IBT Staff Reporter

European equities edged lower on Wednesday after their biggest one-day gain in more than 4 months in the previous session, as a decline in banking stocks offset higher pharma and food shares.

Wells Fargo & Co said on Tuesday that it would fold up 122 California branches due to its takeover of Wachovia Corp last year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

French media group Vivendi will not receive any cash upfront from a $5.8 billion sale of its stake in broadcast group NBC Universal to majority owner General Electric, the Financial Times reported.

Dubai World's creditors have formed a committee comprising six banks that will meet with the troubled state-controlled conglomerate next week, a bank executive familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke vowed before taking office to follow in the footsteps of his storied predecessor, Alan Greenspan, but he will likely distance himself from the past as he seeks a second term.

Stock index futures pointed to U.S. shares mostly extending their gains on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average having hit a 14-month closing high in the previous session.

Gold scaled another all-time high above $1,200 an ounce on Wednesday, helped by a weaker dollar as it lost some of its safe-haven appeal due to upbeat U.S. home sales and renewed appetite for riskier assets.

Foreign firms and individuals will be allowed to set up limited partnership firms in China from March 2010, a move that could make it easier for some overseas investors to tap the domestic market.

Gold surged to an all-time high above $1,200 an ounce on Wednesday, hitting a record for a second straight day, and Asian stocks advanced as investors chased riskier assets offering higher returns.

General Motors Co's chief executive Fritz Henderson abruptly resigned on Tuesday, after the company's board decided the automaker needed to push its restructuring faster under new leadership.

McDonald's Corp Chief Operating Officer Ralph Alvarez, who was widely believed to be in line for the fast-food chain's top job, will retire on December 31 due to health reasons, the company said on Tuesday.

Three men accused of helping Maurice Clemmons flee after shooting dead four police officers in a Washington State coffee shop on Sunday morning appeared in court Tuesday.

A research director, one of the central figures in the controversy over hacked e-mails from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit announced Tuesday that he is stepping down while the university investigates the incident.

GM's Quick Replacement; Stocks Hit High; Stimulus Withdrawal Timing Key

U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday evening that his administration plans to send 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan.

President Obama announced Tuesday night that he will reinforce Afghanistan with some 30,000 more United States troops to reverse the momentum of the Taliban insurgents, and begin to withdraw in July, 2011.

Following is the prepared text of President Obama's address on a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, as released by the White House on Tuesday:

British TV and record producer Simon Cowell, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in British and U.S. show business, is planning to bring his The X Factor talent show to Las Vegas in a global pay-per-view Internet venture.

The Black Eyed Peas announced an ambitious 100-date world tour, including a series of 2010 shows in North America, the popular hip-hop group's first full-scale tour of the U.S. and Canada in nearly four years.

Tiger Woods, the world's top golfer, was slapped with a traffic ticket for careless driving on Tuesday, four days after driving his Cadillac SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his Florida home.

Teen idol Nick Jonas is stepping away from his brothers and going on tour in January with his new band The Administration.

General Motors Chief Executive Frederick Fritz Henderson stepped down at the request of the company's board of directors on Tuesday and will be replaced by current Chairman Ed Whitacre.

Corrects month that Henderson was named CEO of GM, paragraph 4

President Barack Obama will unveil plans on Tuesday to send some 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan over six months, a senior administration official said, an escalation he hopes will permit a quicker U.S. exit.

President Barack Obama will unveil his new strategy for the war in Afghanistan in a prime-time televised speech on Tuesday. But in the hours beforehand, officials offered a preview of what he will tell Americans, who are sharply divided over the war.

President Barack Obama will say on Tuesday he is sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan by next summer to speed the battle against the Taliban and plans to bring some soldiers home in 19 months.

General Motors Co's board of directors, citing a need to chart a new course, dismissed Chief Executive Fritz Henderson on Tuesday, a person with direct knowledge of the proceedings said.

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it could find no evidence that recent security updates were causing problems with its new Windows 7 operating system, which some have dubbed the black screen of death.

Sweden said it was too early to say if loss-making Saab would survive after U.S. parent GM announced on Tuesday it would consider offers for the car firm until the end of the year.