IBT Staff Reporter

Chemspec International Ltd shares rose nearly 11 percent in their debut trading session on Wednesday following the Chinese specialty chemical maker's initial public offering.

The family of Chemoil Energy founder Robert Chandran is in talks to sell its 51 percent interest in the marine fuel supplier, with trading giant Glencore the frontrunner for a stake worth $240 million, sources familiar with the deal said on Wednesday.

South Korea's KB Financial Group expects to complete a $2 billion rights offer by early September, CEO Hwang Young-key told Reuters on Wednesday, giving it the muscle to possibly buy Korea Exchange Bank or non-banking financial services companies.

In a new twist to an already bizarre episode, South Carolina's lieutenant governor said Monday night that neither he nor Gov. Mark Sanford's staff know where the governor is and that Sanford's office refused his demand to talk to his fellow Republican.

PepsiCo Inc plan an alliance with Japan's Calbee Foods Co to make and sell food items such as potato chips and prawn crackers in Japan, Pepsi said on Wednesday.

Oil dipped below $69 a barrel on Wednesday, falling back after U.S. industry data showed gasoline reservoirs swelled unexpectedly, despite growing geopolitical troubles in some OPEC member countries.

CITIC 1616 Holdings Ltd is seeking to buy international direct dialing (IDD) and mobile value-added service assets in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of 2009, a senior executive said on Wednesday.

Monsanto Co , the world's biggest seed company, posted a 14 percent drop in quarterly earnings on Wednesday and said it planned a restructuring that would cut about 900 employees and separate its declining herbicide business.

American International Group Inc's plans to sell its broker-dealer business, AIG Advisor Group, are facing hurdles, the New York Post said.

U.S. travel over the Independence Day holiday weekend will drop 1.9 percent this year compared to 2008, a casualty of higher fuel prices and economic worries, travel and auto group AAA projected on Wednesday.

Mining group Xstrata put more pressure on takeover target Anglo American Plc to come to the negotiating table on Wednesday by releasing details of its proposal, including cost savings of $1 billion.

Goldfinger is back in the market and has a new focus -- Asia.

SouFun, China's top real estate website, is eyeing an initial public offering next year in Hong Kong or the United States if the global economy recovers, Chairman Vincent Mo said on Wednesday.

Intel Corp announced a technology partnership with Nokia that could potentially give the chip maker the breakthrough it has been looking for into the mobile market.

China's Sinopec Group agreed to buy Addax Petroleum Corp for about C$8.27 billion ($7.24 billion) in a bid to gain access to the Swiss oil and gas explorer's high potential oil blocks in West Africa and the Taq Taq field in Iraq.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp, Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co insurer T&D Holdings Inc are the remaining three contenders to buy Citigroup's Japanese asset management unit, the Nikkei business daily reported.

The Federal Reserve is expected to emphasize the U.S. economy's fragile state in a policy statement on Wednesday as it talks down expectations for a rate hike this year and holds fire on expanding asset purchases.

U.S. mortgage applications climbed last week from a seven-month low, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday, adding to emerging signs that the three-year housing market collapse may be abating.

General Motors Corp will do the

Wall Street was set for a higher open on Wednesday after data showed surprisingly strong May durable goods orders and ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting later in the day.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday resumed a two-day meeting that was expected to end with a statement emphasizing the U.S. economy's fragile state, an effort to dissuade financial markets from expecting an increase in interest rates this year.

Budget hotel chain Red Roof Inn Inc. has defaulted on $361.4 million of mortgage debt, credit rating agency, Realpoint LLC, said on Tuesday.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared on Wednesday that a disputed election result would stand, despite street protests that Iranian officials say Britain and the United States have incited.

The Australian Dollar opens higher on Wednesday at 0.7935 after a renewed bout of greenback weakness overnight as concerns swept offshore markets that the US Federal Reserve may hose down expectations of an interest rate increase this year in an attempt to lower borrowing costs.

Commodity index traders had snapped up more than 200,000 wheat contracts by mid-2008 that helped fuel last year's record jump in prices, which ended up raising costs for both industry and consumers, according to a year-long bipartisan Senate probe.

Citigroup Inc intends to raise employees' base salaries by as much as 50 percent this year to offset smaller annual bonuses, the New York Times said, citing people with direct knowledge of the plan.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wednesday with the Federal Reserve expected to soothe recent concerns that it could hike interest rates later this year as the economy shows signs of stabilizing.

Bangladesh's High Court has ordered the closure of all tanneries and factories across the country if they fail to install effluent treatment plants by 2010 to halt massive pollution of the environment.

Oil dropped to under $69 a barrel on Wednesday, falling back after U.S. industry data showed gasoline reservoirs swelled unexpectedly.