MARKETS / FINANCE

MasterCard Inc reported higher third quarter profits on Wednesday which easily beat Wall Street estimates, on double-digit increases in volumes.

The U.S. job market continues to register incremental progress, as the private sector added 110,000 jobs in October, ADP said, with job gains concentrated in the services sector and in small/medium companies.

AOL Inc's revenue dropped 6 percent because of its dwindling dial-up Internet access business, but the decline was not as severe as expected, due to an increase in advertising revenue.

Shares of Randgold Resources Ltd., a top gold mining company focused on West Africa, soared Wednesday as rising production and prices combined to boost its third-quarter income four-fold.

Stocks were set to rise at the open on Wednesday, following two days of sharp losses, with developments in Greece and a U.S. monetary policy meeting on investors' minds.

U.S. private employers added more jobs than expected in October, and more were added in September than originally reported, while a separate report showed planned layoffs dropped sharply last month.

West Africa-focused miner Randgold Resources Ltd. is confident of posting record gold production in the fourth quarter, enabling it to meet its annual guidance as it expands output from its Gounkoto mine in Mali.

Gold prices rose Wednesday on bargain hunting, continued strong demand from central banks for bullion and a weaker dollar.

Stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday, following two days of sharp market losses, with developments in Greece and a U.S. monetary policy meeting in focus.

Google Inc said it will offer free websites to small and medium businesses in India in a move to boost Internet usage in Asia's third-largest economy and aims to get half a million of these businesses online in the next three years.

Greece's prime minister faces a grilling from the leaders of Germany and France on Wednesday after fighting to win the backing of his cabinet to hold a referendum on a 130 billion-euro ($178 billion) bailout package.

Germany's manufacturing sector contracted in October for the first time in more than two years as new orders fell for a fourth month in a row, data showed on Wednesday in the latest sign Europe's bulwark economy is set for a sharp slowdown.

Gold firmed on Wednesday, helped by safe-haven demand as the Eurozone troubles deepened and business surveys showed the severe impact the crisis had on manufacturing in the region.

The Bank of Japan supplied dollars in market operations on Wednesday for the first time in more than a year, a sign of the global market strains that board member Sayuri Shirai separately said could push the yen higher again.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 up 0.6 to 1 percent.

Three days after Politico reported on sexual harassment allegations made against Herman Cain when he was CEO of the National Restaurant Association, the presidential candidate has still not settled on a clear response.

World stocks and the euro edged up on Wednesday after a rollercoaster week, as investors hoped for comfort on the weak U.S. economy and troubled euro zone from meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve and Group of Twenty leaders.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it is offering an early preview of its Black Friday deals starting Wednesday and will also hold an early holiday sale beginning Saturday.

Asian shares fell and the euro hovered near three-week lows against the dollar on Wednesday, as investors shed riskier assets after Greece's abrupt call for a referendum rekindled fears about the viability of a European debt deal reached just last week.

The Bank of Japan offered dollars to banks in market operations on Wednesday for the first time since July last year, a sign that market strains from Europe's sovereign debt crisis may be broadening.

U.S. banks have not done enough to ensure they are well capitalized, and getting back to a system where retail and investment banking are separated would be attractive in terms of reform, Bill Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund, said on Tuesday.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou fought off a barrage of criticism to win the backing of his cabinet Wednesday to push ahead with a referendum the government said would take place as soon as possible on a European Union debt bailout deal.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou fought off a barrage of criticism to win the backing of his cabinet Wednesday to push ahead with a referendum the government said would take place as soon as possible on a European Union debt bailout deal.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou fought off a barrage of criticism to win the backing of his cabinet Wednesday to push ahead with a referendum the government said would take place as soon as possible on a European Union debt bailout deal.

U.S. banks have not done enough to ensure they are well capitalized, and getting back to a system where retail and investment banking are separated would be attractive in terms of reform, Bill Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund, said on Tuesday.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou fought off a barrage of criticism to win the backing of his cabinet Wednesday to push ahead with a referendum the government said would take place as soon as possible on a European Union debt bailout deal.

Groupon Inc's IPO may be the biggest test yet for the nascent private stock exchanges that allow investors to trade the shares of hot start-ups like Facebook Inc before they go public.

Prosecutors sued a large U.S. mortgage broker and two top executives for an alleged decade-long fraud that cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars on risky home loans.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said on Wednesday he would push ahead with a referendum on an EU bailout deal, defying demands from lawmakers of his own party that he quit for jeopardizing Greek membership of the euro.