FEDERAL RESERVE

Shares of microprocessor leaders Intel and Advanced Micro Devices both surged more than five percent in Wednesday’s advance despite slowing sales of PCs.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the U.S. economic activity increased at a slow to moderate pace in 11 of the 12 Fed districts. St. Louis reported a decline.

The world's major central banks acted jointly on Wednesday to provide cheaper dollar funding to European banks facing a credit crunch as the euro zone's debt crisis drove EU ministers to urge more IMF help to avert financial disaster.

The Bank of Canada will not raise interest rates again until the fourth quarter of next year as Europe's worsening debt crisis dims the outlook for the global economy, according to a Reuters survey.

Gold shot higher Wednesday after the world's top central banks launched a coordinated plan to provide liquidity to struggling Eurozone banks and China did likewise for its banks.

Central bank action on Wednesday to ease severe funding strains for the world's private sector banks may help cushion a brewing global credit crunch but it only buys some wiggle room for governments trying to resolve the euro debt crisis and keep banks lending.

Stocks rose 3 percent on Wednesday as major central banks jointly added liquidity to the world's financial system, easing worries about a global downturn.

U.S. stocks rose more than 3 percent on Wednesday as major central banks acted jointly to add liquidity to the global financial system, boosting appetite for risky assets.

Precious metals prices jumped Wednesday, with palladium surging nearly five percent, after the world's top central banks announced a coordinated rescue of the Eurozone's rapidly deteriorating finances.

So far, it has been a tough week for the troubled Bank of America Corp. (BAC). The firm's stock hit a new 52-week low Tuesday, dropping more than 3 percent to $5.03 a share, the lowest level since March 12, 2009. After the market closed, more bad news came as Standard & Poor's downgraded the bank's long-term credit rating by a notch to A- from A.

Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve's influential vice chair, said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank has room to ease monetary policy further, possibly by providing more information on the path of interest rates.

Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve's influential vice chair, said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank has room to ease monetary policy further to support a tenuous economic recovery.

Germany and France stepped up a drive on Monday for coercive powers to reject euro zone members' budgets that breach EU rules, and the United States kept up the drumbeat of demands from the rest of the world for decisive action.

While big U.S. banks assured investors they were financially healthy during the financial crisis, they also quietly approached the Federal Reserve for more bailout money. As of March 2009, the Fed committed $7.77 trillion to rescue the financial system, which is more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year. The amount dwarfed the Treasury Department's better-known $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

More consumers are pulling back from the housing market, which pushed down their debt levels during July through September, the New York Federal Reserve said Monday.

Is the U.S. Federal Reserve likely to purchase more securities as part of a plan to help jump-start U.S. GDP growth? It is, if a survey of key bond dealers is accurate.

Stock index futures jumped on Monday on optimism over the latest round of proposals out of Europe designed to corral the growing Eurozone debt crisis.

Stock index futures pointed to a sharply higher open for equities on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 rising 2.2 to 2.6 percent.

Stock index futures pointed to a sharply higher open for equities on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 rising 2.2 to 2.6 percent.

The global economic recovery is running out of steam, leaving the euro zone stuck in a mild recession and the United States at risk of following suit, the OECD said on Monday, sharply cutting its forecasts.

Belgium and Hungary were downgraded late in the week, fueling more fire to the already credit-sensitive region.