IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. auto parts maker Delphi ended four years in bankruptcy on Tuesday, emerging from Chapter 11 as a private company and removing a major uncertainty for former parent General Motors Co [GM.UL].

Europe has launched a campaign to triple funding for energy research to 8 billion euros ($11.7 billion) a year in a technology race with China, Japan and the United States, but said industry would have to pay the bulk.

Costco Wholesale Corp beat analyst expectations after posting a lower fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, suggesting an improvement in the weak U.S. retail environment.

U.S. government-controlled mortgage finance companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are working on a program to help independent mortgage banks get access to short-term credit needed to make home loans, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Canada's Nortel Networks said on Wednesday it plans to sell its optical networking and carrier ethernet businesses to U.S.-based Ciena in a stalking horse agreement worth $521 million.

The United States came under pressure to show leadership in U.N. climate talks on Wednesday with Mexico saying its neighbor is a stumbling block in efforts to try to craft a tough global climate agreement by December.

The U.S. office vacancy rate reached a five-year high in the third quarter, pushed up by extra unused space that just about wiped out all the gains made during the commercial real estate boom, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc.

(Corrects paragraph 3 to clarify membership fees rose 3 percent to $490 million, not fell 3 percent to $474 million. Also, corrects source in paragraph 7 to Thomson Reuters data, from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S)

A U.S. Federal Reserve report found that banks in the country are slow to take losses on their commercial real estate loans that have been hit by slumping property values and rental payments, the Wall Street Journal said. Citing a Sept 29 presentation made by Fed analyst K.C. Conway to banking regulators, the paper said the report's remarks suggested that regulators were preparing for a rerun of h...

The following are key comments from Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.

Stock futures were little changed on Wednesday, but could build on the previous session's gains on the strength in commodities.

European shares were lower at midday on Wednesday after sharp gains in the previous session on global economic recovery hopes, with banking and industrial engineering shares leading the decline.

U.S. mortgage applications surged last week to their highest since mid-May as consumers sought to take advantage of the lowest interest rates in months, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Britain's top share index eased in mid-session trade on Wednesday, with weakness in energy and food retailers offsetting some strength in miners and banks, as investors await the start of the third-quarter corporate results season in the United States.

Millions of American job-hunters risk permanent unemployment as industries undergo radical change and some skills become irrelevant in the wake of the worst U.S. economic recession in 70 years.

* U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminium group Alcoa (AA.N) the first in line.

Stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday, but could build on the previous session's gains on the strength in commodities.

Stock futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminum group Alcoa the first in line.

Oil prices rose for the third straight day on Wednesday, edging above $71 a barrel after an industry report showed a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, boosting the view demand was recovering.

Americans will have to save more in the future, transforming the global economy, and Europeans and Japanese must work to boost domestic demand, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Vivendi (VIV.PA) is likely to sell its 20 percent stake in media company NBC Universal (NBCU) and may discuss the matter at a board meeting on Oct. 14, a source close to the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.

European shares edged higher in early trade on Wednesday, building on a major gain in the previous session, with miners among the biggest risers. At 0838 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 995.15 points.

Britain's top share index was flat early on Wednesday as investors paused for breath after the previous session's sharp rise, with gains in miners offsetting weak energy stocks and ahead of the U.S. third-quarter earnings season.

Costco Wholesale Corp beat analyst expectations after posting a lower fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, suggesting an improvement in the weak U.S. retail environment.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminium group Alcoa (AA.N) the first in line.

Microsoft's release of its new Windows 7 operating system is expected to increase demand for personal computers only slightly, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told journalists in Munich on Wednesday.

Corrects to clarify in the first paragraph that the company made a lower fourth-quarter profit

Gold consumers across Asia greeted bullion's run to a record high cautiously on Wednesday, with a few moving to cash in gains but the majority opting to wait for the rest of a rally they believe has only just begun.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminum group Alcoa the first in line.