IBT Staff Reporter

Toyota Motor Corp posted a steeper-than-expected fall in quarterly profits after Japan's biggest quake on record hit output, and lamented that making cars at home was tougher than ever now with disasters compounding the impact of a strong yen.

American International Group and the U.S. Treasury scaled back plans for a share sale after the insurance company's stock posted a steady decline and closed near an 8-month low on Tuesday, a source familiar with the situation said.

Toyota Motor Corp reported a 52 percent drop in quarterly operating profit as it suffered from supply disruptions as a result of the March 11 earthquake in Japan. The world's biggest automaker is facing another tough year ahead as a severe shortage of parts caused by Japan's biggest earthquake on record hammers production just as it was putting its recall woes behind it.

HSBC is to streamline its wealth management business, retreat from retail banking in some countries and may sell its U.S. credit cards arm as new CEO Stuart Gulliver attempts to cut $3.5 billion in costs and revive flagging profits.

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 all up 0.1 percent.

TOKYO, May 11 - Toyota Motor Corp posted a 52 percent fall in quarterly operating profit on Wednesday and gave no annual forecasts, as expected, as it struggles to measure the scope of the disruption to production after the March 11 earthquake.

World stocks rose for a second straight day on Wednesday thanks to favorable U.S. and European corporate earnings, while the euro slipped on uncertainty over whether debt-laden Greece would need additional financial aid.

ArcelorMittal , the world's largest steelmaker, forecast strong prices and shipments that would propel earnings to a post-crisis high in the second quarter following a sharp rebound at the start of the year.

HSBC is to streamline its wealth management business, retreat from retail banking in some countries and may sell its U.S. credit cards arm as new CEO Stuart Gulliver attempts to cut $3.5 billion in costs and revive flagging profits.

China on Tuesday pledged easier access for U.S. companies to key sectors of its economy by removing barriers to its huge market in government contracts and offering a foothold to U.S. mutual funds.

Facebook users' personal information could have been accidentally leaked to third parties, in particular advertisers, over the past few years, Symantec Corp said in its official blog.

Tokyo Electric Power Co likely made a net loss of more than 1 trillion yen ($12.4 billion) in the year that ended on March 31, the biggest ever for a non-financial Japanese firm, after booking costs to scrap nuclear reactors and writing off tax assets, the Nikkei newspaper said.

Asian shares firmed on Wednesday as rising global commodity prices boosted energy and resource stocks, while investors largely shrugged off data from China suggesting growth there is starting to slow.

HSBC Holdings Plc is reviewing its U.S. cards business and streamlining its wealth management and retail banking operations as it eyes savings of up to $3.5 billion, Europe's biggest bank said on Wednesday.

HSBC Holdings Plc <0005.HK>, Europe's biggest bank, is looking to slash up to $3.5 billion in costs by cutting the scale of its wealth management and retail banking businesses, it said on Wednesday.

Sony Play Station Network is still down after the May 8 deadline for the restoration, but the company hopes it will be up “within the next few days”.

China's inflation eased a touch to 5.3 percent in the year to April from a 32-month high of 5.4 percent in March but was still higher than expected, keeping the door open for more tightening steps.

After numerous rumors and conspiracy theories regarding the death of Osama Bin Laden, the CIA announced today that they plan to show photos of Bin Laden's corpse to selected lawakers of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Intelligence Committee members. Senate members can choose to view the images at the CIA agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Skype's owners, led by private equity firm Silver Lake, are set to earn more than three times their investment, for a total capital gain of more than $5 billion, on the sale of Skype to Microsoft Corp, a source familiar with the situation said.

Major banks are willing to pay as much as $5 billion to settle claims by federal and state officials of improper mortgage foreclosure practices, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

After three weeks of the PlayStation Network outage, which was caused by hackers last month, Sony has announced that it will take a few more days until the service is restored. The company plans to test the system's strength fully before restoring the online network which offers gaming, streaming movies, and other services.

Embattled consumer electronics giant Sony said on Tuesday its PlayStation Network, that was hacked last month, will remain offline for at least few more days till it figures out a way to make it secure.

The impact of AT&T Inc's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile on competition, pricing and consumer choice will be examined at a congressional hearing on Wednesday where top executives are due to appear.

Anderson Cooper threatented to fire some of his staff on on Monday after a picture of him at 9-years of age appeared during a report on Justin Bieber being called a brat on by a cast member of CSI.

Democratic Senators introduced a bill on Tuesday that would repeal tax breaks enjoyed by the five biggest oil companies, freeing up $21 billion over a decade to ease the budget deficit.

The Chicago Bulls have beaten the Atlanta Hawks on their home court to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. The final score at the United Center was 95-83.

In the first documented suicide jump from the Burj Khalifa, a man jumped to his death on Tuesday. The 828 meter tall skyscraper in Dubai is the tallest structure in the world.

Some U.S. lawmakers are being given the chance to view the gruesome photos of Osama Bin Laden's corpse after he was killed by U.S. forces in northern Pakistan, according to reports.

South Korean Electronic company's latest tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be release in United States on June 8, 2011.