News Viewer

Asian stocks were mostly lower Friday on Wall Street's weakness on Thursday, with strong earnings-driven gains for Sony and Nissan Motor unable to prop up the Tokyo market. "Asian markets are a bit weaker and we've had some pretty negative industrial production data from... Full Story

Canadian stocks rise, receiving support from financials and materials stocks, after seesawing for much of the session. Full Story

Google Inc. says users are now able to access its China-based services, adding that its system for monitoring its sites in the Asian country may have overstated the recent level of blockage. Full Story

SEOUL (MarketWatch) -- Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) said Friday its second-quarter net profit surged 83% from a year earlier to a record high as robust demand for chips and flat-screen displays offset the weak performance of its handsets business, which was weighed... Full Story

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian shares lost ground early Friday, with financials lower after overnight Wall Street losses and a profit warning from Macquarie Group Ltd. weighed on the sector. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to 4,498.6, with Macquarie Group... Full Story

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese shares came under early selling pressure Friday, reacting to overnight U.S. losses and some weak data locally, with the Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1% to 9,600.6, and the broader Topix down 0.9% at 853.6. Before the market open... Full Story

A series of Japanese data contain good and bad news, with worse unemployment and industrial output than expected, but surprisingly strong household spending, and deflation roughly in line with forecasts. Full Story

The safe-haven appeal of German government bonds has faded, but it’s not likely to disappear. Full Story

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.3% in June, up from 5.2% in May, the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday. A Reuters survey of economists had tipped the rate to hit 5.2%, while a Dow... Full Story

While Steve Ballmer may have said that no one at the software giant is “sleeping at the switch” when it comes to the emerging tablet, it still appears the company is slow on the uptake. Full Story

July 29, 2010, 7:24 p.m. EST

Is gold's rally over? Precious-metals mutual funds lost almost 9% in July as concerns about global economic woes eased, Money & Investing Editor Jonathan Burton reports in This Week in Mutual Funds. Full Story

Is there still a case for gold? Yes, but only if you believe that governments will have to pump more stimulus into the global economy at the expense of national currencies. Read about this and more in this week's Mutual Funds and ETF stories. Full Story

Amgen reports slightly lower earnings, due to various charges and decreased sales of two of its leading products, Enbrel and Aranesp. Full Story

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- A measure of British consumer confidence fell for a fifth consecutive month in July, research firm GfK NOP reported Friday. The consumer confidence index fell three points to -22. "Given that consumer confidence measures are normally good... Full Story

(Updates with background on Google's operations in China beginning in fourth paragraph) Google Inc. GOOG said Thursday its Internet search engine and advertising platform had been fully blocked in China, while several other services were partially inaccessible. Google... Full Story

BEIJING (MarketWatch) -- China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday it approved Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.'s purchase of Ford Motor Co.'s (F) Volvo car unit, clearing the way for a Chinese company to gain control of a major global car brand for the first time. Full Story

NEW DELHI (MarketWatch) -- Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM), which makes the BlackBerry smartphone, has assured to soon address India's security concerns over the company's mobile email services, the Press Trust of India reported Thursday, citing a senior home ministry... Full Story

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer stresses to Wall Street analysts that the development of tablet computers outfitted with the company's software is "one of the top issues on my mind." Full Story

Almost half of large U.S. companies say they now use, or they plan to use, financial penalties against employees who don’t participate in certain health programs, according to survey cited by MarketWatch contributor Marla Brill in her story today. Full Story

Kiosk-operator Coinstar Inc., wafer maker MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. tumble in after-hours trading following the release of quarterly earnings. Google Inc. shares are pressured by reports of possible censorship in China. Full Story

(Rewrites lead and updates with additional context on the trades in 4th-6th paragraphs.) NYSE Euronext's NYX NYSE Amex let trades stand Thursday that had briefly halted Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO after a review showed the trades were not erroneous. The trades that had been... Full Story

A roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters. Full Story

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Google Inc. on Thursday said the company's search and ads services in China have been fully blocked, according to the Internet giant's Web site. Google said its images and news services in the Asian country have been partially blocked... Full Story

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Coinstar Inc. fell sharply in after-hours trading Thursday after the company reported second-quarter revenue that fell short of Wall Street's estimate. Shares sunk 9.6% to $43.50. Coinstar said late Thursday that its second... Full Story

The Justice Department alleges that the corporate-software giant defrauded the government in connection with a major contract. Full Story

The government will release data Friday that will shed light on whether the economy is on a path for sustainable growth, or may be in danger of slumping into a double-dip recession. Full Story

BP is in talks to sell its stakes in oil projects in Venezuela to its Russian joint venture TNK-BP, part of a $30 billion asset disposal program designed to help it meet... Full Story

Louisiana plaintiffs' attorneys appealed to a federal judicial panel to send the oil-spill litigation to a judge in New Orleans, while roughly 250 other attorneys showed up... Full Story

Motorola reported higher profit and stabilized its long revenue decline, as the company's wager on smart-phones running Google's software began to pay off. Full Story

Massachusetts legislators were locked in negotiations over casino gambling legislation. But the talks centered not on whether to have gambling, but rather on what kind. Full Story

House and Senate leaders, deadlocked over an FAA bill including plans for air-traffic control improvements, have compromised on a slimmed-down measure to enhance airliner... Full Story

Small-capitalization stocks edged down as weak guidance and high-profile earnings disappointments from utilities and consumer companies added to anxiety over the economic... Full Story

Stocks fell as weaker-than-expected quarterly revenues and forecasts from Kellogg and Colgate-Palmolive pulled down other consumer-staples companies, including Kraft Foods... Full Story

CEO Steve Ballmer said Microsoft needs to do better in the market for tablet computers that Apple has found success in with the iPad. Full Story

Citigroup will pay $75 million to settle regulatory charges that it failed to disclose $40 billion in subprime exposure to investors in the second and third quarters of 2007. Full Story

Li Lu, a student leader at Tiananmen Square, founded a hedge fund that has garnered a 26% return since 1998, and is now a leading candidate to run a chunk of Berkshire's... Full Story

Oil & Natural Gas Corp.'s quarterly profit fell 24% as India's largest oil producer was hit by discounted sales to state-run fuel retailers. Full Story

Kellogg's second-quarter profit fell 15% as the food giant was hurt by tepid cereal sales in the U.S., more price promotions and the impact from a recent recall. Full Story

Interpublic' profit surged on better-than-expected revenue as advertising demand grew in the U.S. and internationally across a range of industry sectors. Full Story

Barrick Gold's profit rose nearly 60% on higher prices and production, and the miner raised its dividend. Full Story

MetLife reversed to a better-than-expected profit in the second quarter after large investment losses the prior year, though core revenue at the biggest U.S. life insurer... Full Story

More videogame companies, angling for larger audiences for big-budget online games, are making their products free to play in the hopes they can make more money by charging... Full Story

McClatchy reported lower profit and sales for its second quarter, though its ad-revenue slump eased a bit. Full Story

Genworth Financial swung to a second-quarter profit as the company's decline in payouts outpaced a fall in revenue, but growth in core profit didn't live up to analysts... Full Story

An oil spill this week from an underground pipeline connecting the U.S. to Canada has prompted local health officials to call for the evacuation of as many as 50 homes. Full Story

Royal Dutch Shell posted a 15% rise in net profit, as oil and gas production rose 5% and cost cutting accelerated. Full Story