ECONOMY & MARKETS

The global economic recovery had started losing momentum from mid-2010 and all the indicators point to weaker growth next year, said a report by United Nations (UN) on Wednesday.

PepsiCo Inc. announced an agreement to acquire 66 percent of Russia's dairy and fruit juice company Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods for $3.8 billion to boost its base in key markets in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Upon completion of the deal, PepsiCo will be around twice the size of its nearest food and beverage competitor in Russia.

World trade growth slowed in the third quarter of the year, according to the latest World Trade Organization (WTO) figures. An 18 percent rise in global merchandise trade annually in value terms was remarkably lower than the 26 percent increase registered in the second quarter.

Europe's biggest tour operator TUI Travel reported a full-year pretax loss, blaming weaker trading in the UK, mainly due to increased winter losses resulting from capacity-led volume reductions. However, underlying pretax profit rose 4 percent on good turnaround progress.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Semtech, Sequenom, ON Semiconductor, Ansys, rue21, TD Ameritrade Holding, Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, E*TRADE Financial, Compuware, SunPower, and Synopsys.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Finisar, Gordmans Stores, optionsXpress Holdings, Global Industries, Tractor Supply, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Metabolix, Isle of Capri Casinos, Natural Alternatives International, and NCI.

France and Germany, the two leading countries of the euro zone, may have intentionally engineered a competitive currency devaluation by pushing private investors to share the burden of future sovereign bailouts.

Stocks rallied sharply on a slew of good economic data, including jobs, productivity and regional growth.

U.S. stocks rallied in early trade on Wednesday as strong data on private payrolls, and better-than-expected manufacturing reports from China and Europe buoyed sentiment.

Consumers spent $1.028-billion online during Cyber Monday, up 16 percent from a year ago, and first time such spending surpassed the billion-dollar level. It was also the busiest online shopping day ever.

Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest wireless carrier, is set to unveil details about its plan to launch its LTE 4G wireless networks in the United States.

Futures on major U.S. indices extended earlier gains on Wednesday after ADP reported that private-sector employment recorded the largest gain in three years in November.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Corinthian Colleges, TICC Capital, ICAgen, NGP Capital Resources, and Take-Two Interactive Software.

Planned job cuts in the U.S rose sharply in November to reach an eight-month high, a nation-wide survey of employers revealed.

Credit card delinquencies are falling in the U.S. as millions of consumers have simply stopped using their credit cards.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Mercer Insurance Group, OmniVision Technologies, Xenoport, Mecox Lane, Acergy, SodaStream International, L & L Energy, Orckit Communications, and Savient Pharmaceuticals.

The U.S. home loan demand fell sharply in the week ended Nov. 26, as the mortgage rates continue to rise from their lowest levels, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said on Wednesday.

The force of political will binding together a seemingly crumbling euro zone is still strong, but the imperatives of domestic economic realignments could force members to an exit option, analysts have said; and the road out of the bloc doesn’t exactly look daunting.

Motorola, Inc. (MOT) said it has reduced the time frame for its plan to separate handset and cable set-top box businesses Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. from the company to January next year.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to higher opening on Wednesday as better-than-expected manufacturing reports from China and Europe buoyed sentiment.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to higher opening on Wednesday, the first trading day of December, ahead of a wave of economic data including ADP national employment report.

Travel company Thomas Cook posted lower annual profits as revenue fell due to a softer summer trading environment. In the UK, the tour operator said trading was even tougher than anticipated, and it expects to save between 40 million pounds and 50 million pounds mainly through reduction of over 500 managerial and support jobs.

China's manufacturing activity expanded in November, pointing to more inflationary pressure in the near term.

British software maker Sage Group said it saw a return to organic revenue growth in the second half and improving market for its services. The company, which added 252,000 customers in the year, said support contract renewals were maintained at 81 percent.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Chart Industries, Corinthian Colleges, DSP Group, Macatawa Bank, MIPS Technologies, BSD Medical, NetScout Systems, Constant Contact, Stonemor Partners, and Monro Muffler Brake.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Hauppauge Digital, BioScrip, Titan Machinery, OmniVision Technologies, Parexel International, Zumiez, Sanmina-SCI, Cyberonics, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, and ICAgen.

The financialization of commodities threatens to divert capital from economically useful purposes and use it instead to drive up the cost of essential commodities for end users.

Stocks dropped again over fears of spreading euro zone debt crisis, although equities seemed to stabilize somewhat on mid-afternoon reports that Republic politicians agreed to compromise with President Obama on extending the George W. Bush-era tax cuts.

Kenya's central bank said on Tuesday it would be revising its monetary policy targets after signs that two years of monetary easing had lowered commercial lending rates and increased loan volumes.