| | Surprised and upset by this week's U.S. blacklisting of Chinese companies, Beijing has lowered expectations for significant progress from this week's trade talks with the United States, Chinese government officials, diplomats, and investors told Reuters. | |
| Tech stocks led Wall Street into the black on Wednesday, capping a three-day losing streak as a report that China was open to a partial deal heartened investors ahead of high-level trade negotiations. | |
| U.S. job openings fell to a 1-1/2-year low in August and hiring declined, suggesting employment growth was slowing largely because of ebbing demand for labor as the economy loses momentum. | |
| Stocks gained on Wednesday on a report that China could yet agree to a partial trade deal with the United States despite recent tensions, while the prospect of a last-minute Brexit agreement between the European Union and Britain seemed as remote as ever. | |
| Johnson & Johnson shares were off more than 2% on Wednesday, a day after a U.S. jury said it must pay $8 billion in punitive damages to a plaintiff in a case involving its anti-psychotic drug Risperdal, a penalty the company and others are confident will not stand. | |
| Oil prices edged up on Wednesday as Turkey launched an offensive in Syria that could disrupt crude production in the region and on hopes of progress in ending the U.S.-China trade war, but a build in U.S. crude inventories limited gains. | |
| AT&T Inc said on Wednesday it would sell its wireless and wireline operations in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands to Liberty Latin America Ltd for $1.95 billion, as the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier cuts its huge debt pile. | |
| U.S. oilfield services firm Halliburton on Wednesday said it was cutting 650 jobs across Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and North Dakota amid slowing oil and gas activity. | |
| Southwest Airlines Co said Wednesday it found cracks on two Boeing 737 NG airplanes and removed them from service after U.S. regulators last week ordered urgent inspections. | |
| Exxon Mobil Corp has appointed Bank of America Merrill Lynch to run the sale of its Malaysian oil and gas assets as the U.S. firm accelerates a vast disposal program, banking and industry sources said. | |
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