IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks extended gains and the Nasdaq trimmed losses on Wednesday as financial shares gained a day before the release of stress test results while energy shares rose in sync with oil prices' 4 percent jump.

The European Commission Tuesday launched a new tool the eYouGuide to stimulate consumer's shopping online and give practical advice on the digital rights consumers have under EU law.

The Federal Government of Mexico has used all available tools to cope with the contingency of flu outbreak and took aggressive measures to restore economy confidence, the Finance Secretary said Tuesday at a press conference.

The Dow and S&P 500 gained on Wednesday on reassuring labor market data and Walt Disney's better-than-expected profit, while the Nasdaq dipped as investors took profits on Apple and other bellwether names.

Palm Inc said on Wednesday that Canada's Bell Mobility would start selling its upcoming Pre smartphone in the second half of this year.

Amazon on Wednesday launched a next generation Kindle, an e-reader with a large, textbook, magazine and newspaper-friendly screen called the DX.

American International Group Inc is expected to post a first-quarter net loss of about $5 billion when it reports results on Thursday, much lower than the record hit it took in the previous quarter, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Regulators have told Bank of America Corp it needs $34 billion of capital to withstand a deep economic downturn, as the U.S. government prepares to release results of industrywide stress tests.

The Mexican capital began to stir back to life on Wednesday with the streets again clogged with traffic and taco vendors working the sidewalks after authorities lifted a five-day shutdown to try to contain the deadly H1N1 flu.

Facebookers could soon receive a rather strange friend request from a new kind of “friend”, a robot.

U.S. regional airlines, ExpressJet Holdings Inc and SkyWest Inc said on Wednesday their first-quarter results were weakened by shrinking travel demand in the recession.

Planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell for a third consecutive month in April, hitting their lowest since last October and providing yet another sign that the world's largest economy may be bottoming out.

Australian Dollar: In what has been a tumultuous 24 hour period the Aussie dollar survived an Asian sell off yesterday to an intraday low of 0.7335 to bounce back in dramatic fashion during offshore trade.

Maersk Line, the world's largest container shipper, said on Wednesday it was raising freight rates from Asia to the Mediterranean and on services from Northern Europe to North Africa and the Mediterranean.

Porsche Automobil Holding SE has abandoned its target of reaching a 75 percent majority holding in Volkswagen AG, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Oil broke through $56 a barrel on Wednesday, bouncing up from early trade around $54 after separate U.S. data releases showed private sector job losses had slowed in April and crude inventories rose only slightly.

The European Parliament sent a major reform of EU telecoms rules back to the negotiating table on Wednesday due to concerns over perceived inadequate rights for Internet users.

Sweden's Pirate Party, which wants to reform copyright law, could ride a wave of discontent over tighter control of computer file-sharing all the way into the European Parliament in June.

Dutch biotech firm Crucell reported a surprise first-quarter profit on Wednesday, its third in a row, on strong sales of paediatric vaccines and the company, widely viewed as a takeover target, reiterated its outlook.

General Motors is set to resume negotiations with the United Auto Workers union this week and believes everything should be open for discussion, the company's chief executive said on Tuesday.

Ericsson, the world's biggest mobile network maker, called on Bangladesh on Wednesday to issue 3G licences so operators can launch mobile broadband services there.

The Nasdaq fell on Wednesday, weighed down by profit taking in shares of bellwether names, including Apple, but the Dow and S&P 500 were near breakeven, helped by reassuring news on the labor market and Walt Disney Co's better-than-expected profit.

Italian bank UniCredit signed a deal with conservation group WWF on Wednesday to slash its carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2020, and provide green loans to boost energy efficiency in homes and businesses.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday federal health officials have found that eight prep school students in New York have contracted swine flu, the same flu that has killed more than 80 people in Mexico and infected 1,300 more.

British oil explorer Heritage Oil (HOIL.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday it has discovered up to 4.2 billion barrels of oil in the Kurdish area of Iraq, adding to pressure on Baghdad and the autonomous region to unblock a legal impasse stalling oil projects.

A Texas woman with the new H1N1 flu died earlier this week, state health officials said, the second death outside of Mexico, where the epidemic appeared to be waning.

Ford Motor Co on Wednesday unveiled a $550 million investment to convert an SUV plant near Detroit to build a new generation of Focus small cars next year and a battery-electric Focus in 2011.

A Texan with H1N1 flu died earlier this week, state officials said, only the second death outside Mexico where the epidemic appeared to be waning.

Pakistani security forces attacked Taliban fighters on Wednesday killing at least 64 of them, the military said, after the United States called on the government to show its commitment to fighting militancy.