Nasdaq | featured news

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc agreed to buy electronic Treasuries-trading platform eSpeed from BGC Partners Inc for $750 million in cash, providing the exchange operator an entry into one of the world's largest and most liquid cash markets.

Nasdaq OMX and SharesPost will join to create a new exchange that will allow accredited investors to buy private-company shares. The move reflects the competition and new landscape these market-makers face--particularly whether interest in pre-IPO stocks will fade now that Facebook shares trade publicly.

Nasdaq OMX Group recently talked with private equity firm Carlyle Group about taking the trans-Atlantic exchange operator private, but the talks broke down because of price disagreements, according to people familiar with the matter.

President Obama will nominate Mary Jo White, a former prosecutor and one-time director of the Nasdaq stock exchange, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, a White House official said Thursday.

A weaker forecast of economic growth in Asia is sending stocks lower in early trading on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 47 points at 13,563 shortly after the opening bell Monday morning. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell seven points to 1,454 and the Nasdaq composite gave up 22 points to 3,113.

Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street after some gloomy economic data from Europe. Just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 53 points at 13,526. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down seven at 1,453, and the Nasdaq composite index is off 28 at 3,152.

UBS decried a proposal from Nasdaq to make up losses for firms damaged in the Facebook stock-market debut, joining a growing chorus of Wall Street players that are calling on regulators to reject the exchange operator's plan.

Executives at the Internet company are pinning much of the blame on Nasdaq, according to several people close to the company and its underwriters, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of continuing shareholder lawsuits. Tensions remain so high that Facebook is still considering switching exchanges and is weighing the costs of such a move, these people said.

Gloomy economic readings from three continents sent stocks skidding and spurred a bearish recommendation from Goldman Sachs, compounding losses in major benchmarks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 166 points, or 1.3%, to 12658 in afternoon trading on Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 21 points, or 1.5%, to 1334. The Nasdaq Composite ticked down 52 points, or 1.8%, to 2878, on course to snap a five-session streak of gains.

Facebook is set to file a motion to consolidate all the shareholder lawsuits against the social network site, and is expected to place some blame on the Nasdaq for its botched IPO when it files the motion, the New York Times reported Thursday.