IBT Staff Reporter

Below are highlights from the question and answer session of a House Financial Services Committee hearing with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifying on monetary policy and the U.S. economy.

BlackRock Chairman and CEO Laurence Fink said on Wednesday he still believes U.S. equities are attractive even with their solid rise so far this year.

Microsoft Corp released an incomplete version of Windows 8 for the public to download and try out on Wednesday, looking to rev up excitement for the slick, new-look operating system that it hopes will restore its fading tech supremacy.

U.S. stocks dipped on Wednesday as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments were viewed as a bit more hawkish, but reports suggesting more improvement in the economy curbed losses.

The Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy expanded modestly in January through mid-February as hiring picked up a bit across several districts.

JPMorgan Chase & Co said it may face federal enforcement actions stemming from two investigations into mortgage-backed securities that went bad in the financial crisis.

The scandal convulsing the Indian telecoms market threatens to deter foreign companies from investing there and could call into question the business case for expanding into emerging markets in general.

A feeding frenzy on cheap European Central Bank funding, led by Italian banks such as Intesa Sanpaolo and even non-euro zone rivals like Lloyds , offers a quick fix but a longer-term headache.

Stocks inched lower in a choppy session on Wednesday after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were viewed as a subtle shift in the central bank's highly accommodative monetary policy.

Fannie Mae , the biggest source of money for U.S. home loans, said on Wednesday it would seek $4.6 billion in additional federal aid after reporting a fourth-quarter loss.

Microsoft Corp opened up an incomplete version of Windows 8 for the public to download and test on Wednesday, looking to rev up excitement for its slick, new-look operating system which it hopes will restore its fading tech supremacy.

EU donors and international companies face huge obstacles in making investment in Greece work, even if billions of euros flow back to the stricken economy, one of the EU's top economic official said on Wednesday.

Stocks fell on Wednesday as traders cashed in after indexes hit multi-year highs on stronger-than-expected economic data.

France's data protection watchdog has cast doubt on the legality and fairness of Google's new privacy policy, which it said breached European laws.

The U.S. government has forced Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank to stop channeling billions of dollars from Iranian oil sales through its accounts, part of Western measures to curb Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe into whether the world's biggest banks manipulated a global benchmark rate that is at the heart of a wide range of loans and derivatives, from trillions of dollars of mortgages and bonds to interest rate swaps, a person familiar with the matter said.

PSA Peugeot Citroen has agreed to form an alliance with General Motors targeting $2 billion in savings, sources with knowledge of the discussions said on Wednesday.

The U.S. economy would have to strengthen to ensure that the unacceptably high jobless rate keeps dropping, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday, suggesting the option of further Fed bond buying remains on the table.

Federal authorities are investigating David Loeb, a managing director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, as part of an insider trading probe focusing on technology stocks and the company's hedge fund clients, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people close to the matter.

The economy grew a bit faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter on slightly firmer consumer spending, further calming fears of a sharp slowdown in growth in early 2012.

The U.S. economy grew a bit faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter on slightly firmer consumer and business spending, which could help to allay fears of a sharp slowdown in growth in early 2012.

Universal Display Corp shares fell 11 percent on Wednesday, after the LED supplier warned payments from a new contract with Samsung Electronics may not come in a steady stream, raising concerns about its over dependence on the Korean company.

Bridgewater Associates, the world's biggest hedge fund, handed clients $13.8 billion last year, catapulting founder Ray Dalio above long-time rivals such as George Soros and John Paulson as the industry's biggest money maker in 2011, research showed.

Costco Wholesale Corp posted a bigger-than-expected increase in quarterly profit as the warehouse club's discounted gasoline prices lured shoppers to its service stations and stores.

The uneven U.S. economic recovery will have to pick up in order to quickly bring down an unacceptably high jobless rate, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.

India's economic growth slowed to 6.1 percent in the three months to December, the weakest annual pace in almost three years, as high interest rates and rising raw material costs constrained investment and manufacturing.

Costco Wholesale Corp posted a bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday, as rising gasoline prices led more members to fill up at the warehouse club's discounted gas stations and then shop inside.

The economy grew a bit faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter on slightly firmer consumer and business spending, calming fears of a sharp slowdown in growth in early 2012.

Applications for U.S. home mortgage purchases jumped last week as interest rates dipped, though demand for refinancing waned, an industry group said on Wednesday.