Economy

Securities and Exchange Commission springs into action on trading leak.

Europe's central bank lowers interest rate to record low.

Republican governors, state lawmakers not on same page on taxes.

China's manufacturing falls off. 

Post-Texas blast, it's safety advocates vs. agriculture groups over regulations.

The central bank said it could potentially increase the size of bond purchases aimed to stimulate the economy. 

The nation's manufacturing sector grew at a slower pace in April driven by reductions in hiring and inventories. 

The Institute for Supply Management reported on Wednesday that factory activity dropped to 50.7 down from 51.3 in March, the slowest pace since December. 

A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

The pace of hiring fell to 50.2, the lowest level this year, and below the 54.2 reported in March. 

The Treasury Department is not ready to provide a detailed timeline for when the debt limit needs to be raised.

Matthew Rutherford, the Treasury's assistant secretary for financial markets, said Wednesday that there are still too many variables at play to determine how long the Treasury could avoid a default on obligations once it reaches its borrowing limit. Rather, he simply said the government would have "a period of time" to avoid default once the debt limit is re-established on May 19.

"There are a number of forecast factors, including the effect of higher tax rates on households earning more than $450,000 a year on estimated income tax payments, a strengthening economy, the impact of sequestration on the timing of outlays, the timing of other sizable cash flows, and other forecasting uncertainty which make it difficult to provide a precise estimate," he said.

Prediction: Fed to cut bond buying in fourth quarter.

Wall Street looks to block regulation on offshore derivative trading.

High-speed traders find a loophole lasting a millisecond.

Following Bangladesh, retailers seek to prevent similar disasters.

Google UK successfully lowers tax bill.

Private-sector employers added 119,000 jobs in April, below expectations and another indication that hiring is slowing through the spring. 

While last month's figure came in weaker than expected, March gains were revised down to 131,000 jobs from 158,000, according to the ADP's National Employment Report released on Wednesday. 

“Job growth appears to be slowing in response to very significant fiscal headwinds," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. 

"Tax increases and government spending cuts are beginning to hit the job market. Job growth has slowed across all industries and most significantly among companies that employ between 20 and 499 workers.”

Almost half the people in the U.S. have gone out of their way to purchase products made in the United States recently, according to a new poll from Gallup.

The 45 percent who did “buy American,” Gallup found, did so more for patriotic reasons than anything else. Fifty-four percent said they had made no extra effort recently to obtain U.S.-made products.

Of those who bought items made in the U.S., around a third each said their purchase was to support the country, or to help the American job market.

A federal court on Tuesday swatted down complaints from financial and tech giants who demanded a regulatory intervention by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on stock market fees.

Consumer confidence rebounded in April on the expectation of better wages and improving economic conditions. 

The Conference Board reported on Tuesday that its monthly index increased to 68.1 from an upwardly revised 61.9 in March.

“However, consumers’ confidence has been challenged several times over the past few months by such events as the fiscal cliff, the payroll tax hike and the sequester," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, in a statement. 

"While expectations appear to have bounced back, it is too soon to tell if confidence is actually on the mend.”

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U.S. home prices continue to surge, as nationwide home values have climbed the most in nearly seven years.

Home prices have climbed 9.3 percent in the 12 months leading up to February, according to the latest data from the S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices, released Tuesday. Half of the 20 cities tracked by the index posted double-digit gains in that year, and every city is up at least 5 percent during that time, as the housing market continues to make a comeback.

“Home prices continue to show solid increases across all 20 cities. The 10- and 20-City Composites recorded their highest annual growth rates since May 2006,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Despite some recent mixed economic reports for March, housing continues to be one of the brighter spots in the economy."

As of February, home prices have returned to the levels seen in the fall of 2003. However, when compared to the peak seen in the summer of 2006, home values still linger roughly 30 percent below that high.