IBT Staff Reporter

Oil fell for a second day on Wednesday toward $77 after an unexpected increase in U.S. crude stockpiles and a drop in U.S. consumer confidence fueled doubts about recovery in energy demand. U.S. crude for September fell as much as 0.8 percent to $76.88 a barrel, trading down 17 cents at $77.33 at 1:26 a.m. ET. ICE Brent slipped 3 cents to $76.10 as a recent rally in Asian stock markets lost steam.

Google Inc has held talks with gaming companies as it looks to develop a new service to compete with social networking website Facebook, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Gold steadied on Wednesday after falling 2 percent to a near three-month low the day before, when a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. consumer confidence and an option expiry prompted heavy selling. The position adjustment related to expiring COMEX August gold options pushed prices close to a key technical support, where the market was likely to hover before finding fresh clues for direction, traders said.

The euro hovered below a key level against the dollar on Wednesday, dented by profit-taking after it hit an 11-week high, while the Australian dollar fell as inflation data pared the chances of an interest rate rise next week.

Bank of Japan policy board member Hidetoshi Kamezaki said Japan's economic recovery lacks strength as export growth will likely moderate and government stimulus steps are set to expire.

The euro slipped below a key level against the dollar on Wednesday, dented by profit-taking after it hit an 11-week high, while the Australian dollar fell as inflation data pared the chances of an interest rate rise next week.

Gold prices recovered in Asian trade Wednesday after an overnight plunge of nearly two percent mainly on global stocks rally. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $ 1163.51 an ounce at 12.00 noon Singapore time after hitting a near three-month low on Tuesday.

The euro slipped from 11-week highs and Asian stocks marked time on Wednesday as a recent rally lost steam after a drop in U.S. consumer confidence, while the Australian dollar fell on a sharp slowdown in inflation.

The euro slipped from 11-week highs and Asian stocks marked time on Wednesday as a recent rally lost steam after a drop in U.S. consumer confidence, while the Australian dollar fell on a sharp slowdown in inflation.

Several directors of the International Monetary Fund's Executive Board believe the yuan is undervalued, but an annual report on China made no mention of the exchange rate being substantially below value.

The Australian Dollar has opened little changed and is still starts with a 9 as global markets seem to be becoming cautiously optimistic about the economy in the latter half of calendar 2010.

Walt Disney Co will acquire start-up Playdom Inc for $563.2 million, as the media giant aims to take a leading role in the fast-growing market for games played on sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Senators postponed a hearing on whether British oil giant BP Plc influenced the release of the Lockerbie bomber, saying on Tuesday key witnesses had stonewalled the investigation by refusing to appear.

An increase in the Australian Conference Board leading index from 0.1% to 0.3% during the month of May added some underlying support to the Aussie dollar in Asia yesterday as it held firm above the 90 cent handle etching out gains to enter offshore exchange at 0.9025.

Steelmakers painted a gloomy picture of the short-term prospects for the industry on Tuesday as global prices have fallen and industrial demand is not recovering from the recession as quickly as expected.

The top U.S. official overseeing the response to BP Plc's Gulf of Mexico oil leak said on Tuesday he doesn't expect the company's commitment to cleaning up the spill to be diminished with its change in leadership.

BP Plc said the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department had launched a probe into market trading connected to the oil giant's Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BP Plc's newly named chief executive on Tuesday called the Gulf oil spill a wake-up call for the entire industry as the company tallied up its losses and disclosed two U.S. investigations.

A security expert said he has devised a simple and relatively inexpensive way to snoop on cellphone conversations, claiming that most wireless networks are incapable of guaranteeing calls won't be intercepted.

General Motors on Tuesday set a price of $41,000 for its electric Chevrolet Volt -- $8,000 more than its nearest competitor, the Nissan Leaf.

An obscure corner of the stock market is giving strong warning signs even as the broader equity and corporate bond markets rally.

A total 16 patients with abnormal heart rhythm have been treated at the Flinders Private Hospital via remote control surgery.

The S&P snapped a three-day winning streak on Tuesday after mixed earnings reports and a fall in consumer confidence, but analysts said U.S. stocks were taking a breather and the rally could pick back up.

The S&P snapped a three-day winning streak on Tuesday after mixed earnings reports and a fall in consumer confidence, but analysts said U.S. stocks were taking a breather and the rally could pick back up.

Yahoo Japan, Japan's largest Internet portal operator, will adopt Google's search engine, refusing to follow Yahoo Inc in choosing Microsoft as a partner.

Defense contractors Lockheed Martin Corp and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc beat Wall Street profit estimates on better revenue and margins but offered differing full-year outlooks.

(Corrects JFE production in 9th paragraph: 25.8 mln metric tons, instead of 58.2 mln metric tons)

The court-appointed examiner investigating Tribune Co's bankruptcy said he found some evidence of dishonesty in the 2007 leveraged buyout of the media company by real estate developer Sam Zell.

Stieg Larsson, author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, has become the first writer to sell more than one million Kindle e-books thanks to his popular mystery Millennium Trilogy novels, online retailer Amazon.com said on Tuesday.