INVESTMENT

The U.S. dollar firmed across the board on Wednesday and stocks eked out slight gains, adding to this year's big rally, after much better-than-expected business activity in the U.S. Midwest bolstered hopes of recovery.

GMAC Financial Services is expected to get about $3.5 billion of additional U.S. government aid to help the troubled lender absorb mortgage losses, a financial industry source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

New York City's Times Square was closed briefly and three buildings including the Nasdaq headquarters were evacuated in a security scare on Wednesday, a day before the traditional New Year's Eve festivities in the famed intersection.

Affluent investors turned bearish in December as their attention moved from the economy to concerns over health reform and fears the wealthy may be asked to pay more taxes.

New York City's Times Square was closed briefly and three nearby buildings, including the Nasdaq stock exchange, were evacuated in a security scare on Wednesday, police said, a day before the traditional New Year's Eve festivities in the famed intersection.

U.S. stocks were little changed on Wednesday as the dollar hit a three-month high against the yen, tempering a much better-than-expected report on Midwest business activity.

Wall Street was poised for a lower open on Wednesday, taking a cue from a decline in global markets, as investors found little reason to propel stocks higher as the market's solid year draws to a close.

Wall Street's efforts to quell public outrage over its pay practices could in fact be setting up its top executives, bankers, and traders for even bigger payouts down the road, which in turn could reignite the outcry.

Stock index futures fell on Wednesday, taking a cue from a decline in global markets, as investors found little reason to propel stocks higher as the market's solid year draws to a close.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.1 percent at 4.30 a.m. ET.

Gold dropped further in Asian trade Wednesday as the dollar continued to trade higher against its major rivals that curbed bullion's appeal as an alternative asset. Spot gold was seen trading at $1092.64 an ounce at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while gold for February delivery in New York was at $1,093.35 an ounce at the same time.

Lehman Brothers International can begin distributing billions of dollars of frozen hedge fund assets after reaching agreement with a majority of the affected parties, said PricewaterhouseCoopers on Tuesday.

The administrator for Lehman Brothers International said on Tuesday that nearly all clients whose assets have been frozen since the investment bank's collapse support a plan to return the money early next year.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System Board , the largest U.S. public pension fund, has tightened policies governing board members' involvement in investment decisions, it said on Tuesday.

Morgan Stanley has been sued by a Virgin Islands pension fund that accused the Wall Street bank of defrauding investors by marketing $1.2 billion of risky mortgage-related notes that it expected to fail.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon called British Finance Minister Alistair Darling earlier this month to say Britain's 50 percent tax on bankers' bonuses punishes the bank unfairly, a person close to the bank said.

Institutional investors are ending the year with a burst of optimism, breaking a three-month decline in confidence, State Street said on Tuesday.

Sumitomo Chemical Corp agreed to buy a $590 million stake in Australian farm chemicals maker Nufarm Ltd on Tuesday, in a surprise deal that knocked out a rival bid from China's Sinochem.

CNR Corp, one of China's top two train makers, limped in with a lukewarm market debut after its $2 billion IPO in Shanghai, signaling investors' intolerance for high valuations as a flood of new equity awaits next year.

UC RUSAL has secured a member of the Rothschild family as well as one of southeast Asia's richest men as investors in an IPO that could value the indebted aluminum firm at nearly $27 billion, sources said on Tuesday.

Dutch ING, which is splitting up its bank and insurance arms, will sell its stake in Chinese insurer Antai to China Construction Bank (CCB) as part of its ongoing restructuring programme.