Microsoft Corp's billion-dollar-plus revenue shortfall in its fiscal fourth-quarter abruptly dampened hopes that demand for PCs was on the mend and sent a spate of tech stocks tumbling after-hours on Thursday.

The federal minimum wage will rise to $7.25 from $6.55 an hour Friday, an increase aimed at giving workers at carwashes, restaurants, child-care centers and retail shops more buying power but one that has sparked ...

Strong housing data combined with good earnings reports to spur a stock-market rally that pushed blue chips to a new 2009 high and the Nasdaq Composite Index to a winning streak unparalleled even in the dot-com bubble.

Ford Motor Co. returned to profitability in the second quarter and showed signs of stabilizing as the company continued to win customers from its Detroit competitors.

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Merck KGaA said second-quarter profit dropped 48 percent as sales of liquid crystals used in flat-panel electronics slumped and spending on drug research and development increased.

SEOUL, July 24 (Reuters) - Seoul shares rose on Friday helped by positive earnings from Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and Hynix Semiconductor (000660.

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co., Asia's biggest maker of chips, flat-screens and mobile phones, reported an unexpected increase in profit, helped by a recovery in demand for liquid-crystal-display televisions and handsets.

HONG KONG, July 24 (Reuters) - Hong Kong and China shares rose on Friday with bank stocks buoyed by Beijing's reiteration of an easy monetary policy regime while coal miner China Shenhua surged after starting construction on a new project.

Netflix expects to continue gaining subscribers. It forecasts 11.6 million to 12 million by the end of the year. The DVD-rental-by-mail service is benefiting from consumers' growing preference for renting rather than buying videos ...

Those who had hoped Amazon.com (AMZN) could completely avoid the problems plaguing other retailers got a reality check on July 23, when the company missed Wall Street forecasts for sales and posted its first ...

SAN FRANCISCO/SHANGHAI, July 23 (Reuters) - Chinese Internet search leader Baidu Inc (BIDU.O) expects sales to grow faster than market forecasts in the third quarter, helped by rising customer acceptance of its new ...

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. will shut a California auto-assembly plant that operated as a joint venture with General Motors Corp.

South Korea's economy recorded its strongest growth in 5 1/2 years in the second quarter as increased government spending and record low interest rates insulated it from the global recession.

By AP Bristol-Myers Squibb posted a 29 percent jump in second-quarter profit on Thursday on higher sales of several products and significant cost-cutting.

Reports from big names in tech after the bell Thursday will likely guide the week's final session. Tech shares could lead the market Friday morning after some of the industry's biggest firms reported earnings after the bell Thursday.

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- The yen strengthened against higher- yielding currencies after earnings at Microsoft Corp., American Express Co.

By AP MIAMI (AP) -- Affordable prices, low interest rates and eager first-time homebuyers led to a slight uptick in existing home sales in the South in June, the first sign of year-over-year sales growth in more than three years, the National ...

NEW YORK - McDonald's Corp. said Thursday that even though more consumers chowed down on its burgers, fries and drinks in the second quarter, the stronger dollar and a year-ago gain led profit to dip 8 percent.