IBT Staff Reporter

Booming demand for the latest iPhone model helped Apple beat all phones using Google's Android platform in the U.S. smartphone market in the fourth quarter, data showed on Wednesday.

World No.1 mobile equipment maker Ericsson saw its profit halve in the fourth quarter as the global economic slowdown hit demand, and forecast network operators would remain cautious on spending in the months ahead.

European shares and the single currency held firm on Wednesday as investor focus switched to the broader economic outlook and some strong results from leading U.S. companies, and away from worries about the stalemate in Greek debt talks.

German group SAP, the world's biggest maker of business software, said it expected operating profit to rise as much as 11.5 percent this year, more than market expectations.

Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG offered about $5.7 billion in cash to buy U.S. gene sequencing device maker Illumina Inc , in a potentially hostile takeover bid to boost its position in life sciences and diagnostics.

Asian shares rose on Wednesday, underpinned by strong earnings from U.S. technology giant Apple, stabilizing European money markets and falling euro zone debt yields, with investors shifting their focus from Europe to the U.S. Federal Reserve.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday that combining the European Union's temporary EFSF rescue fund with its permanent ESM mechanism would help restore confidence in the flagging region and provide a solid firewall to the Greek crisis.

World No.1 mobile network gear maker Ericsson missed fourth-quarter profit forecasts, hit by lower demand from the United States and Russia, and said weak margins and cautiousness from its operator clients would continue in the short term.

A nightmare on world freight markets, where shipping prices have been decimated over the past four years, is gnawing at New Year optimism about a stabilizing world economy and shows how adept investors can be at tuning out 'inconvenient' information.

Efforts by the United States to extradite the mastermind of an alleged Internet piracy scheme from New Zealand to face copyright infringement and money laundering charges are likely to be long and complex.

The International Business Times has compiled comprehensive profiles on Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum and their positions on 11 issues: entitlement programs, health care, job creation, taxes, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, abortion, education, gay marriage and immigration.

Facebook, the social networking company poised to go public this year, will not honor trades of its shares in the secondary markets for a three-day period beginning on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Japan logged its first annual trade deficit in more than 30 years in 2011, calling into question how much longer the country can fund its huge public debt without relying on fickle foreign investors.

A New Zealand judge ordered the founder of online file-sharing site Megaupload.com to be held in custody for another month Wednesday, saying the suspected Internet pirate posed a significant flight risk.

Blackstone Group LP has raised more than $6 billion for a real estate opportunity fund, which eventually could match its current $11 billion fund, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc forecast lower quarterly revenue as a shortage of hard drives and a shaky economy hurt PC makers, sending its shares lower in after-hours trading.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc forecast lower quarterly revenue as a shortage of hard drives and a shaky economy hurt PC makers, sending its shares lower in after-hours trading.

Chipmaker Nvidia Corp cut its outlook for current-quarter sales, saying it has been hit by a shortage of hard drives, sending its shares lower.

The founder of online file-sharing website Megaupload, accused of masterminding a scheme that allegedly made more than $175 million through Internet piracy and illegal file sharing, was ordered held in custody by a New Zealand court on Wednesday.

Yahoo Inc Chief Executive Scott Thompson said reviving the company's flagging display advertising business was his highest priority, even as he crafts a broader plan to bring the struggling Internet company back to fighting form.

Citigroup Inc was sued for fraud by Loreley Financing over nearly $1 billion worth of collateralized debt obligations purchased in 2006 and 2007.

A history of Ford Motor Co could be told with the succession of slogans it has used over the decades - some remembered within the company as rallying cries, some more as punch lines.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc forecast lower quarterly revenue as a shortage of hard drives and a shaky economy hurts PC makers, sending its shares lower after-hours.

The founder of online file-sharing website Megaupload, accused of masterminding a scheme that made more than $175 million in a few years by infringing copyrighted content without authorization, was refused bail in a New Zealand court on Wednesday.

Apple Inc's quarterly earnings and forecasts easily beat Wall Street's estimates, helping the technology giant's shares up 7 percent after hours.

Google Inc plans to unify its privacy policy and terms of service across its online offerings, including its flagship search, Gmail and Google+ products, to make them easier to use, but the move could attract greater scrutiny from anti-trust regulators.

Yahoo Inc's net revenue and profit fell slightly in the fourth quarter, the struggling Internet company's last quarter before new Chief Executive Scott Thompson took the reins.

Greece's private creditors pleaded on Tuesday with European officials who rejected their bond swap offer to hammer together a deal before Athens tumbles into a chaotic default.

Less than an hour before Yahoo reports earnings on Tuesday, investors are focused less on instant gratification and instead are betting on the long term.