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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.

Shares of Pinnacle Foods Inc (PF.N), owner of the Birds Eye and Duncan Hines brands, rose 13.7 percent in their New York Stock Exchange debut on Thursday. The stock was trading at $22.73 after the company backed by Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) raised $580 million in its initial public offering.

U.S. stocks fell as an unprecedented Cyprus bank-deposit tax sparked renewed fears about Europe's debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average has reached another milestone, recording its longest winning streak since 1996. The index rose for the 10th time in a row Wednesday, gaining 83 points to close at 14,539, an increase of 0.6 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average, an index of 30 U.S. stocks and a gauge of financial markets, closed at a record high of 14,253 on Tuesday. The Dow has more than doubled since hitting a 12-year low in March 2009....

Despite everything, the stock market is back at a record high. The Dow Jones industrial average, which measures the performance of 30 blue-chip companies, rose more than 140 points in afternoon trading on Tuesday, surpassing its previous record close of 14,164.53, which it achieved nearly five and a half years ago, as well as its record intraday high, set around the same time, of 14,198.10.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says stock prices have gotten a boost from low interest rates caused by the Federal Reserve's stimulus efforts.

Stocks had their worst drop in more than three months as the prospect of political paralysis in Italy raised the specter of Europe's debt crisis flaring up again. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 216.40 points, or 1.6 percent, to 13,784.17, its biggest drop since Nov. 7. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 27.75 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,487.85, dropping below 1,500 for the first time in three weeks. The Nasdaq composite dropped 45.57 points, or 1.4 percent, to 3,116.25.

Talk of more merger and acquisitions is sending stock prices slightly higher in early trading, setting the market up to continue a seven-week rally.

The Dow and S&P 500 gained to finish at five-year highs in choppy trading Tuesday, ahead of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address later this evening.