ECONOMY & MARKETS

Asian shares fell Wednesday after four days of gains, as expectations of stimulus action this week by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank fade, and following signs of deepening Asian economic stress.

A top U.S. housing regulator refused on Tuesday to offer principal reductions for mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, highlighting a sharp difference in views over the best way to aid the beleagured real estate market.

For-profit colleges, which are squandering their resources at the expense of students' outcomes, are bilking the government and the public, a two-year investigation led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, concluded.

The jobless rate in the U.S. has stubbornly remained above 8 percent for more than three years, and the labor market likely saw little improvement in July, economists say in anticipation of the July nonfarm payrolls report due Friday.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), the world's second-largest entertainment conglomerate by revenue, is expected to have slightly lower second quarter earnings as film profits decline but international cable distribution remains strong.

Some of the results for specific councils are quite shocking,? said Judy Aldred, managing director of SSentif.

A bank equity analyst famous in financial circles for her prescient analysis on the global banking sector said Tuesday morning she sees the financial industry shedding another 200,000 people off the payrolls in the coming months.

Following a poor earnings report last week and a steep drop in its share prices, social gaming giant Zynga is now facing an insider trading lawsuit on account of some suspicious financial activity by the company's top executives.

Despite rising income at the end of the second quarter, U.S. consumer spending fell in June by 0.1 percent from the month before, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.

U.s. single-family home prices rose for the fourth month in a row in May when adjusting for seasonal swings, suggesting the recovery in the housing market continued to gain traction.

Germany's biggest bank Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is laying off 1,900 people, most of them outside Germany, in an effort to save ?3 billion ($3.68 billion) as part of a broader strategic overhaul.

Accretive Health, Arkansas Best Corp, Nokia Corp, Liquidity Services, General Mills, Dendreon Corp, OCZ Technology Group, Nova Measuring Instruments and Seagate Technology are among the companies whose shares are moving in premarket trading Tuesday.

U.S. stock index futures point to a higher opening Tuesday as investors were optimistic that the Federal Reserve will announce monetary easing measures to rejuvenate the economy and regain the growth momentum.

Asian stock markets advanced Tuesday, helped by expectations that the major central banks will announce further stimulus measures when they hold policy meetings later this week.

Most of the European markets fell Tuesday but investors remained cautious with the hope that the central banks all over the world would soon announce stimulus measures to tackle the weakening global economy.

Crude oil prices remained near $90 a barrel during Asian trading hours Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of major central bank meetings later this week.

The top after-market NYSE gainers Monday were Accretive Health, Lexmark International, Herbalife Ltd, Hertz Global Holdings and Freescale Semiconductor Ltd. The top after-market NYSE losers were RealD, Forest Oil Corp, McMoRan Exploration, Superior Energy Services and Humana Inc.

South Korea's industrial output declined in June from the previous month with exports decreasing and domestic demand continuing to be weak.

Most of the Asian markets rose Tuesday as investors remained hopeful that the world's central banks would announce stimulus measures soon to help boost the global economic growth.

Asian shares paused Tuesday as investors grew cautious ahead of monetary policy meetings by the European Central Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve, with scepticism countering expectations for more stimulus steps to support fragile global economies.

France produces more than 16 million tons of foie gras every year, principally by force-feeding corn to ducks and geese in order to enlarge their livers.

The week is chock-full with data releases that will confirm if the summer malaise continued in July. As always, Friday's employment report will carry the most weight. Another highlight of this week is the much anticipated Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

OCZ Technology Group, Green Dot, Exelixis, Mellanox Technologies, Nokia Corp, Synacor, Microsoft Corp, Statoil ASA and JPMorgan Chase & Co are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Monday.

Asian stock markets advanced Monday on renewed hopes that policy makers in U.S. and Europe will announce further stimulus measures to spur economic growth when they hold policy meetings later this week.

U.S. stock index futures point to a lower opening Monday as investors remained cautious while waiting for the central banks around the world to announce stimulus measures to recover the economic growth.

Maruti Suzuki shares fell 2.7 percent in the morning trading Monday, following a 22.84 percent drop in its first quarter net profit even as analysts started revising the company's stocks, indicating a not-so-good future ahead.

Most European markets rose Monday amid expectations that the European Central Bank would announce stimulus measures to rejuvenate the euro zone economy.

Crude oil futures advanced Monday as sentiment was buoyed on speculation that major central banks around the world would act to tackle the deteriorating global economic conditions.

Japan’s industrial output declined in June, which is the third consecutive month showing a fall, indicating that the weakening global demand and the debt burden faced by the euro zone are affecting the country’s economy.