IBT Staff Reporter

Intel Corp beat quarterly expectations and declared the worst was over for a battered tech sector, but its shares slid 5 percent after it said economic uncertainty ruled out a clear revenue forecast.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of U.S. CPI and housing data.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of U.S. CPI and housing data.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of U.S. CPI and housing data.

Rio Tinto Ltd/Plc's first-quarter aluminum output fell a steeper-than- expected 6 percent and iron ore production fell 15 percent as the firm struggled to balance supply with weak global demand.

Credit Suisse plans to set up its second back office in India by September and hire 350 staff by 2010 as it aims to reduce costs, the Swiss bank said on Wednesday.

Fiat SpA's chief executive, facing a two-week deadline to work out a partnership with Chrysler LLC, warned the troubled U.S. carmaker's unions he would ditch the idea unless they agreed to cut labor costs.

World stocks fell on Wednesday, stepping back from the previous session's three-month high, and the low-yielding yen firmed as news of job cuts at Swiss bank UBS and weak U.S. and Chinese data fanned economic concerns. UBS warned of a first-quarter loss of nearly 2 billion Swiss francs and said it would cut a further 8,700 jobs, weighing on other banking shares.

Adding to the spate of departures at Merrill Lynch, some senior bankers covering healthcare companies are leaving the bank, which was acquired by Bank of America Corp , to join a boutique investment bank in New York, the Wall Street Journal said.

Air France-KLM , Europe's biggest airline, aims to cut between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs in the next two financial years, a spokeswoman for the carrier said on Wednesday.

Fiat's chief executive said he was ready to abandon plans to form a partnership with Chrysler LLC if the U.S. car maker's unions refused to accept substantial cost cuts, according to a newspaper.

Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, is seeking opportunities to buy assets of Citigroup and others tied to a $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program in the United States, Bloomberg reported.

Asian stocks pulled back from six-month highs on Wednesday but held up after the drop on Wall Street overnight, with hopes for more Chinese stimulus spending helping offset reports of weak first-quarter growth.

UBS made a first-quarter loss and will cut another 11 percent of staff, its new chief executive said on Wednesday, warning that Switzerland's largest bank still faces an uncertain future.

Rio Tinto Ltd/Plc's first-quarter aluminum output fell 6 percent, mostly due to curtailments in Europe, as the world's biggest producer attempted to better balance supply with sinking global demand from industrial sectors, the company said on Wednesday.

Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz on Wednesday reported a bigger than expected 3 percent year-on-year fall in sales at established stories in March.

The Obama administration is drawing up plans to disclose the financial condition of the 19 biggest banks in the country, the New York Times said, citing senior administration officials.

Blackrock Inc will raise between $5 billion and $7 billion in toxic assets from U.S. financial institutions through a planned government program.

U.S. representative Ed Towns of New York has contacted insurance giant American International Group to express concern about bailout funds being used to fight back against critics of the firm.

A new survey shows that more chief executives received pay raises than pay cuts in 2008.

Federal Reserve Bank officials are considering whether to hold regular news conferences, people familiar with the matter tell the Wall Street Journal.

Officials at the Federal Reserve have discussed holding regular press briefings to help improve public understanding of unusual actions by the Fed in times of crisis, a Fed official said on Tuesday.

Officials at the Federal Reserve have discussed holding regular press briefings to help improve public understanding of unusual actions by the Fed in times of crisis, a Fed official said on Tuesday.

Microsoft Corp said it will launch a test version of its Exchange Server on Wednesday, marking the latest development in the technology used by 65 percent of businesses worldwide to run their e-mail systems.

Meet the new Goldman Sachs, trying to be the same as the old Goldman Sachs.

Officials at the Federal Reserve have discussed holding regular press briefings to help improve public understanding of unusual actions by the Fed in times of crisis, a Fed official said on Tuesday.

AT&T Inc is in talks with Apple Inc to extend its exclusive U.S. agreement to sell the iPhone from 2010 to 2011, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Yahoo Inc is preparing to lay off several hundred workers in the first round of cuts since Carol Bartz became chief executive in January, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.