AP - Wall Street ended an erratic day with a modest gain after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and issued a mixed assessment of the economy.

Reuters - Stocks rose on Wednesday, as the price of oil declined, while the Federal Reserve held its key interest rate steady and reduced expectations for a rate hike at its next meeting.

Reuters - U.S. durable goods orders held steady last month, but sales of new single-family homes fell, government data showed on Wednesday, highlighting a weak economy as the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged.

Reuters - Oil fell more than $2 on Wednesday after U.S. weekly data showed crude inventories in the world's top consumer rising as high fuel prices continued to erode demand.

Reuters - High gas prices are driving strangers into each others' cars in San Francisco.

AFP - A government survey Wednesday showed sales of new homes tumbled 2.5 percent across the United States in May amid unsettled economic times, as Federal Reserve policymakers opted to keep interest rates on hold.

AP - The holiday shopping season is still months away, but already a growing number of economists are predicting that it could even be worse than last year — which is to say, disastrous.

AP - Sales of new homes tumbled for the sixth time in seven months in May while median prices kept plunging, underscoring the depth of the nation's housing woes.

AP - The Federal Reserve's aggressive period of cutting interest rates to keep the country from falling into a recession is over. That point is in general agreement. The trouble starts when you try to figure out what period the Fed has now entered.

Reuters - Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said industrywide sales in the United States could fall well below 15 million vehicles this year as high gas prices and a sluggish economy sap demand, and warned of another push by steelmakers to hike prices.

AFP - Oil prices dived on Wednesday after official data revealed an unexpected rise for crude stockpiles in the United States, the world's biggest energy consumer, traders said.