IBT Staff Reporter

Google Inc could face further pressure for its other products in China as Beijing is due to decide whether or not to renew a license for the firm's flagship search engine in the world's largest Internet market.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday on signs of improved Midwest business activity and bargain-hunting a day after the S&P 500 fell to an eight-month low.

France's antitrust regulator accused Google Inc of a lack of transparency over its keyword advertising service and ordered it to clarify conditions for the product within four months.

The much-maligned former head of the American International Group unit which drove the insurer to the brink of collapse, broke a long silence on Wednesday to defend his firm's aggressive buildup of risky mortgage-linked securities.

The International Business Times last week held an exclusive interview with Todd B. Crosland, Chairman and President of Interbank FX, one of the most exciting Forex brokers in the US.

U.S. biotechnology company Celgene Corp has agreed to acquire Abraxis BioScience Inc , which makes an innovative chemotherapy treatment, for $2.9 billion in cash and stock.

The U.S. dollar's share of global currency reserves eased slightly to 61.5 percent in the first quarter of 2010 as total holdings climbed to a new record, International Monetary Fund data showed on Wednesday.

U.S. bank lending continues to decline even though the banking sector is recovering, and it may be years before lending returns to pre-crisis levels, Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke said on Wednesday.

Private sector employment rose less than expected in June, underscoring concerns about a weak labor market, while U.S. Midwest business activity grew slightly more than expected.

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Electric carmaker Tesla Motors Corp's initial public offering zoomed ahead on Tuesday with shares rallying more than 40 percent as investors bet that electric cars would define the future of transportation.

The U.S. recovery is underway, but inflation is so low and unemployment is so high that the Federal Reserve's super easy monetary policy is still called for, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said on Wednesday.

A broad coalition of U.S. business groups urged senators on Wednesday not to approve a bill that would allow the United States to use import duties against China's exchange rate policy. We agree that China needs an exchange rate that better responds to global trade flows, the U.S.-China Business Council and about two dozen other groups said in a letter to each member of the Senate.

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Gold slipped lower in Europe on Wednesday, caught up in selling of stocks and other commodities after a report showed U.S. private sector employers added fewer jobs than expected in June. The precious metal is still set to be the best-performing metal of the second quarter, however, as fears over the global growth outlook and the stability of the banking system fuel haven demand for the metal.

Patriotic, anti-American messages adorn the pages of two alleged Russian spies on Russia's answer to Facebook, a reminder of historic suspicions and resentments that have survived the end of the Cold War.

Stocks edged up on Wednesday after a heavy sell-off in the previous session as concerns eased about the financial condition of European banks.

Private employers added just 13,000 jobs in June, according to a report published on Wednesday that suggested expectations of a big drop in the government's upcoming nonfarm payrolls report were on target.

Figures on Wednesday showing the U.S. private sector added a paltry 13,000 jobs were disappointing and are consistent with expectations for a big drop in the upcoming non-farm payrolls report, Macroeconomic Advisers LLC chairman Joel Prakken said.

U.S. private employers added a paltry 13,000 jobs in June, compared to a revised gain of 57,000 in May, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Nearly one out of every three U.S. home sales in the first quarter was a foreclosure property as steep price discounts boosted demand for distressed real estate, RealtyTrac said in a new report on Wednesday.

Oil rose above $76 a barrel in choppy trade on Wednesday, but remained on course for its first quarterly decline since 2008 as stresses in financial markets and weak employment numbers weighed on the pace of recovery.

MF Global (MF.N) has closed its Asia fuel oil swaps broking desk following the departures of all its brokers for the product, the company said on Wednesday. We can confirm that the fuel oil desk in Singapore is no longer a part of MF Global. We have no plans at this time to restart the desk, a company spokeswoman in New York told Reuters.

Refinancing drove total U.S. mortgage applications to an eight-month peak, as loan rates fell to or near record lows, but demand to buy homes sank toward 13-year lows last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday it was reducing its debt by $4 billion, and has cleared $7 billion of debt from its overloaded balance sheet this quarter.

Stocks turned positive after a weak open and added to gains on Wednesday after Midwest business activity grew more than expected.

Shares in BP jumped 8 percent on Wednesday, helped by bid talk and optimism that the worst may be over for the stock as the company comes closer to halting the massive oil leak from its Gulf of Mexico well.

The former head of the American International Group unit that precipitated a $182 billion bailout pledge from taxpayers stood by a 2007 proclamation that the insurer would not lose even a dollar on a portfolio of securities that included subprime mortgages.

Global rice ending stocks for 2009-10 are expected to be 90.4 million tons against the early estimation due to the lower export by the major growers, said International Grain Council. However, the global rice production is projected to decline in 2009-10 owing to poor output in countries such as India, where worst drought impacted the production, IGC noted.