Dell Inc launched a new line of servers for enterprise customers, boosting its corporate business unit and shifting its focus further away from consumers, who are increasingly choosing such devices as Apple Inc's iPad.
Citigroup sold its stake in Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) for $1.9 billion, as global banks focus on shoring up their balance sheets to meet stricter capital requirements.
Bailed-out insurance giant American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG), boosted by a one-time accounting gain, reported fourth-quarter profit of $19.8 billion. Favorable stock market conditions also helped offset large losses stemming from Thailand floods.
Gold rose to a three-month high on Thursday and headed for its biggest one-week rally in a month, spurred on by the strength in the euro following Europe's bailout deal with Greece, ahead of an options expiry later in the day.
Hewlett-Packard reported Wednesday that net income fell sharply for the first fiscal quarter and warned of continued weakness as it was losing market share in personal computers and printer business.
Hewlett-Packard Co's earnings fell nearly 44 percent and the world's No. 1 computer maker forecast a second-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates as it struggles with weak sales of PCs and printers.
Hewlett-Packard, the world’s biggest computer company, reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations as higher margin products sold more strongly than expected.
Shares of Hewlett-Packard, the No. 1 computer services company, have gained more than 12 percent this year and nearly 30 percent since new CEO Meg Whitman was installed in September.
Australian gold miner Kingsgate Consolidated forecast on Wednesday higher gold yields in the second half of fiscal 2012 as it boosts productivity at Thailand's only gold mine.
Bailed-out insurance giant American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG), boosted by a one-time accounting gain, is expected to return to profitability when it reports its fourth-quarter earnings after markets close Thursday. Favorable stock market conditions and less reserve charges may also helped offset large losses stemmed from Thailand floods.
The companies expected to see active trade Wednesday are: Analog Devices, Dollar Tree, Dell Inc, Hewlett Packard, Limited Brands, Williams Companies, TJX Companies, Quanta Services, Mannkind Corp and Express Scripts.
The top after-market NASDAQ gainers Tuesday were: Sourcefire, Texas Roadhouse, Canadian Solar, Brocade Communications Systems, Encore Wire Corp and Intuit Inc. The top after-market NASDAQ losers Tuesday were: DealerTrack Holdings, Brightpoint, Rex Energy Corp, Dell Inc, Cheesecake Factory and Netease.com.
Dell reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $764 million, or 43 cents a share, compared with a profit of $927 million or 48 cents a share for the year-earlier period, weighed down by weak consumer PC sales, pricing and supply issues caused by the floods in Thailand.
Aakash, the $35 tablet computer released in October for Indian schoolchildren has a successor, dubbed the UbiSlate 7+, a slightly more expensive tablet for impoverished students in Latin America, Egypt, Thailand and Brazil. Due to huge demand for inexpensive Internet access in third world countries, DataWind, the company that made the Aakash, has been overwhelmed with interest in the device.
Gas prices have risen to above $4 per gallon in many parts of the country, but compared to other countries, it's actually a rather low figure.
Japan reported a record-high balance of trade deficit in January as last year's tsunami combined with floods in Thailand, the Eurozone's sovereign debt crisis, a slowing Chinese market and a soaring yen to leave the world's third-largest economy with its first trade deficit since the last century.
A trained monkey can climb up to 500 coconut trees per day, ten times the capacity of a human being.
Iranian warships have entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. It is only the second time since 1979, when a revolution established an Islamic Republic in Iran, that this has happened.
Hague claimed that London has urged the Israelis not to launch such a strike.
While Indian authorities have launched an investigation into Monday's New Delhi car bombing, and its suspected masterminds, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government has continued to embrace trading with the country that is widely suspected of the attacks -- Iran.
The convoluted path of Air Australia, which is less than four months old and operated on a leased fleet of five aircraft, is being framed as a case study in which corporate hubris and a hands-off approach from corporate regulators combined to deliver a spectacular demise.
Both Iran and Hezbollah have denied complicity in all three attacks.
