Industries

Crude-oil futures continue to slide on Friday after sharp overnight losses that traders say has reinforced bearish market sentiment and potentially set the stage for further declines.

Check out this slideshow with pictures of stocks to buy recommended by top investment banks as China is due to open up its shares to foreign investors next week, through the landmark Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect program.

A report by analysts at Capital Economics outlines three vulnerabilities in the Russian banking system that could cause another crisis similar to the one in 1998.

Their prospects will be good once short-term problems disappear, writes Jeff Reeves.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- No joke: Onion Inc., which publishes the news-satire website The Onion and companion entertainment site A.V. Club, has hired an adviser to explore a possible sale, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources. Onion Inc. is owned by fund manager David Schafer, who bought it in 2003 and currently serves as its chairman. The report identified investment bank GCA Savvian as the adviser.

An Atlas robot built by Google-owned Boston Dynamics has been programmed to do karate and replace humans in dangerous situations. WSJ's Monika Auger reports.

Motor Trend CEO Edward Loh and VW of America CEO Michael Horn join Lunch Break with Tanya Rivero with a look at the Volkswagen Golf, Motor Trend’s 2015 Car of the Year. Photo: Volkswagen

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Wednesday it has fined three major U.S. banks $950 million for "unsafe or unsound" practices related to their foreign exchange trading business. The fines are against Bank of America Corp. , J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. and follows a multiagency investigation into the banks activities in the global FX market. Bank of America will pay $250 million, J.P. Morgan will pay $350 million and Citigroup will pay $350 million. The FX market has a daily average volume of more than $5 trillion globally. Between 2008 and 2013, the OCC said it found some of the banks traders holding discussions in online chat rooms talking about coordinating FX trading strategies to manipulate exchange rates to benefit traders or the bank. The fines follow related settlements with U.S., British and Swiss regulators.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japan stocks opened higher Wednesday, heading for a second straight day of gains, as new record highs on Wall Street overnight boosted the market. The Nikkei Average and the broader Topix index both advanced 1%. Meanwhile, the yen continued to drop versus the dollar, trading at ¥115.71, compared with ¥115.37 in New York late Tuesday afternoon. In New York overnight, the dollar broke above the 116-yen level, the highest point in seven years. Auto makers advanced, with Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. climbing 1.9%, Toyota Motor Corp. up 1.8%, and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. higher by 1.5%. Tech exporters gained further, as electronics giant Sharp Corp. jumped 2.4%, electronic component maker TDK Corporation rose 2.1%, and camera maker Olympus Corp. added 1.8%.

Twinkies owner Hostess to be put up for sale; Nordstrom sales top forecasts

Twinkies maker Hostess to be put up for sale; Nordstrom sales top estimates

London Stock Exchange shares rise Thursday and are among the stocks seeing significant moves in European trade.

The benchmark index, meanwhile, sets records over five consecutive days, writes Phil van Doorn.