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Asian stock markets rose Wednesday, boosted by healthy earnings reports from U.S. companies.
Crude oil climbed above $98 while the dollar weakened slightly against the euro and yen.
Investors took heart after big U.S. companies such as Coca-Cola Co., IBM and Apple reported better quarterly earnings. Coca-Cola said income rose 18 percent on strong overseas sales while […]

When the sun goes down, Randy Burkett’s work shines.
He is the person behind the exterior lighting at the Chase Park Plaza, the Old Post Office, the Renaissance Grand Hotel, the Gateway Arch and other prominent locations, including Citygarden.
St. Louis projects make up about half the work that comes out of Randy Burkett Lighting Design’s second-floor […]

A European Union trade official says the EU wants its ambitious free trade agreement with South Korea to serve as the model for other deals it is pursuing in Asia.
Ignacio Garcia Bercero said Monday that the pact with South Korea will eliminate 98.7 percent of duties on bilateral trade within five years.
Garcia Bercero said, “The […]

For the first time this year, the economy slowed in several U.S. regions this spring. High gas prices weakened consumer spending, and the Japan crises reduced manufacturing output.
Four of the Federal Reserve’s 12 bank regions suffered slower growth in April and May compared with earlier this year, a Fed survey reported Wednesday. The report confirmed […]

Luxco Inc., a St. Louis based marketer of wines and spirits, announced Friday that it has sold the worldwide rights to the Admiral Nelson’s family of rums to Heaven Hill Distilleries Inc., the nation’s largest family owned and operated distilled spirits company. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
Luxco said that the Admiral Nelson brand is the industry’s […]

Natural disasters in Australia probably cut more than 1 percentage point from economic growth in the first quarter, Treasurer Wayne Swan said ahead of a government report this week on gross domestic product.
The June 1 report from the Bureau of Statistics likely will show a “dramatic hit” from floods and a cyclone in Queensland […]

Rising prices for oil and other commodities prices pushed stocks up slightly in early afternoon trading Wednesday, but mixed earnings reports from retailers tempered the gains. The Dow Jones industrial average is still down 2.3 percent for the month.
The Dow rose 32 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,512. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose […]

The head of cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc. told a cancer nurse Wednesday that while cigarettes are harmful and addictive, it is not that hard to quit.
CEO Louis C. Camilleri’s statement was in response to comments at its annual shareholder meeting in New York. Executives from the seller of Marlboro and other brands overseas […]

Global demand for U.S. stocks, bonds and other financial assets fell in January from a month earlier on declines in purchases of U.S. Treasury securities, according to the government’s international capital data.
Net buying of long-term equities, notes and bonds totaled $51.5 billion during January compared with net buying of $62.5 billion in December, according […]

Kellwood hasn’t been the sort of company you would expect to make a splash on the runways at New York Fashion Week.
After all, for most of its history, the Town and Country-based apparel company has been more accustomed to making private-label clothes for Walmart and moderate-priced brands such as Sag Harbor and Koret.
And yet, last […]