MARKETS / FINANCE

The Nasdaq rose on Wednesday as strong online holiday sales boosted shares of retailers, including Amazon.com , and relieved some concerns about the consumer.

The Nasdaq ended higher on Wednesday as investors grew optimistic about Amazon.com Inc's holiday sales prospects, but the Dow and S&P 500 were little changed after oil prices retreated, pressuring shares of energy companies.

The meltdown of the U.S. housing market is not over yet, and home prices will soon start trekking downward again as a flood of foreclosures looms, a well-known economist said on Wednesday. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said in an interview with Reuters home prices will resume their decline by early next year as foreclosure sales pick up again.

The U.S. labor market improved in November, with private sector job losses declining for the eighth straight month and employers planning fewer layoffs, separate reports showed on Wednesday.

Norwegian telecom firm Telenor will become the 12th operator in the Indian market when it launches its operations on Thursday, a company statement said.

U.S. securities regulators have stepped up their probes of hedge funds and are asking some firms to hand over information about their performance and trades, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

U.S. central bankers should not let pockets of weakness distract them from fighting inflation as the economy recovers, Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker said on Wednesday.

General Growth Properties reached agreements with additional lenders to extend loans on its shopping centers and other properties and will ask a judge later this month to approve the plan that so far covers $9.7 billion of its secured debt.

U.S. central bankers should not let pockets of weakness in the economy distract them from fighting inflation, Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker said on Wednesday.

The U.S. labor market improved in November, with the number of jobs lost in the private sector falling again and the number of planned layoffs also easing, separate reports showed on Wednesday.

The Dow and S&P slipped on Wednesday, with falling oil prices prompting investors to sell some energy shares and concerns about bank profits pressuring the financial sector.

The weak U.S. economy is improving modestly with little upward pressure on wages and finished goods despite commodity price gains, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in a report that gives it little reason to move from its current ultra-low interest rates.

U.S. online shoppers spent 5 percent more this Cyber Monday than they did last year as more consumers flocked to the Web for holiday shopping but spent slightly less per person, analytics firm comScore Inc said on Wednesday.

U.S. online shoppers spent 5 percent more this Cyber Monday than they did last year as more consumers flocked to the Web for holiday shopping but spent slightly less per person, analytics firm comScore Inc said on Wednesday.

No major new refineries have been built in the United States since the 1970s, but that does not mean that U.S. refinery capacity has not grown. Refiners can increase capacity at existing sites by modifying equipment to increase product flow and by adding new distillation units. Consequently, though U.S. crude oil distillation capacity declined in the early 1980s, it has risen since the mid-1990s (Figure 1) due to these kinds of investments. From 1997 to 2009, total U.S. refining capacity increas...

Google offered publishers a way to attract paying subscribers without having to remove their content from Google News search results, after Rupert Murdoch and others accused it of profiting from their news.

Sam Zell is resigning as chief executive of Tribune Co after two years at the helm of the bankrupt media company whose $8.2 billion buyout he engineered in 2007.

Tribune Co received court approval on Tuesday for more time to exclusively file a reorganization plan, giving the media company 10 weeks to end a fight over the buyout that creditors blame for its bankruptcy.

(Corrects to remove reference to ownership of Newsday in paragraph 3)

The Dow and S&P slipped on Wednesday, pressured by the financial and energy sectors, although the Nasdaq rose on positive news on online retailers such as Amazon.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday there was a good case to let some firms use derivatives with little scrutiny for business purposes, but that most trading should face stiffer rules.

Japan's NEC Electronics Corp gained approval from European Union competition regulators on Wednesday to merge with peer Renesas Technology Corp, creating the world's No. 3 semiconductor maker.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose on Wednesday, lifted by positive news on online retailers such as Amazon, while the Dow edged lower with energy and financials following mixed data on the labor market.

The days of swashbuckling backslappers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange have given way to an era of trading dominated by analytical technical whizzes whose computers may be running from a town in deepest New Jersey or Texas.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after a private-sector employment report showed an improvement from October and the S&P pushed through a key technical level.

The U.S. labor market improved in November, with the number of jobs lost in the private sector falling again and the number of planned layoffs also easing, separate reports showed on Wednesday.

China's leading Internet firm Shanda Interactive Entertainment aims to buy more digital entertainment platforms and game content developers to diversify its revenue stream.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged lawmakers on Wednesday to let regulators block companies from customizing derivatives contracts to avoid trading on central clearing houses.

Government-owned Dubai World will meet its main creditors next week to discuss a request to delay payment on $26 billion in debt that has shaken global markets and confidence in the Gulf Arab business hub.