Oil prices rose for the third day and topped $71 a barrel on Wednesday, as an industry report showing a small drawdown in U.S. crude stockpiles last week fed optimism for a recovery in energy demand. A second day of gains for Asian shares on growing confidence in a strengthening global recovery gave oil prices

European shares edged higher in early trade on Wednesday, building on a major gain in the previous session, with miners among the biggest risers. At 0838 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 995.15 points. Miners extended gains from Tuesday, as gold prices held near record levels, above

* U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminium group Alcoa the first in line. * By 0815 GMT, the futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the

Britain's top share index was flat early on Wednesday as investors paused for breath after the previous session's sharp rise, with gains in miners offsetting weak energy stocks and ahead of the U.S. third-quarter earnings season. By 0807 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.74 points at 5,138.72, having closed 2.3 percent higher on Tuesday

Amazon.com Inc is introducing Kindle, its wireless electronic reader, for over 100 countries, including China and most of Europe, intensifying a battle for the burgeoning digital book market. The move, announced on Tuesday, gives the world's largest online retailer the widest global reach among its competitors, including chief rival Sony Corp. The Kindle will sell

Gold slipped slightly from its all time high on Wednesday as the dollar steadied, while global stocks rose for the third day in a row. Investors also continued their scramble for yield, lifting the Australian dollar to 14-month highs on the prospects for higher interest rates after Tuesday's tightening. Gold trimmed some gains but hovered

Japans Nikkei average rose 1.1 percent on Wednesday, with shares of steel and metals companies rising in the wake of a jump in commodity prices, while banks climbed on continued optimism about the U.S. financial sector. A rate hike the previous day from Australia, the first G20 country to raise interest rates since the onset

U.S. labor and manufacturing groups urged President Barack Obama on Tuesday to live up to his campaign rhetoric and formally label China a currency manipulator in a Treasury Department report due out next week. But Nicholas Lardy, a China economic policy watcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said he'd be "shocked" if Obama