Company: BHP Billiton Limited

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will fast track approvals for infrastructure investment to combat a slowdown in the economy, a state-backed newspaper reported on Tuesday, showing how Premier Wen Jiabao's call for policies to support growth is being put into action.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will fast track approvals for infrastructure investment to combat a slowdown in the economy, a state-backed newspaper reported on Tuesday, showing how Premier Wen Jiabao's call for policies to support growth is being put into action.

Chinese consumers of thermal coal and iron ore are asking traders to defer cargos and – in some cases – defaulting on their contracts, in the clearest sign yet of the impact of the country’s economic slowdown on the global raw materials markets. The FT reports.

When metals warehouses in top consumer China are so full that workers start stockpiling iron ore in granaries and copper in car parks, you know the global economy could be in trouble.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose in a volatile session on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 index on course to snap a three-day losing streak despite concerns about Europe that have investors on edge.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose in a volatile session on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 index on course to snap a three-day losing streak despite concerns about Europe that have investors on edge.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose in a volatile session on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 index on course to snap a three-day losing streak despite concerns about Europe that have investors on edge.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks pared gains in a volatile session on Wednesday as new questions arose about Greece's political and economic future.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday following three days of declines on the S&P 500, with upbeat U.S. data supporting the market after German Chancellor Angela Merkel temporarily soothed investor worries about Greece leaving the euro zone.

Stocks logged another decline in choppy trading Wednesday following the Fed's meeting minutes and after conflicting reports suggesting the ECB could halt monetary operations to certain Greek banks, reigniting jitters over the debt-ridden nation.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - BHP Billiton <BHP.AX> <BLT.L> said it expects commodity markets to cool further and that investors have lost confidence in the longer-term health of the global economy, in the most cautious comments yet from the world's biggest miner.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - BHP Billiton <BHP.AX> <BLT.L> will not be spending $80 billion on expansion projects over the next five years, Chairman Jacques Nasser said on Wednesday.

BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, said it expects commodity markets to cool further and that investors had lost confidence in the longer-term health of the global economy.

ADELAIDE (Reuters) - BHP Billiton's <BHP.AX> petroleum chief executive left the door open to the possibility of a write-down on the company's U.S. shale gas assets on Monday, but defended their long-term value.

ADELAIDE (Reuters) - BHP Billiton's <BHP.AX> petroleum chief executive left the door open to the possibility of a write-down on the company's U.S. shale gas assets on Monday, but defended their long term value.