IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday, as the market braced for more corporate earnings and after a late afternoon sell-off in Chinese stocks rattled investors.

Convicted and admitted fraudster Bernard Madoff believed federal authorities had figured out his scam on several occasions, according a lawyer who met with him on Tuesday.

Vornado Realty Trust is looking to raise between $550 million and $600 million through a bond sale, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Toshiba Corp , Japan's biggest chipmaker, expects its chip operations to turn profitable in July-September on cost cuts, but warned of a possible year-end dip.

Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc have agreed to an online search and advertising partnership, in an attempt to rival Google Inc, that will be announced within 24 hours, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

A late sell-off on Shanghai's stock market depressed emerging market stocks on Wednesday and took Asian shares off multi-month peaks, although the mood failed to carry over into Europe.

Honda Motor Co , Japan's No.2 automaker, posted an 88 percent fall in operating profit as demand slumped, but beat expectations for a loss and lifted its forecast for the year on the back of an improved outlook for its global car sales.

Japan's Toshiba Corp reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly operating loss on Wednesday thanks to solid chip prices, and stuck to its forecast for a return to profit this year on cost cuts.

Asian shares tumbled from multi-month peaks on Wednesday, in a sell-off led by the Shanghai market, as investors booked in profits ahead of more company earnings.

American Airlines expects to win U.S. approval by October to form an alliance with British Airways and Spain's Iberia , and it is pinning its hopes on intra-alliance competition and global partnerships to help it survive, an executive said on Wednesday.

Micron Technology, Inc. and IDT (Integrated Device Technology, Inc.) has entered into an agreement to create Solid-State Drive (SSD) technologies.

Sanofi-Aventis raised its earnings growth goal for this year and said new cost savings should result by 2013 in a net profit and sales level similar to 2008 as the French drugmaker grapples with patent expiries.

Dutch chemical group Akzo Nobel NV on Wednesday reported a 12 percent fall in core second-quarter profit, beating estimates as cost savings started to pay off, partly offsetting lower volumes.

Dennis Elwell, the Democratic mayor of Secaucus, New Jersey, resigned on Tuesday following his arrest last week as part of a federal corruption probe that netted 44 people.

Lawmakers on both sides of the U.S. Capitol struggled to reach a healthcare deal on Tuesday, with Senate Democrats near agreement with three Republicans on a plan that would not include a government-run insurance option backed by President Barack Obama.

Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings Corp, whose acquisition by CSL Ltd was blocked by regulators, may be moving toward an initial public offering, according to recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Spain's Banco Santander has appointed advisers to spin off its Brazilian business in a 2.6 billion-pound ($4.3 billion) initial public offering to create one of Brazil's largest banks, the Financial Times reported.

Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co is in the advanced planning stage for an initial public offering of stock in discount U.S. retailer Dollar General Corp, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

An Air France flight from Rome to Paris earlier this month briefly lost its speed readings due to faulty sensors, pilots said on Tuesday, in the latest safety scare involving speed sensors.

Pipeline partnership Targa Resources Partners LP said it agreed to buy the natural gas liquids business of parent company Targa Resources Inc for $530 million in cash and stock.

A car bomb exploded outside a Civil Guard barracks in the northern Spanish city of Burgos early on Wednesday, slightly injuring 46 people, an emergency services spokesman said.

FirstMerit Corp reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit, weighed down by higher provisions for bad loans and charges, and said it was looking for Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC)-assisted deals for banks with assets of up to $5 billion.

CIT Group Inc, a 101-year-old lender fighting for survival, will not provide financing for the Molson family's deal to buy the Montreal Canadiens hockey team, a spokesman for the family said on Tuesday.

Oil slid below $67 a barrel on Wednesday, extending losses from the more than $1 retreat the day before, on renewed concerns over the U.S. economy after a drop in consumer confidence and bearish API crude data.

Asian shares hovered near their 10-month peaks on Wednesday as investors wait for more company earnings, but China's CSCEC made a blockbuster listing in Shanghai.

IBM entered into a definitive merger agreement with a publicly-held company SPSS Inc. in an all cash transaction of $1.2 billion.

The Cape Cod resort area, famous for sandy beaches and centuries-old fishing villages, could in the next few years claim a new title of home to the United States' first offshore wind farm.

A Republican senator threatened on Tuesday to delay approval of President Barack Obama's choice of ambassador to Brazil because the nominee advocated ending a U.S. tariff on ethanol imports.

The United States and China, the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, signed an agreement on Tuesday that promises more cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment without setting firm goals.