AFP - London shares dipped on Wednesday, amid renewed jitters about the health of the world's top banks and slowing economic growth.

Reuters - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index climbed 1 percent on Wednesday as resource shares bounded higher with commodity prices, eclipsing declines in financial and consumer stocks.

Reuters - U.S. stocks slid on Wednesday as financial shares sold off for a second straight day on fresh concerns about the widening impact of the mortgage crisis on the U.S. economy's outlook.

AFP - US regulators and ten stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), have forged a new alliance to clamp down on illegal insider trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday.

AP - Wall Street fell for a second session Wednesday after a government report on retail sales and a jump in oil prices raised investors' concerns about consumers' ability to spend and feed economic growth. Stocks pared their steepest losses as some traders turned to sectors such as technology.

Reuters - U.S. and state regulators are close to reaching a settlement with multiple banks accused of selling auction-rate securities under false pretenses that would force them to repurchase billions of dollars of the now-illiquid securities at face value, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Reuters - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, as bank shares tumbled on fresh worries about the economy and further losses stemming from the mortgage crisis.

AFP - US stocks closed lower Tuesday as several major banks unveiled fresh losses reminding investors that an already lengthy credit crunch is still biting financial firms balance sheets.

Reuters - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index closed lower on Tuesday as financial shares fell on worries over more losses related to the credit crunch, offsetting a rebound by gold producers.

AP - Wall Street skidded lower Tuesday as downbeat news from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other financial companies lifted the market's anxiety about the continuing impact of the credit crisis on the economy. The Dow Jones industrials fell nearly 140 points.

AP - A government order expires Tuesday that temporarily banned a certain kind of short-selling of the stocks of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and 17 large investment banks.

AFP - Europe's major stock markets fell on Tuesday as the European single currency slid to a near six-month low point against the dollar and oil prices extended their losses.