MARKETS / FINANCE

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as investors grabbed shares beaten down in Tuesday's sell-off and data showed pending home sales rose more than expected.

Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday its U.S. sales rose 22 percent in May for all of its brands from a year earlier and increased its second-quarter North American production plan by 15,000 vehicles.

Pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes hit a six-month high in April, as prospective home owners took advantage of a popular homebuyer tax credit, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett distanced himself from embattled credit rating agencies, saying they have lost some of their appeal as an investment amid criticism over their role in propelling the financial crisis.

Some former Moody's analysts said they felt intimidated by bosses to assign rosy ratings to risky debt products, according to testimony to a government panel probing the causes of the financial crisis.

Wal-Mart Stores Co international employees have been given their marching orders from the company's chief executive: Grow, grow, grow!

Pending home sales hit a six-month high in April but falling demand for home loans pointed to ebbing activity in the vital housing market with the expiration of a popular tax credit for buyers.

Stocks rose on Wednesday after data showed pending home sales rose to a six-month high in a boost to the fragile economic recovery.

Former Moody's analysts say they felt pressure from bosses obsessed with market share to assign rosy ratings to risky debt products, while the company's current chief executive defended the rating agency's business model, according to testimony released on Wednesday.

Dear Sam: Three years ago I resigned from a job because it was an extremely hostile and dysfunctional environment. Hostile to the point that the HR Director told me that she would testify on my behalf if I chose to pursue legal action.

Global cotton ending stocks are falling by an estimated 18% this season (2009/10), to 10.5 million tons, the smallest level in six years: cotton production is declining while mill use is rebounding. In 2010/11, global cotton production is projected to rise to 24.9 million tons, but mill use is expected to continue its recovery, so ending stocks will increase only slightly to 10.6 million tons, according to an assessment by International Cotton Advisory Committee.

Fossil fuels continued to play a big role in world's energy demand, according to participants at the 17th International Caspian Oil and Gas Conference. 'The age of oil and gas is not dead', says an United Arab Emirates (UAE) cabinet minister, citing the Oil and Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) prediction for growing energy demand.

The slow progress by the European Central Bank in stabilising European debt crisis has led to serious risk of jeopardizing the economic recovery by limiting consumer and corporate credit availability. Crude oil and refined products have not seen the same increase in implied volatilities as those seen in US and European equities may be due to anticipatory nature of equities to oil, according to an analysis by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

Despite the rising prices of gold, physical demand for the yellow metal continues to surge. Physical demand for gold is robust and premiums on gold bullion coins continue to rise in key bullion markets like London, Dubai, Mumbai, New York and Beijing.

Investments in certificates of deposit (CDs) and real estate are not comparable to gold which is the most stable asset the world has ever seen, according to National Inflation Association of USA (NIA). Responding to investment advice by Dave Ramsey and others in mainstream media on the advantages of investing in CDs and real estate, NIA said that while on the surface, U.S. dollars appear to be 'safe haven' because they have a number on them that always stays the same. U.S. dollars are actually t...

The number of planned layoffs at U.S. companies in May was almost unchanged from April, when they touched a four-year low, suggesting employers are more upbeat about the economic outlook, a report on Wednesday showed.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wednesday, recovering from a sell-off in the previous session, as investors awaited monthly data on pending home and auto sales.

Iran's central bank will sell 45 billion euros from its reserves to buy dollars and gold ingots, a report on the website of state-owned Press TV said on Wednesday.

Ireland expects to provide more capital to nationalized Anglo Irish Bank this year on top of the 4 billion euros ($4.86 billion) paid in 2009 and 10.3 billion so far this year, Prime Minister Brian Cowen said.

UK insurer Prudential has abandoned its plan to buy AIG's Asian life unit for $35.5 billion, leaving management under fire and the company facing a $659 million bill for failure.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday, recovering from a sell-off in the previous session as investors awaited monthly data on pending home and auto sales.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday, recovering from a sell-off in the previous session as investors awaited monthly data on pending home and auto sales.

Agricultural Bank of China may struggle to get the kind of valuation it wants as it gears up to launch the world's biggest IPO into a market that has slumped by a fifth in just six weeks.

Google expects to release its Chrome computer operating system in the late fall, a top executive said on Wednesday, as it aims a competitive strike at rival Microsoft's Windows.

Some of the world's richest central banks will not stop investing in the euro, supporting its reserve status, despite the sovereign debt crisis hammering the euro zone's currency, government sources said.

Tanzania is all set to build a new oil refinery and a 1,500-kilometres pipeline to bring oil to its interiors, according to country's Energy and Minerals ministry. The ministry said, the $3.5 million project will be carried out by Noor Oil & Industrial Technologies (NOIT), a US based multinational oil firm will give the region a steady, uninterrupted supply of refined products.

The World Gold Council (WGC) has announced the appointment of Jammy Chan as its Head of Investment in Greater China, effective immediately. Mr Chan will be based in Beijing and will report to Roland Wang, General Manager, Greater China at the WGC.

Central bank reserve holdings have exploded globally in the last decade and nowhere more so than in Asia, where the biggest piles of cash are. Since 2000, global foreign exchange reserves have grown by a staggering $6.15 trillion and stood at $8.09 trillion at the end of 2009, or 14 percent of the world's gross domestic product, International Monetary Fund data showed.

The euro rose on Wednesday after some of the world's biggest central banks said they would not stop investing in the single currency, while world equities and commodity prices fell.