Wall Street was higher at the open on Monday and the Nasdaq inched closer to its record intraday high ahead of Apple's (AAPL.O) results after the close.
Investors
European shares follow Asia lower, dollar weak before Fed
Stocks fell in Europe on Wednesday, following Asian stocks lower, while the dollar held near two-month lows before a Federal Reserve policy statement expected to show the U.S. central bank in no hurry to raise interest rates.
Goldman sees $1 trillion lift in 2015 via U.S. stock buybacks, dividends
Investors will rake in more than $1 trillion in 2015 as U.S. companies increase stock buybacks and boost dividends, Goldman Sachs Group Inc said, with benefits coming soon as many S&P 500 companies exit a blackout period for repurchases next week.
Dow, S&P 500 end up with Merck, IBM; Nasdaq slips with Apple
The Dow and S&P 500 ended a volatile session higher on Tuesday, helped by strong earnings from Merck and gains in IBM after it boosted its dividend, while the Nasdaq fell with Apple.
Half of investors expect Greece to leave euro zone within 12 months: Sentix
Around half of investors expect Greece to leave the euro zone within the next 12 months, a survey by German research group Sentix showed on Tuesday.
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World shares hit a new high on Monday, led by China, though the global rally faded in Europe as investors looked ahead to central bank meetings in the United States and worried over Greece.
China will likely cut the number of its central government-owned conglomerates to 40 through massive mergers, as Beijing pushes forward a sweeping plan to overhaul the country's underperforming state sector, state media reported on Monday.
The dollar steadied in the lower half of an increasingly intransigent range on Monday, after sliding late last week following another round of disappointing U.S. economic data.
Healthcare companies on a seven-year tear have been top performers so far in 2015, helping to push broad stock indexes to record levels, but traders are now looking to protect themselves from a selloff as they await major earnings reports in the sector.
UBS's (UBSG.VX) chairman said a default by Greece is seen by the International Monetary Fund as "systemically controllable" and he believed it would have a negligible impact on the Swiss bank itself, according to a newspaper interview published on Saturday.
Canon Inc (7751.T) said on Friday it owned 84 percent of the shares in Swedish video-surveillance firm Axis AB (AXIS.ST), and said it was extending the period for other shareholders to accept but would not raise its offer price of 340 Swedish crowns per share.
The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 chalked up record high closes on Friday, propelled by strong results from tech behemoths Google, Amazon and Microsoft.
Emerging Asian central banks are expected to cut interest rates again in the coming months, but economists polled by Reuters are doubtful the moves will significantly boost growth or inflation.
The euro hit a two-week high against a soft dollar on Friday, supported by a rise in a key German business sentiment survey and hopes that cash-strapped Greece was making tentative progress toward securing fresh funding.
