The Dow suffered its worst drop of 2010 on Wednesday as U.S. stocks succumbed to fears that China's curbs on bank lending might jeopardize the global economic recovery, while IBM's outlook sparked caution about the technology sector.
In a sign that the U.S. banking sector's problems are far from over, lenders including Bank of America Corp reported falling bond trading revenue and mortgage lending weakness in the fourth quarter.
A unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc , General Re, has agreed to pay $92.2 million to settle accusations that it helped American International Group Inc and Prudential Financial Inc manipulate financial statements, the U.S. government said Wednesday.
U.S. housing starts unexpectedly fell last month as unusually cold weather hampered construction, but a jump in building permits to a 14-month high indicated the housing market recovery was intact.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 122.43 points on Wednesday, losing 1.14 percent to close at 10,603 on fears that the Asian led economic recovery may stall because of government tightening.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp posted a quarterly loss on Wednesday, capping a year of economic turmoil and weak travel demand that battered the industry.
General Re Corp., a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK), has agreed to pay $92.2 million to settle investigations and claims that it allegedly entered into sham reinsurance contracts, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Wednesday.
Warren Buffett said Kraft Foods Inc's proposed $19.6 billion acquisition of Cadbury Plc is a bad deal and questioned how Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld chose to pay for it.
Wells Fargo & Co and U.S. Bancorp reported better-than-forecast quarterly earnings, helped by recent acquisitions, while larger rival Bank of America Corp got a boost from Merrill Lynch.
Wall Street suffered its worst slide of 2010 on Wednesday as investors worried that lending restrictions in China could hurt the global economic recovery, while a conservative outlook from IBM dented recent optimism about the technology sector.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wants to expand its lawsuit in the widening Galleon hedge fund probe to add new charges against two defendants, Galleon founder Raj Rajaratnam and former McKinsey & Co director Anil Kumar.
U.S. retail brokerages modestly boosted fourth-quarter profits as higher merger and recruiting expenses largely offset growing management fees and a market-fueled increase in client assets.
The dollar continued to rally in Wednesday mid-day trading New York time after Chinese authorities announced ahead of the Asian trading session that banks will slow lending for 2010.
General Electric Co is on track to report its eighth straight quarter of profit declines on Friday, with investors looking for evidence the largest U.S. conglomerate is stabilizing its hefty finance unit.
As investors and technology enthusiasts focus on Apple's anticipated unveiling of its tablet PC, new iPhone software and version tailored for Verizon may be also in the works.
U.S. stocks were having their worst day of 2010 on Wednesday as lending restrictions in China worried investors about the global economic recovery, while a conservative outlook from IBM weighed down technology shares.
Unemployment rates will likely peak in most U.S. cities in 2010, but it will be many more years before jobless rates hit their lows of the last decade, a report released by a U.S. mayors group shows.
Four of the major U.S. financial institutions - with a combined market capitalization of $352 billion - reported mixed fourth quarter earnings today.
Wells Fargo & Co swung to a fourth-quarter profit on a pickup in fee income, even as it repaid $25 billion in bailout funds to the U.S. government.
U.S. stocks extended losses on Wednesday as investors pummeled technology shares, sending the Nasdaq down more than 2 percent following IBM's disappointing outlook.
U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as quarterly results from three big U.S. banks raised concerns about the stability of the sector and analysts questioned IBM's profit forecast.
Wells Fargo & Co and U.S. Bancorp reported better-than-forecast quarterly earnings, helped by recent acquisitions, while larger rival Bank of America Corp got a boost from Merrill Lynch.
Oil slipped below $78 a barrel on Wednesday on fresh evidence of tightening credit policy in China, a stronger dollar and expectations that U.S. refiners processed less crude in the latest week.
U.S. producer prices rose for the third month in a row in December, increasing by 0.2 percent on a surge in food prices and recording their largest year-on-year gain since October 2008, according to a government report on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 index fell 15.42 points to trade at 1,134.81 in morning trading while the Dow lost 164.6 points to trade at 10,560.83.
Bank of America Corp reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, hurt by still-high loan losses and its repayment of U.S. government bailout aid.
(Corrects global markets unit net income in 8th paragraph to $1.2 billion from $4.8 billion)
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) this morning reported a loss of $0.29 per share for the year 2009 and a loss of $0.60 per share for the fourth quarter.
JPMorgan Chase is in exclusive talks to buy the RBS Sempra commodities joint venture, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in a deal expected to be worth about $4 billion.
U.S. stocks were poised for a lower open on Wednesday on reports of bank lending restrictions in China and as quarterly results from three big U.S. banks raised uneasiness about the state of the sector.
