IBT Staff Reporter

Toyota Motor Corp's biggest quarterly profit in two years and a hike in its annual forecasts failed to allay concerns about the strength in the yen, weak margins and a faltering U.S. market.

General Motors' venture capital unit is buying a minority stake in electric car start-up Bright Automotive to advance the development of fuel-efficient vehicle technologies.

Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday it would expand by 635 jobs a commitment to bring work to its U.S. unionized plants by 2012 that has been performed by parts suppliers.

The Chinese government will invest more than 100 billion yuan ($14.8 billion) to subsidize its fledgling environmentally friendly car industry over the next 10 years.

Toyota Motor Co ignored evidence of acceleration problems in its vehicles for most of the past decade and failed to install a brake override system it knew could have prevented accidents.

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co President and Chief Executive Richard Kramer has been elected chairman of the largest U.S. tire maker effective October 1, the company said on Tuesday.

Intel Corp has agreed to stop using threats and bundled prices to hamper competition, settling charges that it illegally abused its market dominance in microprocessors, the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday.

Stocks were little changed on Wednesday as better-than-expected data on the labor market and services sector failed to excite investors who remained focused on the prospects for a long, slow recovery.

The makers of the BlackBerry smartphone held last-ditch talks with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to avert a threatened cut-off of a key service, while India took a tough line with the Canadian company.

More than 30 U.S. billionaires pledged on Wednesday to give away at least 50 percent of their wealth to charity as part of a campaign by investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Sirius XM Radio on Wednesday posted better-than expected quarterly revenue, citing a sharp jump in subscribers to its pay-radio service and customers' desire for premium programing.

American authorities are investigating the U.S. division of global banking group HSBC <0005.HK> over its compliance with anti-money laundering procedures, according to a regulatory filing.

Stocks cut early gains to trade little changed on Wednesday as investors reassessed economic data, focusing on the prospect of a long, slow recovery.

No. 2 U.S. homebuilder PulteGroup Inc swung to a profit in the second quarter, helped by tax benefits and lower land-related charges, as the nation's housing market pulls out of a prolonged slump.

Oil company BP claimed a significant milestone in efforts to plug a leaking well for good on Wednesday ahead of a U.S. government report that will show most of the spilled crude is already gone.

Time Warner Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday on a revenue surge -- the highest growth rate in two years.

The number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms rose 6 percent in July, marking the third straight month of increased layoffs, though downsizing activity appears to be slowing, a report on Wednesday showed.

More than 2,000 mining executives and financiers spent the last three days in this gritty Outback mining hub attacking the nation's prime minister for proposing a new tax on iron ore and coal mines.

A multibillion-dollar settlement to the victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme has been held up by lawsuits competing for the same funds from the estate of the late investor and philanthropist Jeffry Picower, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Wall Street was set for a higher open on Wednesday, boosted by better-than-expected data on the labor market and a handful of positive earnings reports.

Concerns about new banking regulations and a shaky economic recovery tempered optimism over improving results from more of Europe's top banks on Wednesday.

The Israeli importer of Apple products said it would begin selling iPads in Israel in a few weeks, four months after the government lifted a ban on people bringing the device into the country.

Finally, there is a silver lining for the once famous Kolar gold mines in Karnataka. In a landmark verdict, the Karnataka high court has asked the Indian government to take all steps to revive Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML) in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF). The court also said no global tenders should be floated for the revival.

Private employers added 42,000 jobs in July, compared to a revised gain of 19,000 in June, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Nearly 3 billion people, or two-fifths of the world's population, were at risk of contracting malaria in 2009 and closer study of the mosquito's life cycle is needed to combat the disease, researchers said in two reports.

More than 72 million U.S. adults, or 26.7 percent, are obese, up 1 percentage point in two years, the U.S. government reported on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday ordered at least one Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphone service to be blocked as of Friday, becoming the latest government to threaten to curb the device on security grounds.

Stock index futures slipped on Wednesday, ahead of data on the jobs market, as jitters over the pace of the economic recovery prompted investors to lock in profits.

Research In Motion unveiled a new BlackBerry aimed at wooing consumers away from Apple's iPhone and other rivals, but analysts said the handset won't blow away the competition.