INVESTMENT

Anheuser-Busch InBev said it agreed to sell its South Korean Oriental Brewery to private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co for $1.8 billion, allowing the world's largest brewer to repay debt.

British bank Barclays Plc said first-quarter profit rose 15 percent as strong growth at its investment banking arm made up for a big jump in bad debts as economies worsen, sending its shares to a seven-month high.

Societe Generale slumped to a surprise loss in the first quarter as higher-than-expected writedowns and provisions hit the bank's earnings.

Barclays Plc said its first quarter profit rose 15 percent from a year ago as strong growth at its investment bank arm made up for a big jump in bad debts.

Societe Generale slumped to a surprise loss in the first quarter as higher-than-expected writedowns and provisions hit the bank's earnings.

Asian shares extended their rally Thursday as encouraging signs about the health of U.S. banks and the global economy bolstered riskier assets such as oil and hurt safe-havens such as the yen.

Regulators are ordering some of the largest U.S. banks to find tens of billions of dollars of capital to cushion themselves in the event of a deep economic downturn.

Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis on top federal officials will be asked by a Congressional panel to testify next month about his claims that the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve pressured him to close deal to acquire Merrill Lynch, a person familiar with the investigation told the Wall Street Journal.

Some of the U.S. banking giants have been ordered to find additional capital by regulators to protect themselves in the event of a severe economic downturn.

Regulators are ordering some of the largest U.S. banks to find tens of billions of dollars of capital to cushion themselves in the event of a deep economic downturn.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after a private-sector reading on the labor market signaled unemployment may be receding and leaked bank stress test results suggested most banks are healthier than previously thought.

Picking over the carcasses of bankrupt companies is tempting for private equity firms, but the more traditional buyout shops are showing caution bidding on assets entangled in the courts, experts say.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after a private sector reading on the labor market signaled unemployment may be receding and leaked bank stress test results suggested most banks are healthier than thought.

The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Wednesday, led by bank shares, after media reports suggesting some major banks, including JP Morgan Chase & Co , won't have to raise capital under government stress tests.

More than twenty of the largest subprime mortgage lenders relied on financing from U.S. banks that are now relying on billions of dollars in rescue funds, a report release on Wednesday concludes.

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.

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.

Regulators have told Bank of America Corp it needs $34 billion of capital to withstand a deep economic downturn, an industry source familiar with results of a government stress test said late on Tuesday.

Wall Street was poised for a higher open on Wednesday as encouraging signs about the job market offset renewed concern about the health of banks after a source told Reuters stress tests show Bank of America has a $34 billion capital shortfall.

Solar, like much of the cleantech industry, should prove a profitable bet for investors over the next decade as demand grows and costs fall, a top cleantech strategist said on Wednesday.

Stock index futures turned positive on Wednesday after better-than-expected data on private-sector employment.