2.85 billion off the value of its asset-backed investments and found mismarking and pricing errors on its books, it revealed on Tuesday, sending its shares plummeting.
The bank said the write-downs would wipe $1 billion from its first-quarter net income, after taking into account tax credits and cancelling some staff bonuses, but it still expected to stay in profit in the quarter, despite the charge.
High-yielding currencies, led by the Australian dollar, rose on Tuesday as investors added to risky trades amid strong gains in commodity prices and expectations of further interest rate increases in Australia.
European shares cut Tuesday's losses and rose as a turnaround in shares of Barclays boosted UK banks and U.S. stock futures extended gains.
The promise of a solid open on Wall Street after Wal-Mart signaled the U.S. consumer is still keen to spend helped set aside worries about hefty bank writedowns on Tuesday while oil and metal prices rose unabated.
Wal-Mart Stores posted better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday as penny-pinching U.S. shoppers scoured its discount stores for low prices on necessities like food to offset tough economic conditions. We know that the economy remains a critical factor in this new fiscal year, said Lee Scott, CEO of the world's largest retailer, in a statement. Customers were more cautious in their spending in January.
