IBT Staff Reporter

Applications for U.S. home mortgages tumbled last week as demand for refinancing sagged for the second week in a row, an industry group said on Wednesday.

Twenty-five of the 100 highest paid U.S. CEOs earned more last year than their companies paid in federal income tax, a pay study said on Wednesday.

Russian bailiffs raided the Moscow offices of a trading unit of British oil company BP on Wednesday and company sources said most of the staff were told not to come to work.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday, boosted by gains in Europe, as investors awaited new data for a better assessment on the health of the economy, including the weak labor sector.

Applications for U.S. home mortgages tumbled last week as demand for refinancing sagged for the second week in a row, an industry group said on Wednesday.

Japan's Sony Corp, Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd will merge their liquid-crystal display operations using $2.6 billion of government-backed funds to fend off growing competition from rivals in South Korea and Taiwan.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open for equities on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.3-0.8 percent.

Finnish phone maker Nokia said a senior executive was leaving the company to work for a new venture investment fund which will help it develop new applications for its phones.

Japan's Sony Corp, Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd will merge their liquid-crystal display operations using $2.6 billion of government-backed funds to fend off growing competition from rivals in South Korea and Taiwan.

Russian internet investment group Mail.ru raised its full-year revenue growth forecast to 50 percent from 40 percent on Wednesday after sales and profit rose at its social network, online gaming and e-mail activities in the first half.

Russian internet investment group Mail.ru raised its full-year revenue growth forecast to 50 percent from 40 percent on Wednesday after sales and profit rose at its social network, online gaming and e-mail activities in the first half.

Asia will add 1.66 million dollar-millionaires by 2015, taking the total number of wealthy to 2.82 million as the world's fastest-growing major economies of China and India continue to mint millionaires, a report from Julius Baer said on Wednesday.

Bailiffs raided BP's Moscow offices on Wednesday, a new humiliation for the British oil company a day after ExxonMobil signed an agreement that ended BP's hopes of developing Arctic offshore oil fields with Russia.

Sony Corp's new tablet computers, expected to be launched on Wednesday, face an uphill battle against dominant players Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics, with the gadget's expected pricing in particular raising red flags.

Spider-Man leaps from the top of a building and swings out toward you, cloak fluttering so close you can almost touch it -- at work, on a train, in a car, or wherever you are.

Small U.S. businesses in July moderated what had been a blistering pace of borrowing, held back by uncertainty over U.S. economic growth and the debt crisis.

Beyonce grabbed much of the limelight at the MTV Video Music Awards with her pregnany announcement and broke a Twitter record of 8,868 tweets per second when she showed her baby bump after her performance.

Sony's new tablet computers, expected to be launched Wednesday, face an uphill battle against dominant players Apple and Samsung Electronics, with the gadget's expected pricing in particular raising red flags.

WikiLeaks said its website had been the target of a cyber attack late on Tuesday as it proceeded with the release of thousands of previously unpublished U.S. diplomatic cables, some still classified.

WikiLeaks said Wednesday morning its Web site was the target of a cyber attack late Tuesday as it proceeded with the release of thousands of previously unpublished U.S. diplomatic cables, some still classified.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open for equities Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.3 to 0.8 percent.

U.S. authorities are investigating whether business software maker Oracle Corp.'s deals in Africa violated federal anti-bribery laws, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Hewlett-Packard TouchPad is all set for one final production run before the device retires completely from the market.

Bloomberg LP lost a bid to dismiss a lawsuit by Swatch Group AG that accused the news service of secretly recording an earnings conference call with securities analysts and giving a transcript to clients.

Japan and South Korea reported surprisingly weak July factory output on Wednesday as global electronics demand faded, exposing Asia's vulnerability to a worsening U.S. and European economic slowdown.

World stocks rose for the fourth session in a row on Wednesday on hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve will ride to the economy's rescue with another stimulus package, though global shares were still set to post their biggest monthly drop in 15 months.

European stocks were set to edge higher on Wednesday, poised to end a volatile month on a mildly stronger note, while the dollar struggled on heightened expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would do more to stimulate the economy.

It has been called the saint-seducing metal, with good reason.

Bank of America Corp is looking to sell its correspondent mortgage business and the unit's employees could be notified as soon as Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.