MARKETS / FINANCE

Global stock markets fell again on Wednesday, hitting their lowest in two months as investors fretted about a monetary squeeze from central banks around the world and also the impact of tightening U.S. banking regulation.

Asian stocks fell for the ninth straight day on Wednesday on fears that China's heightened efforts to rein in soaring credit growth could hamper the global economic recovery.

(Corrects in first line and in text that Asia stocks ex-Japan fell for the 9th straight day, not the 8th)

Toyota Motor Corp said it will suspend sales in North America of eight models involved in recall, a move that could throw the timing of its earnings recovery into doubt and one that pushed its shares 2 percent lower.

The Swiss government needs to resolve the legal impasse which threatens to derail a deal with U.S. tax authorities over UBS client data, the bank's chairman Kaspar Villiger was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

In a victory for ratings agencies, a U.S. judge on Tuesday dismissed claims against Moody's Corp and McGraw-Hill's Standard & Poor's in litigation over nearly $100 billion of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc mortgage-backed securities.

The New York Federal Reserve Bank actively supported insurer American International Group's regulatory requests to keep its bank counterparties confidential but did not pressure the bailed-out firm for secrecy, the bank's top lawyer said on Tuesday.

Yahoo Inc said revenue could grow for the first time in six quarters in the first three months of 2010, noting that demand for premium display advertising had improved significantly.

Tiny Dutch auto group Spyker clinched a last-minute deal on Tuesday to buy Sweden's Saab from General Motors Co in an audacious attempt to turn around a money-losing brand that only days ago was headed for oblivion.

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday moved to clear the way to confirm Ben Bernanke to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman, setting a procedural vote for Thursday in a sign that the needed votes were now secured.

Standard & Poor's said it will add Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc to its flagship S&P 500 stock index , as the company prepares to acquire railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp .

Although stocks posted amazing gains in 2009, it has left most with an empty feeling as the decade overall was flat in US equities. The politics though fiery and hopeful at one euphoric moment in 2008 were also empty. It appears that in hindsight the last decade was a wash for America. Americans marched through most of the last ten years mad at a President who recovered an economy that had been dealt its largest blow ever and kept us from being attacked for a second time during his watch from a...

U.S. stocks slipped late on Tuesday due to trepidation over churning political and regulatory developments, offsetting solid earnings and improved consumer confidence data.

The financial sector led a stock market drop in late trading today, after expectations that new government policies could force major banks to divest themselves of some of their operations.

Ben Bernanke's prospects for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman brightened on Tuesday as a number of previously undecided senators voiced their support with a deadline looming.

The New York Federal Reserve Bank actively supported American International Group's regulatory requests for confidentiality on its bank counterparties but did not pressure the insurer for secrecy, according to the top lawyer of the New York Fed.

Stocks slipped late on Tuesday due to trepidation over churning political and regulatory developments, offsetting solid earnings and improved consumer confidence data.

Home Depot Inc, the world's largest home improvement chain, is laying off about 1,000 employees, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters, two days after warehouse club store Sam's Club said it would cut more than 11,000 jobs.

Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday it will build the next version of its Ford Explorer SUV in Chicago starting in late 2010, adding 1,200 jobs that may include hires at a new lower wage negotiated with its union.

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as consumer confidence data lifted optimism about the economy's improvement and results from Travelers Cos and Apple Inc added to a stream of strong profit reports.

The Australian Dollar opens lower on Wednesday at 0.8990.

Yahoo Inc forecast first-quarter revenue to be flat to slightly higher compared with a year earlier, after posting fourth-quarter results that were broadly in line with market expectations.

Yahoo Inc posted fourth-quarter results that were broadly in line with Wall Street expectations, and forecast first-quarter revenue to be flat to slightly higher from a year ago.

U.S. stocks gained on Tuesday as consumer confidence data bolstered views the economy's recovery is on track and results from Travelers Cos and Apple Inc strengthened the quarterly earnings picture.

Financial and basic materials stocks closed lower on Tuesday, sending the S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq Composite Index, and Dow Jones Industrial Average into negative territory after posting gains earlier in the day.

Bookseller Borders Group Inc said on Tuesday that Chief Executive Officer Ron Marshall had resigned to work for another retailer and would be replaced on an interim basis by the head of its marketing and merchandising teams.

U.S. tax authorities will soon demand that corporations reveal much more detailed financial information during audits, the top U.S. tax official said on Tuesday.

Tiny Dutch sportscar maker Spyker clinched a last-minute deal on Tuesday to buy Sweden's Saab, in an audacious attempt to turn around a money-losing brand that only days ago was headed for oblivion.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and ex-New York Fed Chairman Stephen Friedman will testify at a congressional hearing on bailed-out insurer AIG's payments to banks, a committee aide said on Tuesday.