India's Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (532286.BY) is in advanced negotiations to acquire Canada's CIC Energy Corp. (ELC.T), CIC said Wednesday.

Front-month crude oil futures jumped back in positive territory Wednesday morning after initially slipping into the red following the release of U.S. Energy Information Administration inventory data.

An unexpected drop in U.K. unemployment boosted the stock market Wednesday, while the Bank of England voted in favor of the Funding for Lending Scheme.

TAKING THE PULSE: Some of the same trends that have impeded U.S. homeownership since the recession--including a shaky recovery and skepticism about the market--have fed demand for rental housing.

Thai Beverage PCL (Y92.SG) said Wednesday it has entered into agreement to buy about a 22% stake in Singapore-listed beverage groups Fraser & Neave Ltd. (FRVHF, F99.SG, 3689.KU) for 2.78 billion Singapore dollars (US$2.21 billion).

Ally Financial Inc., the government-owned auto lender, will pay $201 million in dividends on preferred stock, including $134 million to the U.S. Treasury Department.

AT&T is introducing a new type of family plan option that comes with as much as a four-fold increase in its fees for data services.

BlackRock logged an 11% decline in second-quarter earnings as the world’s largest money manager suffered from market-driven declines and shrinking performance fees.

of ZAWYA DOW JONES DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--The central bank of the United Arab Emirates is looking for an international bank to replace Barclays PLC (BCS) on the 12-lender panel that sets benchmark interbank interest rates in the country, but may face difficulties in finding a suitable candidate,

The risk of another wave of global food price inflation is growing fast, Barclays plc (BCS) said Wednesday, as U.S. grains and soybeans prices trade within touching distance of all-time highs, due to the nation's worst drought in 56 years, which is massively reducing harvest expectations.