Market News

The U.S. dollar slips Wednesday as investors wait to hear U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's view of the U.S. economy and what that may mean for the central bank's program to stimulate growth.

Dow component Hewlett-Packard and Target are among the high profile companies in queue to report quarterly results on Wednesday. But the scene stealer may be Saks which reportedly hired Goldman Sachs to shop around the luxury retailer.

Lionsgate (LGF) continued its International distribution partners with its lineup of films for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, achieving a Company record of more than $250 mln in sales for nine titles that included MOCKINGJAY 1 and 2, the third and fourth installments of the global blockbuster HUNGER GAMES franchise, STEP UP 5 and upcoming Lionsgate and Summit titles such as DRAFT DAY, THE LAST WI...

U.K. stocks retreat from a 13-year high on Wednesday, after minutes from the Bank of England's latest meeting show only a minority of members want to increase the bank's asset purchases.

Reports Q2 (Apr) earnings of $0.14 per share, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.08; revenues rose 38.1% year/year to $516 mln vs the $516.46 mln consensus. >Additional Metrics: The average price of homes delivered was $577,000, compared to $569,000 in FY 2013's first quarter and $557,000 in FY 2012's second quarter. Net signed contracts of $1.19 billion and 1,753 uni...

Japanese stocks end at a fresh multiyear high after the country's central bank raises its economic outlook. But Australian and Hong Kong shares reverse early gains amid caution ahead of Fed Chairman Ben Benrnake's testimony.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee earlier this month voted unanimously to keep interest rates unchanged at a record low 0.5%, while three out of the nine members voted in favor of increasing the bank's asset purchases, according to minutes of the meeting published Wednesday. Governor Mervyn King, Paul Fisher and David Miles preferred to increase the size of the asset-purchase program by 25 billion pounds ($38 billion) to a total of £400 billion. The votes were unchanged from the policy-setting meeting in April.

Gold prices edge higher as the U.S. dollar weakens in the run-up to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before Congress later in the day.

European stock markets slip from multiyear highs in downbeat action on Wednesday, as investors stay cautious ahead of comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

LONDON (MarketWatch)-- European stock markets nudged lower in early action on Wednesday, pausing after climbing to multiyear highs in the prior day's session, as investors stayed cautious ahead of comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.1% to 309.64, retreating from the highest closing level since June 2008. Shares of Kazakhmys PLC lost 3.7%, after UBS cut the miner to neutral from buy. On a more upbeat note, shares of Lagardere SCA gained 2.5%, after J.P. Morgan Cazenove lifted the stock to neutral from underweight. Among country-specific indexes, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index dropped 0.2% to 6,793.27, after climbing to its highest close since December 1999 on Tuesday. Germany's DAX 30 index lost 0.1% to 8,466.30, while France's CAC 40 index was slightly lower at 4,035.31.