IBT Staff Reporter

Morgan Stanley posted its second straight quarterly loss on Wednesday and slashed its dividend as real estate investment losses and a charge from the improving value of it own debt wiped out gains in its trading businesses.

Morgan Stanley reported on Wednesday first-quarter net revenue of $3.0 billion and a net loss of $0.57 per diluted share. The bank's shares fell 4.1 percent before market open.

AT&T Inc posted a decline in quarterly profit on Wednesday but beat Wall Street estimates as growth in wireless and video services helped offset declines in its traditional telephone business.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wednesday as cautious investors awaited another round of earnings results and comments from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Cancer drug Avastin -- a key Genentech asset now wholly owned by Roche Holding AG -- has failed in a major study to prevent the recurrence of colon cancer in patients who have undergone surgery.

U.S. banks will be briefed by regulators as early as Friday on how they performed in government stress tests, before the results are made public later, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing government officials.

Continental Airlines posted its fifth straight quarterly loss on Wednesday on weaker travel demand, particularly among business travelers, echoing a trend seen among most major airlines this earnings season.

Nestle , the world's biggest food group, missed forecasts with a dip in first-quarter sales due to the strong Swiss franc and a late Easter, but it reassured investors by repeating its full-year target.

World stocks steadied on Wednesday as a mixed set of key corporate earnings injected caution among investors about the state of the economy, encouraging them to buy the low-yielding dollar and yen.

Dow Jones futures were down 0.5 percent at 0920 GMT, S&P 500 futures off 0.7 percent and Nasdaq futures off 0.5 percent, suggesting a softer start for U.S. stocks on Wednesday.

LVMH , the world's largest luxury goods group, on Wednesday denied it was in talks to sell its wine and spirits unit Moet Hennessy.

Stocks in Japan and South Korea rose on Wednesday but most Asian markets slipped as caution spread, pushing up the U.S. dollar and yen, before official results of U.S. bank stress tests are released on May 4.

Nestle, the world's biggest food group, reported first-quarter sales down 2.1 percent as a strong Swiss franc and a late Easter weighed, but said strong brands should help it meet its full-year target.

LOS ANGELES - One of online video's first breakout on-air personalities is popping up again on the mobile platform.

LOS ANGELES - One of online video's first breakout on-air personalities is popping up again on the mobile platform.

Nestle, the world's biggest food group, reported a slowdown in core sales growth in the first quarter as a strong Swiss franc weighed, but reiterated its full year target despite the global slowdown.

Indian mobile operators added a record 15.64 million customers in March, helped by the expansion of networks to smaller towns and rural areas, data from the telecoms regulator showed.

Online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide said on Tuesday it would start including all taxes and fees in its initial price display for hotels on Orbitz.com instead of just the base rate.

Asian stocks edged up on Wednesday supported by the top U.S. Treasury official saying most banks have adequate capital, but caution was likely to reign until official results of stress tests were released on May 4.

Nestle , the world's biggest food group, reported a 3.8 percent rise in first-quarter organic sales, in line with analyst forecasts, and reiterated its outlook for 2009 despite the slowdown.

Honda Motor Co's operating profit for the last financial year will likely beat the company's estimate by a small margin thanks to a weaker yen and better-than-expected sales in China, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

New York City's pension funds are probing whether private equity fund Quadrangle intentionally misled it about placement agents used to win pension fund business, a spokesman for the city's comptroller said Tuesday.

Tupperware Brands Corp on Tuesday reported a quarterly net profit above its forecast and raised its outlook for the year, sending its shares up 11.7 percent in after-hours trade.

Yahoo Inc said it would cut 5 percent of its global workforce and reported quarterly results that showed progress toward controlling costs, sending shares higher in an after-hours relief rally.

Chrysler LLC's first-lien lenders have offered to take equity in a restructured automaker allied with Fiat SpA in exchange for writing off about 35 percent of the $7 billion they are owed, according to people with knowledge of the closed-door talks.

Honda Motor Co's operating profit for the last financial year will likely beat the company's estimate thanks to a weaker yen and better-than-expected sales in China, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Up to 50,000 civilians trapped on a tiny strip in northern Sri Lanka are enduring dire hardship, suffering from a lack of food, water and medical care, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday.

General Electric unit GE Wind, a maker of wind turbines, expects to return to double-digit growth rates in 2010, after being flat in 2009, the head of GE Wind's German business said on Tuesday.

The U.S. government’s Environmental Protection Agency is marking the celebration of Earth Day 2009 on Wednesday by promoting the use of clean energy sources.