Reuters - Stocks extended gains on Wednesday after factory and home sales data further spurred hopes that the economy was seeing signs of stabilization.

AP - Wall Street began the second quarter on solid footing Wednesday as better-than-expected economic reports helped the market extend a four-week rally.

AP - Wall Street ended a tumultuous March on a high note, managing its first winning month this year and its best monthly performance in nearly seven years. Stocks finished off their earlier highs on Tuesday but resumed a three-week rally that has brought the Dow Jones industrials up 16 percent since hitting new 12-year lows in early March. The Dow logged a 7.7 percent gain for the month — its biggest monthly advance since October 2002.

Reuters - Stocks climbed on Tuesday, driving the S&P 500 to its best month since October 2002, as investors snapped up top-performing bank and technology shares as the first quarter came to an end.

AP - The first quarter on Wall Street was so extreme it included a bear market and a bull market all its own — moves that sometimes take years or more. Now investors head for spring still unsure which side is in control.

AFP - London stocks fell at the start of trading on Wednesday after recent big gains, as investors switched their focus to the upcoming G20 summit in the capital.

AP - Asian stock markets rose Wednesday as investors shrugged off more gloomy signs in leading regional economies — China, Japan and South Korea — amid the deepest global slowdown in decades.

AP - Asian markets were mixed Tuesday amid low expectations for the summit of G-20 leaders and gloomy forecasts the region would continue to struggle as the global economy flounders. European markets rose in early trade.

AFP - Global stock markets recovered Tuesday as investors hunted for bargains a day after sharp losses caused by heightened concerns for the US economy and in particular its ailing auto sector.

AP - U.S. Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shared a conference table Tuesday with a senior Iranian diplomat at an international session on the future of Afghanistan, but did not react to the Iranian's call for a buildup of Afghan security.

AFP - Global stock markets recovered Tuesday as investors hunted for bargains a day after sharp losses caused by heightened concerns for the US economy and in particular its ailing auto sector.

AFP - The euro bounced back strongly against the dollar on Tuesday, taking a lead from a recovery on the stock markets after a sharp sell-off the previous day.