UNITED STATES

House Democrats unveiled a 1,000-page proposal to overhaul the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry. The ground-breaking bill includes a government-paid insurance option that would compete with private insurers, and tax increases for the wealthy.

The long-awaited bottoming of the U.S. housing market may be in sight, but a recovery could take as long as 18 months and will likely be muted, Fitch Ratings said in a report on Wednesday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he was reassured during a Gulf visit that the dollar will remain the region's main reserve currency and said he wanted to find ways to reduce oil-price volatility.

The U.S. recession might be loosening its grip, data released on Wednesday suggested, although analysts cautioned recovery was likely to be long and slow.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that he acted appropriately in warning Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis that top executives could be ousted if they walked away from a merger with Merrill Lynch.

Saying it was time to get this done, President Barack Obama pressed on Wednesday for swift congressional action on healthcare after a Senate panel approved a bill to overhaul the $2.5 trillion industry.

U.S. regulators on Wednesday filed civil charges for insider trading against 11 people, including a 26-year-old former Goldman Sachs Group Inc investment banking analyst accused of leaking confidential merger information to his brother.

Stocks rose broadly on Wednesday, sparked by strong results from bellwether Intel Corp that lifted hopes for a rebound in technology spending.

Oil rose more than 3 percent to over $61 a barrel on Wednesday, supported by falling U.S. crude oil inventories and economic optimism following positive U.S. data.

American Airlines parent AMR Corp on Wednesday posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as capacity cuts and new revenue streams helped offset weak travel demand.

Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, has sued the three largest credit rating agencies for giving perfect grades to securities that later suffered huge subprime mortgage losses.

Hedge fund swindler Samuel Israel was ordered to serve two more years behind bars on Wednesday for a wild escapade in which he faked his own death in an attempt to avoid a 20-year prison sentence.

Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, has sued the three largest credit rating agencies for giving perfect grades to securities that later suffered huge subprime mortgage losses.

Citigroup has become the latest bank to rebuild its European oil and gas investment banking team, rehiring James Sleeman and naming another senior banker as a global co-head covering the sector.

Industrial distributor W.W. Grainger posted an 18 percent drop in quarterly profit, hurt by weak demand across all end markets and geographies, and said it had not seen an indication of an economic turnaround.

Private equity-backed Kosmos Energy is still mulling a possible sale of its Ghanaian oil interests, despite securing a loan to fund the fields' development, industry sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Ellington Financial LLC, a specialty finance company, is planning to raise up to $200 million in an initial public offering, according to a prospectus filed on Tuesday.

North Korea's nominal number two leader said on Wednesday dialogue with foreign powers was impossible without respect for the sovereignty of the communist state.

Private-equity owned Nycomed and a Japanese drugs company are in the early second round of an auction for all of Solvay's pharmaceuticals business, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd, the country's third-largest life insurer and partly owned by the Carlyle Group, is set to relaunch its Hong Kong IPO, according to sources, after its first attempt failed last year when markets plunged.

Two of the biggest U.S. credit card companies, Capital One Financial Corp and Discover Financial Services , reported lower-than-expected defaults and delinquencies in June, sending their shares sharply higher.