BUSINESS

Among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Wednesday are: Ancestry.com, Telefonica, JPMorgan Chase, Shuffle Master, Logitech International, Diageo, Facebook and Mitcham Industries.

Some of the world's most popular brands are partnering with music festivals to tap into a much-coveted demographic.

Now that the initial public offering of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, has lost 32 percent of its value, technology giants including International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) are on a shopping spree. That may chill the IPO pipeline.

Joining the four major US carriers, the nation's sixth largest carrier U.S. Cellular has announced that it will launch the latest Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone in July with preorders beginning June 12.

Futures on the major U.S. indices point to a higher opening Wednesday ahead of a report on the Federal Reserve's Beige Book and the European Central Bank's (ECB) monthly rate-setting meeting.

Crude oil futures edged higher Wednesday as positive US service sector data and the G7 leaders' pledge to tackle economic problems provided some relief to the markets.

Asian markets rose Wednesday amid positive economic data from the U.S. and the G7 finance ministers' decision to work closer together to tackle the euro zone economic crisis.

Stock markets in China and Hong Kong advanced Wednesday on speculation that the People's Bank of China will cut interest rates soon to help the economy regain its growth momentum.

India's BSE Sensex rose Wednesday following positive cues from Asian markets and the rupee gaining.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers Tuesday were: Iron Mountain, KB Home, AES Corp, Guidewire Software and Banco Santander. The top aftermarket NYSE losers were: LRR Energy, Red Hat, Overseas Shipholding Group, Noranda Aluminum Holding and Nabors Industries.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose Wednesday amid positive US economic data and the G7 meeting's promise of a closer collaboration to tackle economic problems.

The performance of the non-manufacturing sector against the backdrop of the release of the non-manufacturing (NMI) index.

Asian shares nudged up Wednesday but were capped by concerns that Europe's financial strains could intensify without a global response, as Spain warned that it was being shut out of credit markets.

The European Central Bank is expected to hold back from policy moves when it meets on Wednesday, instead urging governments to address the euro zone's crisis, but it could indicate a readiness to cut interest rates as early as next month given a weakening economy and Spain's banking troubles.

Nasdaq has reached out to at least one brokerage that lost money due to Facebook's botched IPO, saying it will make an announcement Wednesday.

Fannie Mae, the federally controlled mortgage giant, said Tuesday it is appouinting its general counsel, Timothy Mayopoulos, as its new president and CEO.

Kia Motors Corporation (Seoul: 000270) is recalling 72,568 model year 2006 to 2008 Kia Rio cars due to a defect which can cause deployment of airbags when children are in the passenger seat during a crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tuesday.

Sixty-eight years after the D-Day invasion, the beaches of Normandy are now pilgrimage sites -- a treasure trove of history amidst a prosaic land.

The question of whether gay marriage is legal or heralding the destruction of civilization, is not yet an issue ripe for the court?s final word.

In the past 24 hours, Google has acquired two companies to substantially improve its various online services. On Monday, Google bought social start-up Meebo to enhance its social services like Google Chat and its social network Google+, and on Tuesday, Google bought Quickoffice to boost the functionality and compatibility of Google Apps like Docs, Gmail, Calendar, Google Drive, and more.

Dorda plead not-guilty to charges of mobilizing security forces to fire bullets at the heads and chests of civilians and preventing, through the use of force and intimidation, the staging of peaceful protests.

One of the main selling points of the Piaggio Aero Avanti II private plane is the relatively massive cabin size. If you're in the market for a private plane, you probably want comfort, and that probably means the ability to sit and stand without feeling crunched. Piaggio says the Avanti II is the perfect plane for this, but how do some of the other competitors stack up?

At E3 2012, the focus seems to be on a lot more than gaming. Each console is competing to gain dominance as the prominent entertainment system in living rooms around the globe, with a different approach from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

Citing lax laws and concerns about their water supply, farmers in Australia are pressuring lawmakers to impose a moratorium on the controversial drilling technique known as fracking.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel appears to have altered dramatically her long-held opposition to euro zone nations sharing responsibility for the debts of the monetary union's most troubled banks.

With Europe in turmoil, the affluent French, British and their continental neighbors are flying to buy one of the world's most stable investments: Manhattan real estate.

Airline stocks were recovering on Tuesday from a battering the previous day after Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) showed a 6 percent increase in per-seat passenger revenue in May compared to last year, one percentage point lower than it had expected.

On Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled a stunning new technology platform at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles called SmartGlass, which essentially connects the television and the Xbox to smartphones and tablets, letting users consume their media in a much simpler and more fun way.

Shares of AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL), the No. 7 website, traded near their 52-week high again Tuesday after activist investors Starboard Value won more crucial backing to win seats on the board of directors.