MARKETS / FINANCE

Auto sales in the United States and Europe slumped in August, reflecting the end of government sales subsidies and underscoring uncertainty about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

U.S. communications regulators said on Wednesday they are considering whether wireless devices should be subject to different Internet traffic rules than telephone and cable lines, in a potential victory for carriers.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is committed to keeping the price of money low until the economic recovery strengthens, but should not do more to boost growth without fiscal and regulatory policies that support businesses, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

Officials appeared to have made a policy decision not to bail out Lehman Brothers, the head of a panel investigating the financial crisis said on Wednesday, challenging the view of regulators that they had no legal authority to help.

The Federal Reserve should only embark upon further monetary easing if faced with a dangerous downward price spiral, otherwise it risks undermining its credibility, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

Citigroup's private banking arm has set up a global unit to target family offices, organisations that manage the financial affairs of rich dynasties, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

A former hedge fund manager has been accused by a U.S. regulator of illegal insider trading in MedImmune Inc securities prior to the acquisition of the pharmaceutical company by Britain's AstraZeneca Plc.

Auto sales in the United States and Europe slumped in August, reflecting the end of government sales subsidies and underscoring uncertainty about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

A manufacturing rebound in China and stronger-than-expected U.S. factory data spurred a jump in equity and commodity prices worldwide on Wednesday, helping start the month on a bright note after a gloomy August.

General Electric Co could spend up to $30 billion on takeovers over the next two to three years, a top executive said, in a sign the conglomerate is coming out of its recessionary defensive crouch.

Visitors and some residents evacuated from low-lying vacation islands off the North Carolina coast on Wednesday as Hurricane Earl bore down on the U.S. eastern seaboard, churning up dangerous swells.

Burger King Holdings Inc has been considering a possible sale and has held talks with potential buyers, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday, lifting its shares 18.5 percent.

Allergan Inc has agreed to plead guilty and pay $600 million to resolve a federal probe of its marketing practices for the injectable wrinkle smoother Botox, the company and the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

Wall Street rose more than 2 percent on Wednesday and was set to record its best day in eight weeks as U.S. and Asian economic data soothed worries about a global economic slowdown.

Asian auto sales soared in August, boosted by government incentives although U.S. economic uncertainty and slowing growth in China look set to curb demand, while in Europe car sales fell as scrapping bonuses ran out.

Burger King Holdings Inc is in advanced talks to sell itself to investment firm 3G Capital, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, boosting shares 15 percent.

U.S. bank regulators pinned their hopes on Wednesday on new powers to avert another round of bailouts should crisis strike the handful of mega-firms now even larger than those previously considered too big to fail.

Media stocks gained more than the market in early trading on Wednesday ahead of details of a new online TV product announcement expected from Apple Inc later in the day.

A cooling global economy and an impending austerity squeeze in Britain will make the Bank of England wait well into next year before hiking interest rates, a Reuters poll of 60 economists showed on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan and rival Ichiro Ozawa clashed over fiscal priorities Wednesday in a battle for party leadership that threatens a policy vacuum as Japan struggles to tackle a strong yen and weak economy.

Wall Street jumped on Wednesday as an increase in U.S. manufacturing activity and new signs of growth in China and Australia boosted investor confidence in the state of the global economy.

The U.S. manufacturing sector grew faster than expected in August but private employers unexpectedly cut jobs, showing the economic recovery still faces headwinds.

A federal judge approved the creation of a $150 million fund for Bank of America Corp shareholders as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the bank's 2009 acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

The U.S. manufacturing sector grew more quickly than expected in August, chalking up a 13th straight month of expansion, according to an industry report released on Wednesday.

With the launch of the Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX), a pan-Asian multi-product commodity and currency derivatives exchange, on Tuesday the focus of bullion traders has shifted from London to Asia.

A New York federal judge has approved the creation of a $150 million settlement fund for Bank of America Corp shareholders, as part of a larger settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the bank's 2009 purchase of Merrill Lynch, the regulator said on Wednesday.

New powers from the financial reform law will help avoid a repeat of 2008's frenzied sale of Wachovia and the wreckage that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers, U.S. regulators said on Wednesday.

U.S. banking regulators see new powers under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law helping avoid a repeat of 2008's frenzied sale of Wachovia and the wreckage that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Floods have ravaged Pakistan's economy, the prime minister said on Wednesday, with massive job losses and soaring inflation expected to hurt a nation whose stability is vital to the U.S. war against militancy.