IBT Staff Reporter

Britain's leading shares were 1.8 percent lower around midday on Wednesday, with falls by heavyweight oils, miners and banks dragging the FTSE 100 .FTSE index to a three-week low.

Top officials from Magna and Opel expressed confidence on Wednesday that General Motors will go through with selling its European arm to Canada's Magna despite a second chance to review the deal.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday after disappointing results from bellwethers overseas, while investors awaited figures on U.S. durable good orders and new home sales.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday after disappointing results from bellwethers overseas, while investors awaited figures on U.S. durable good orders and new home sales.

The Obama administration made gains on Tuesday in its push for U.S. financial reform, unveiling a landmark bill to tackle systemic risk in the economy and winning congressional committee approval for a measure to expose hedge funds to more government scrutiny.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday with more company results and durable goods and housing sales figures on tap as investors seek insight into the health of the economy a day after disappointing consumer confidence data.

Oil fell below $79 a barrel on Wednesday, pressured by weaker equities and a stronger dollar, and as prices struggled to break through the psychological $80 mark.

Magna International thinks it can clinch a contract to buy a majority stake in carmaker Opel from General Motors even as GM's board weighs its final word, Magna's co-chief executive said.

World stocks slid on Wednesday on worries about the pace of economic recovery after a dip in U.S. consumer confidence, while the Australian dollar fell as inflation figures pared bets on an aggressive rate rise.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.4 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.12 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.28 percent at 5:10 a.m. EDT.

The movie industry seems almost embarrassed about the prospect of promising too much too soon regarding digital cinema.

Walt Disney Co is launching free iPhone and iPod touch applications, giving fans access to Disney content and interactive features anywhere.

Oil edged down toward $79 a barrel on Wednesday, giving up some of the previous day's 1.1 percent gain on weaker Asian equities and a steady dollar, but losses were limited after industry data showed a surprise large drawdown in U.S. crude inventories.

The linking of Advanced Micro Device's former top executive to the largest U.S. insider trading scheme in decades may raise questions about its business practices -- and that of the chipmaking venture, Globalfoundries, that it spun off.

Asian shares fell on Wednesday after a dip in U.S. consumer confidence revived worries about the pace of economic recovery, while the Australian dollar hit a two-week low as inflation data pared bets on an aggressive rate rise.

Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury bailout program's special master for compensation, who cut total compensation for top earners at seven bailed-out firms last week, increased base salaries at the companies, the Wall Street Journal said, citing its own analysis of Treasury data.

Asian shares fell on Wednesday after a dip in U.S. consumer confidence revived worries about the pace of economic upturn, while the Australian dollar eased as inflation data made investors reduce their bets on an aggressive rate rise.

Global consumer confidence is rebounding, and in the United States has risen for the first time since 2007, amid signs the world economy is picking up although spending is still restrained, a survey showed on Wednesday.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city Comptroller William Thompson sparred in their second and final debate for the city's top office just ahead of the November 3 election.

The U.S. Treasury and GMAC Financial Services are in advanced talks to prop up the lender with a third tranche of taxpayer-backed funding, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

A former chief executive of Advanced Micro Devices became the biggest name to be linked to the Galleon Group insider-trading scandal, when the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that he leaked information about the microprocessor maker in 2008 to a hedge fund manager.

While TD Ameritrade Holding Corp predicted a bold jump in trading by individuals next year, smaller online broker E*Trade Financial Corp , dealing with in-house loan losses, cautioned that much uncertainty still lies ahead.

The U.S. government would gain far-reaching new powers to regulate, and even shut down, large financial firms that threaten economic stability under a draft bill released in Congress on Tuesday.

The U.S. government would gain far-reaching new powers to regulate, and even shut down, large financial firms that threaten economic stability under a draft bill released in Congress on Tuesday.

Radovan Karadzic led a genocidal campaign to make Bosnian Muslims disappear from the face of the earth and carve out a mono-ethnic state for Bosnian Serbs, war crimes prosecutors told a U.N. tribunal on Tuesday.

North Korean efforts to install one of ailing leader Kim Jong-il's sons as a hereditary successor are likely to fail, a senior defector from the communist country said on Tuesday.

The United States and European Union pledged on Tuesday to work to reduce regulatory barriers that impede trade across the Atlantic, but said a free-trade pact was not in the cards right now.

The defense bill President Barack Obama will sign into law on Wednesday contains a new provision that would pay Taliban fighters who renounce the insurgency, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said on Tuesday.

The U.S. government would gain far-reaching new powers to regulate, and even shut down, large financial firms that threaten economic stability under a draft bill released in Congress on Tuesday.