IBT Staff Reporter

Crude oil futures fell from a record of $102.08 a barrel on Wednesday after the U.S. Government reported that crude inventories rose, exceeding forecasts.

Treasury notes turned slightly lower lower on Wednesday after regulators removed some lending restrictions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated a willingness to continue lowering interest rates.

The dollar crossed under the $1.51 per euro mark for the first time on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled that the Fed could continue to lower interest rates.

Robusta coffee increased on Wednesday, posting the highest gain since 1995 in London after investors tried to change from surging global stock markets by buying commodities.

In a bid to tap into the boom in commodities trading, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has picked up 26 percent stake in Ahmedabad-based National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (NMCE) for about Rs.100 crore ($25 million).

A Japanese man was arrested for trespassing this week after turning up at a high school dressed in a girl's uniform and a long wig, local police said.

Gold surged to a record high above $960 on Wednesday as investors piled in, spurred by a plummeting dollar and oil rising above $100 a barrel.

The European Commission opened in-depth investigations on Wednesday to determine if billions of euros in German government assistance to two banks, hit by the U.S. sub-prime market crisis, amounted to illegal state aid.

China has opened its bond market wider to foreign banks, naming the local arms of JPMorgan Chase and Standard Chartered Bank as primary underwriters of debt issued by the Ministry of Finance.

NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan's biggest mobile phone operator, will offer 24-hour free calls between family members as it fights to keep users from switching carriers.

Toyota Motor Corp will boost production capacity for its Lexus luxury cars in Japan by about 35 percent in 2009 to meet growing demand in emerging countries such as Russia and China, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday.

Justin Timberlake, Lou Reed, Billy Joel and Ben Harper are among the big names who've signed up to induct members of the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class next month in New York.

Michael Jackson's famed Neverland Valley Ranch in California will be foreclosed and sold on March 19 unless the pop star pays a balance of nearly $25 million, property records showed on Tuesday.

Never has an expression of love been so public -- or featured so many guys in cutoff jeans shorts -- or been so damn sincere.

MySpace and TMZ are set to launch a branded channel Wednesday on the social networking site's TV page. TMZ will contribute two or three clips per week to MySpace TV (http://vids.myspace.com/). These videos, which will have already screened on the celebrity news site's syndicated TV program. will be found online exclusively on MySpace for 24 hours after the airing.

Major powers are looking for new ways to draw Iran into negotiations over its nuclear program while simultaneously pushing for more U.N. sanctions, U.S. officials and diplomats said on Tuesday. Political directors from the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council -- Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France -- as well as Germany, met in Washington on Monday to discuss how to tweak their Iran strategy.

Japan stocks buoyed Wednesday led by Asian stock markets' high stock prices and the news of sharp equity rises across Asia.

Honda Motor Co. has set a bullish sight on the Indian automobile market, announcing that it is stepping up automobile production in the country and will launch new models later this year, besides expanding its dealership network.

Tata Motors is set to take over Ford Motor Co's British luxury brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, in early March, following successful conclusion of talks with the automaker's labor union in UK, Unite.

Apple's Mac OS X is built on top of a foundation that pose security vulnerabilities, according to a new research report.

A federal court ruled on Tuesday that Microsoft must pay a Guatemalan investor for infringing his software in its Office Suite.

Pakistan lifted a ban on the YouTube video-sharing Web site on Tuesday saying that the video that was offensive to Islam had been removed.

Copper futures recovered on Tuesday rising along with commodities and boosted by a decline on inventories.

Rachel Lomax, deputy governor of the Bank of England has said that the economic outlook for 2008 has changed dramatically and that there was still uncertainty resulting from last year's credit crunch.

First Great Western (FGW), a subsidiary of FirstGroup Plc, has said that it had agreed a package of passenger benefits to address poor performance in relation to cancellations of train services and the contravention of the Franchise Agreement.

Gold edged higher on Tuesday, continuing its rally as crude oil prices rose, the U.S. dollar weakened and a report showed rising U.S. producer prices.

Many parts of southern Florida were blacked out on Tuesday afternoon, leaving two to three million residents without electricity.

Microsoft plans to launch a special test version of its latest Internet Explorer web browser, the company said Tuesday, boasting new features and better support for widely held Internet standards.

Apple refreshed its MacBook and MacBook pro lineups on Tuesday, equipping the units with faster processors, bigger hard drives and a new multi-touch trackpad.