Financial Market News

The price of oil fell Tuesday as investors waited for the Federal Reserve's latest views on the U.S. economy.

Two big retailers also topped Wall Street expectations for the most recent quarter.

Investors are eager to hear what he has to say about the central bank's stimulus policies, which have been a big driver of the stock rally.

Sprint Nextel Corp said its Japanese suitor SoftBank Corp granted it a waiver allowing it to consider a $25.5 billion rival bid by Dish Network Corp, as pressure mounts on SoftBank to sweeten its offer for the No.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher speaks about the concept of breaking up 'too big to fail' banks to a breakout group at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, March 16, 2013.

Australian stocks declined, and Hong Kong equities pulled back from a three-day winning run on Tuesday, weighed by overnight losses on Wall Street and uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy.

Sure, there are plenty of forces pushing stocks higher - record corporate earnings, small investors finally buying again, signs the U.S. economy may be strengthening, central banks flooding the financial system with money.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.4 percent to 15,352.84 as evidence of a steady economic recovery in the U.S. helped push Asian stock markets higher Monday.

A pair of corporate mergers failed to boost the broader market Monday as investors await comments from Federal Reserve officials later in the week.

The Russell 2000, an index of small-company stocks, rose above 1,000 for the first time.

The Russell 2000 index of small company stocks crossed 1,000 points for the first time Monday.

Silver hit a two-and-a-half-year low on Monday, prompted by heavy fund liquidation in Asian trade, while gold was on track for its longest run of losses since March 2009 weighed by speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve might rein in its economic stimulus programme.

Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank Ben Bernanke attends the Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council in Washington April 25, 2013.

A gauge of future economic activity issued Friday rose more than expected, a sign that the world's biggest economy is improving.

Japanese stocks rallied to lead Asian markets higher Monday, tracking a positive global lead after U.S. indexes notched another record finish on Friday, although South Korean shares underperformed, weighed by geopolitical concerns.

With the world's biggest central banks driving yields on safe assets to near zero, some investors are tossing caution to the wind and rushing to buy illiquid and previously overlooked bonds sold by countries with no capital markets track record.

For the fourth week in a row, the stock market climbed to fresh record highs last week on signs of improvement in the U.S. economy.

That's a trick question. I started the "club" in a whimsical moment 14 years ago.

An Italian financial expert has urged European investors to buy sovereign bonds issued by Bulgaria , claiming they are safer even than Germany's and Japan's. "True, the yield on ten-year Bulgarian government debt used to stand at about 5% a year ago, while now it has a yield a bit over 3%. Still, paradoxically, I believe that Bulgaria 's ten-year ... (more)

Public pension plans in Michigan - hammered by stock market declines in the poor economy and mismanagement in some cases - are now seeing their investment portfolios growing at the best rate in years.