GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks edged up Wednesday, poised to end a volatile month on a mildly stronger note, while the dollar struggled on heightened expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would do more to stimulate the economy.

Hong Kong shares gained for a second-straight session on Tuesday, but trading was thin as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of economic data releases from China and the United States this week.

China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd , the country's top dairy product maker in which China private equity firm Hopu Investment Management owns a stake, on Tuesday posted a 27.6 percent rise in first-half net profit on solid sales growth, pledging to ensure product quality after a series of scandals tainted the industry's reputation.

The real-life pursuits of the Hollywood star stand in stark contrast to one of her most enduring characters on the silver screen: the decidedly pro-business Darien Taylor in the movie “Wall Street.”

Wendy’s is moving its corporate offices to Dublin, Ohio, from Atlanta, where it has been headquartered since the merger with Arby’s in September 2008.

General Motors and LG Group will jointly design and engineer future electric vehicles.

Those who favor more government spending to fix the economy are neck and neck with those who wish to cut the budget deficit without delay.

The biggest impact from QE3 could come from Ben Bernanke announcing it rather than it actually going into effect.

Amid a sluggish U.S. job market, a patch-work recovery in the housing market sector, and now damage from Hurricane Irene, it's understandable if U.S. investors are hesitant regarding deploying new money to the stock market. Where's the Dow Jones Industrial Average headed from here?

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Universal Display, Limelight Networks, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Dendreon, and NetApp. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: NuPathe, Central European Distribution, Hercules Offshore, LM Ericsson Telephone, and ASML Holding.

Even PIMCO's Bill Gross makes a wrong call every now and then. Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund noted for calling the housing bubble early on that burst several years ago, feels like crying in his beer for betting so heavily against U.S. government related debt this year.

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street Tuesday after steep gains in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 down 0.2 to 0.3 percent.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Universal Display, Cninsure, Leap Wireless International, Exide Technologies, and Sify Technologies. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Nara Bancorp, Winn-Dixie Stores, Oclaro, Insight Enterprises, and Stratasys.

Global stocks rose to their highest levels in nearly two weeks Tuesday, while safe haven assets like the Swiss franc and German Bunds were subdued, encouraged by signs that the U.S. economy may avoid recession.

China's central bankers have found a new way of keeping banks from lending too much, a step Beijing hopes will help it tackle the country's persistent inflation woes.

China will steadily increase the issuance of urban construction investment bonds but will limit total local government debts at 100 percent of their revenues, the National Development and Reform Commission said on Monday.

Hong Kong shares could edge lower at Monday's open, with turnover likely to stay low though U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on Friday could boost cyclicals, limiting losses.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Partner Communications, Micron Technology, Lululemon Athletica, Clearwire, Universal Display, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, OmniVision Technologies, and Aruba Networks. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: IncrediMail, and Logitech International.

While it is still early in the recovery process for Hurricane Irene, given weaker-than-expected wind speeds, particularly for the New York metro area landfall, FBR Capital Markets believes it is safe to say that loss expectations are lower than many investors thought last Thursday and Friday when forecasts shifted to show a more inland path for the storm.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 1 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.8 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 1 percent at 0930 GMT (5:30 a.m. ET).

European shares gained in early trading Monday morning, tracking a late rally in Wall Street Friday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke raised hopes for more economic stimulus.

The top after-market NYSE Losers on Friday are: Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Quanta Services, KBR, Chicago Bridge & Iron, Pier 1 Imports, Kronos Worldwide, UDR, Alere, Nucor and Temple-Inland.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Friday are: Banco Santander, Brookfield Office Properties, Jaguar Mining, Sandridge Energy, Radioshack, Toll Brothers, General Growth Properties, Endeavour Silver Corp, Bank of America and CVR Energy.

The New York Stock Exchange will open Monday, a spokesman said.

Major petroleum pipelines in the United States began partial shutdowns Friday, the result of terminals supplied by those pipelines closing ahead of Hurricane Irene's arrival.

China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd , the country's largest coal producer, posted a 16.5 percent increase in first-half profit, buoyed by rising sales volume on the back of rising energy demand in the world's second-largest economy.

Wall Street stocks rebounded on Friday as investors digested Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks about the economy and regained hope the door was still open for more monetary stimulus down the road.

The economy grew much slower than previously thought in the second quarter as business inventories and exports were less robust, a government report showed on Friday, although consumer spending was revised up.

Jobs owns about 5.5-million shares of Apple stock (which, based on Thursday’s closing price, would be valued at just above $2-billion)