MARKETS / FINANCE

China's economy may grow by 9.6 percent in the second quarter of 2011, a government think tank said in a report on Wednesday, keeping pace with first quarter growth.

Sina Corp, China's largest Internet portal, has no immediate plans to list its microblog operations, its chief said on Wednesday.

China's rise as a manufacturing power has benefited American factory owners in at least one way.

America's global dominance of the private equity industry will likely remain for only a handful more years, as other geographies grow stronger and rival firms around the world flex their muscles, Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein predicted on Tuesday.

China's economy may grow by 9.6 percent in the second quarter of 2011, a government think tank said in a report on Wednesday, keeping pace with first quarter growth.

America's global dominance of the private equity industry will likely remain for only a handful more years, as other geographies grow stronger and rival firms around the world flex their muscles, Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein predicted on Tuesday.

Japanese retail sales fell in March at the fastest annual pace since 1998 and could remain weak for some time as last month's earthquake, radiation leaks from a damaged nuclear reactor and fears of electricity shortages weigh on consumer sentiment.

Nasdaq OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange Inc appealed directly to NYSE Euronext stockholders on Tuesday, asking them to press the Big Board's directors to sit down to talk about their joint bid.

The U.S. dollar plumbed a near 3-year low against other major currencies on Wednesday before a Federal Reserve decision where it is expected to reinforce its ultra-easy policy stance while stocks in Asia's developed markets rose, tracking a strong close on Wall Street.

Ford Motor Co reported its best first-quarter profit since 1998 as higher prices for redesigned vehicles including its small Fiesta offset pressure from spiking commodity and oil prices.

Facebook began offering users in five U.S. cities coupons for everything from wine tastings to concert tickets on Tuesday, turning up the competitive heat in an increasingly crowded market.

The jury in hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam's trial asked to listen to replays of phone taps that prosecutors consider to be the centerpiece of Wall Street's biggest insider trading case in a generation.

A fresh batch of corporate results pushed U.S. stocks to their best levels since June 2008 on Tuesday, renewing optimism that profit growth will remain resilient enough to keep equities on the rise.

States and local governments are facing their toughest year so far, as rating downgrades continue to outpace upgrades, Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday.

A fresh batch of corporate results pushed stocks to their best levels since June 2008 on Tuesday, renewing optimism that profit growth will remain resilient enough to keep equities on the rise.

Zynga, the social games company, has poached the chief operating officer of Electronic Arts Inc, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Microsoft might be about to report its earnings grew more than 20 percent on climbing revenue but the results will fail to rouse the software company's shares from a decade-long slumber or douse fears its dominance of personal computing is waning.

The Federal Reserve kicked off a two-day meeting on Tuesday that will probably show that it is in no hurry to scale back its massive support for the economic recovery.

Larry Ellison is famous for wanting to be in charge, so perhaps it is no surprise that when jury duty came calling, Oracle's chief executive served as the foreman.

While a jury studied the evidence in Raj Rajaratnam's trial on Tuesday, a former trader associated with his Galleon Group hedge fund became the latest to plead guilty in a sweeping government probe of insider trading on Wall Street.

Consumers felt better about the short-term outlook for the economy in April as expectations about the pace of inflation and concerns about the labor market eased.

U.S. consumer confidence rose in April as inflation expectations eased somewhat and consumers felt better about the short-term outlook, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

Ford Motor Co reported its best first-quarter profit since 1998 as higher prices for such redesigned vehicles as its tiny Fiesta more than offset pressure from spiking commodity and oil prices.

Ford Motor Co reported its best first-quarter profit since 1998 as higher prices for such redesigned vehicles as its tiny Fiesta more than offset pressure from spiking commodity and oil prices.

Consumers perked up a bit in April as they lowered their forecasts for inflation and worried less about the jobs market, but yet another fall in house prices underscored the challenges facing the recovery.

Wall Street rallied and the S&P 500 hit its highest level since June 2008 on Tuesday as a flood of positive corporate results added to increasing optimism about the economic growth outlook.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy threw his weight behind Mario Draghi's candidacy to head the European Central Bank on Tuesday, giving a major boost to the Bank of Italy chief's hopes of succeeding Jean-Claude Trichet.

China's massive Internet market should not be singled out and treated differently from other Internet markets in the world, a Google China executive said on Tuesday.

Sony launched its first tablet computers Tuesday in an ambitious attempt to grab the No.2 spot from Samsung in a fast-growing market dominated by Apple's