IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. bank card delinquencies dipped in the first quarter of this year to the lowest level in eight years, reflecting measured improvement in the overall economy.

Samsung Electronics' record quarterly profit failed to please investors as a weak European economy looks set to weaken demand for flat screens and chips, hurting profitability at the world's largest memory chipmaker.

Economic reforms intended to pull Greece out of recession and help it resolve a sovereign debt crisis are broadly on track, despite some slippage, the European Commission said.

ICBC , the world's most valuable lender, may raise up to $6.6 billion in new funding, sources said, joining Agricultural Bank of China , which priced its IPO to be the world's largest, in a rush to raise billions of dollars.

Unnamed Saudi investors seek to buy a stake worth 10 to 15 percent in British oil company BP dealing with a massive U.S. oil spill, a Saudi newspaper said in an unsourced report on Wednesday.

Africa offers among the world's best investment prospects as emerging markets grow ever more important, although its economies risk being destabilized by the slew of capital they stand to attract in coming years.

London and New York are not about to lose their spots as the world's leading financial centers but they are being challenged by emerging market upstarts in a potentially lucrative area: the management of funds moving between developing economies.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday after the previous session's tepid gains, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.3 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.4 percent at 4 a.m. EDT.

Investment flows to the world's four biggest emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- slowed slightly in the first half of 2010, but growth rates and the pace of dealmaking remain strong, data shows.

New evidence that the U.S. economic recovery is slowing pushed investors to sell shares on Wednesday following a burst of bargain hunting the previous day.

The euro slipped on Wednesday but was holding not far from a seven-week high, with traders saying it could rise further in the near term due to doubts about a recovery in the U.S. economy and positive technical signals.

Strong physical buying helped pluck gold from a 6-week low on Wednesday after China said bullion would not become a major investment home for its foreign exchange reserves. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said U.S. Treasury securities would remain an important market for the managers of China's official currency reserves, but gold would not become a major component of the central bank's portfolio.

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as investors worried global growth was faltering, while the euro held near a 7-week high as investors pared long positions in the dollar on doubts about the resiliency of the U.S. recovery.

The euro dipped on Wednesday but was still hovering near a recent seven-week high, with traders saying it could rise further in the near term due to doubts about a recovery in the U.S. economy and positive technical signals.

The U.S. Treasury Department is expected to again decline to name China a currency manipulator in a long-delayed report that will likely anger congressional critics of Beijing's policies. The report was due April 15 but was delayed until after last month's G20 leaders' summit in Canada. China said just before the G20 met that it will make the yuan's exchange rate more flexible gradually and end a two-year peg to the dollar.

Gold prices rebounded in Asian trade Wednesday after bargain buying strengthened its appeal amid euro recovery as it rose to near seven-week highs. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $1193.01 an ounce at 12.00 noon Singapore time while U.S. gold futures for August delivery was at $1,193.8 an ounce.

Asian stocks slipped on Wednesday as investors worried global growth was faltering, while the euro hovered near a 7-week high as investors shunned long positions in the dollar.

Borders Group Inc launched its long awaited electronic bookstore on Wednesday, along with applications for the store on several leading smartphones in a bid to catch up to rival booksellers and generate sales in the fast growing e-book segment.

Samsung Electronics , the world's No.1 memory chip maker, is set to see slower growth in the second-half as the euro zone crisis weakens demand for flat screens and chip prices are likely to ease.

U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp is planning to cut a small number of jobs as early as this week, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Borders Group Inc's electronic bookstore went live on Wednesday and the head of its bookselling business predicted that it would quickly catch up with rivals and win a piece of the fast growing e-books sector.

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as investors worried global growth was faltering, while the euro held near a 7-week high as investors pared long positions in the dollar on doubts about the resiliency of the U.S. recovery.

China should not yet stand down from its active fiscal and loose monetary policies, but it needs to gradually prepare expectations for an orderly exit, a senior central bank official said.

Google's application to renew its webpage license in China is currently under review with no set deadline, a government official said on Wednesday.

ICBC, the world's most valuable lender, may raise up to 45 billion yuan ($6.6 billion) through rights offers, becoming the latest Chinese bank to go to markets to replenish its capital, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Samsung Electronics, the world's No.1 memory chip maker, said it was on course to report a record quarterly profit, powered by robust sales of memory chips and flat screens in a strong consumer electronics market.

Samsung Electronics, the world's No.1 memory chip maker, said it was on course to report a better-than-expected record quarterly profit, but second-half growth may falter as the euro zone crisis weakens handsets.

Samsung Electronics, the world's No.1 memory chip maker, said it was on course to report a record quarterly profit, powered by robust sales of memory chips and flat screens in a strong consumer electronics market.

Netflix Inc has struck a deal with Relativity Media LLC to screen its movies ahead of pay-TV channels for the first time, putting it in competition with the likes of Time Warner's HBO or Showtime.