MARKETS / FINANCE

Asian stock markets rose on Thursday, buoyed by strong corporate earnings and as the Federal Reserve expressed cautious optimism about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

U.S. bank regulators are finalizing punishments against mortgage servicers after a probe found critical deficiencies with the industry's foreclosure processes.

Citigroup Inc granted more than 18 million stock options to 15 senior executives, an award that could handsomely increase their compensation if the slowly recovering bank's share price rises.

Deborah McWhinney, the head of Citigroup Inc's rapidly shrinking wealth management business, is leaving her post following a whirlwind two-year reign.

Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz's bid for Family Dollar Stores Inc underscores growing investor appetite for retailers targeting low-income Americans in a slow economic rebound and has sparked a rally in shares of rivals.

Federal Reserve officials raised their forecasts for economic growth last month but remained unhappy with the job market's recovery.

Stocks rose to fresh 32-month highs on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 double the level it was two years ago as Dell earnings and deal announcements appealed to investors.

The S&P 500 rose on Wednesday to twice its value from just two years ago, a bounce whose vigor has not been seen since the Great Depression.

The S&P 500 closed on Wednesday at twice its value from just two years ago, a bounce whose vigor has not been seen since the Great Depression.

Massachusetts' largest 50 cities and towns will owe $20 billion to pay for their public workers' health care, an exploding cost that could force them to cut services taxpayers need, a new study said on Tuesday. In Boston, an average single family homeowner would pay an extra $100,000 in taxes over 30 years to meet this health care obligation, estimated the the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a fiscal monitor.

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Borders Group Inc filed for bankruptcy protection and said it would close about one-third of its bookstores, after years of shriveling sales that made it impossible to manage its crushing debt load.

Core wholesale prices rose in January at their fastest rate in more than two years, raising some concerns about inflation, but economists said the recovery was too weak for a big spike in consumer prices.

Stocks rose to fresh 32-month highs on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 double the level it was two years ago as Dell earnings and deal announcements appealed to investors.

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Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent is bullish about its prospects in the United States this year, after securing big contracts from major operators like Verizon and Sprint Nextel .

Stocks rose on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected Dell earnings and a flurry of deal news, but concern about tensions between Israel and Iran gave investors reason to pause.

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday criticized the commission that investigated the 2007-2009 financial crisis for not producing a report that all of its members could endorse.

Its name was once synonymous with home photography. Now, Eastman Kodak is struggling just to stay in the picture.

U.S. stocks were set to rise on Wednesday after estimate-beating results from Dell and a deal for Sanofi-Aventis to buy Genzyme for $20.1 billion in cash.

U.S. housing starts rose more than expected in January to their highest rate in four months but permits for future home construction dropped sharply after hefty gains the prior month, according to a government report on Wednesday that showed the housing market still bouncing along the bottom.

British chip designer ARM said its royalty revenues would be boosted by the speed of adoption of its newest multicore processors that are powering many of the smartphones unveiled in Barcelona.

If the talk at this week's Mobile World Congress fair has been dominated by Nokia and Microsoft's new venture, Google's Android has been the center of the action.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday after estimate-beating results from Dell and a deal for Sanofi-Aventis to buy Genzyme for $20.1 billion in cash.

U.S. core producer prices in January rose to their highest rate in more than two years, hinting at a build-up in inflation pressures as the recovery gathers pace, a potentially troubling development for the Federal Reserve.

U.S. stocks advanced on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected Dell earnings and a flurry of deal news.

Chancellor Angela Merkel picked her aide Jens Weidmann as German central bank chief to succeed Axel Weber, officials said on Wednesday, making it less likely she will insist on a German running the European Central Bank.

Egypt's central bank said the country's banks would remain shut for the rest of the week after closing since Monday because of strikes that disrupted business and a public holiday, state television said on Tuesday. Banks had been due to close on Tuesday, which is an official holiday marking the Prophet Mohamed's birthday.

More than 10,000 union public employees and supporters packed the Capitol Square and the inside of the statehouse on Tuesday to protest Gov. Scott Walker's budget plan to strip many bargaining rights from state and local government workers. Republicans legislators hope to get the bill, announced by the new Republican governor last Friday, to Walker's