IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks rallied on Wednesday as investors rushed back into beaten-down stocks, led by energy, which bore the brunt of the sell-off a day earlier.

Millions of consumers have downloaded a Skype Web telephony application that launched Sunday, allowing users of Apple Inc iPhone to use privately held Skype's service over the cellular network for the first time, a Skype mobile executive said on Wednesday.

The easy access to voice mail that AT&T and T-Mobile offer their mobile phone subscribers when abroad infringes patents held by a Swiss company, a lawsuit filed in federal court in Delaware says.

The yen dropped on Wednesday as the resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama raised concerns about the outlook for the currency, given that his likely successor has said in the past he wanted a weaker yen.

Nearly 5 million consumers have downloaded a Skype Web telephony application that launched Sunday, allowing users of Apple Inc's iPhone to use privately held Skype's service over the cellular network for the first time, Skype said on Wednesday.

Superfast quantum computing, one of the holy grails of science, could be a step closer following the invention of a new device capable of producing so-called entangled light on demand.

If you're losing sleep over the stock market, you're not alone. Volatility has gone through the roof, while prices have gone the other way.

AT&T Inc will stop offering an unlimited pricing plan for new subscribers to its mobile data services, in a move it says will cut prices for as many as 98 percent of its customers.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as investors grabbed shares beaten down in the previous session's sell-off and data showed pending home sales rose more than expected.

U.S. pending home sales hit a six-month high in April but falling demand for home loans pointed to ebbing activity in the vital housing market due to the expiration of a popular tax credit for buyers.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett distanced himself from embattled credit rating agencies, saying they have lost some of their investment appeal amid criticism of their role in fueling the financial crisis.

Ford Motor Co is set to announce on Wednesday plans to eliminate its Mercury brand, whose sales and investment have plunged in recent years, a source briefed on the matter said.

Target Corp affirmed on Wednesday it would begin selling Amazon.com Inc's Kindle e-reader in all its stores starting on Sunday, making it the first brick-and-mortar retailer to carry the top-selling reading device.

A key Swiss parliamentary committee recommended on Wednesday parliament back a Swiss-U.S. deal to end a tax row over bank UBS , increasing the chances the deal will get through.

Here are developments in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the largest in U.S. history:

Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau offered to pay up to $1.7 billion to take full ownership of its North American unit, looking to reduce borrowing costs and increase efficiency.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan are the lead candidates for senior manager underwriting roles on the General Motors initial public offering, according to Fox Business Network's Charlie Gasparino.

Saab will decide within the next few months whether to build a small car to compete with similarly sized premium models from Audi and BMW, said the chief of Dutch carmaker Spyker, which bought the Swedish company this year.

It's all about the bucks, kid. The rest is conversation. That's how I imagine Gordon Gekko- the infamous character who delivered the trademark line Greed is good. in Oliver Stone's 1987 blockbuster Wall Street-would teach business strategy.

BP Plc hit a snag in its latest effort to curb the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as the British energy giant's shares stabilized on Wednesday and parts of the huge oil slick threatened Florida.

Some former officials at Moody's said they felt intimidation from bosses to assign rosy ratings to risky debt products, according to testimony to a government panel probing the causes of the financial crisis.

Faithful followers of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez commonly defend any failures of his more than a decade in power by saying he must have been unknowingly misled by ministers and sycophants.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as investors grabbed shares beaten down in Tuesday's sell-off and data showed pending home sales rose more than expected.

Jan Ake Jonsson, chief executive officer of loss-making Saab Automobile, is one of the main candidates for the top job at Volvo Cars.

French carmaker Renault and its Japanese Partner Nissan should together become the world's third-biggest car manufacturer this year, Renault Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told the Financial Times.

Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday its U.S. sales rose 22 percent in May for all of its brands from a year earlier and increased its second-quarter North American production plan by 15,000 vehicles.

Germany's new car market shrank for a sixth consecutive month as demand slumps following the end of government incentives.

Pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes hit a six-month high in April, as prospective home owners took advantage of a popular homebuyer tax credit, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett distanced himself from embattled credit rating agencies, saying they have lost some of their appeal as an investment amid criticism over their role in propelling the financial crisis.