Business Today: Wall Street drops on data, earnings; Facebook up late

	Click to View in Browser 05/1/2013 Wall Street drops on data, earnings; Facebook up late NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as the latest economic data continued a trend of indicators pointing to anemic growth while bellwether companies disappointed on revenue. Facebook first-quarter revenue up 38 percent (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's first-quarter revenue increased 38 percent year-on-year, as the world's largest social network continued to grow its mobile advertising business. Fed holds steady on stimulus, worried by fiscal drag WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it will continue buying $85 billion in bonds each month to keep interest rates low and spur growth, and added it would step up purchases if needed to protect the economy. Exclusive: Goldman's special situations group names new global head NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc has named Julian Salisbury to become head of its Global Special Situations Group, as current head Jason Brown retires, according to memos sent on Wednesday that were obtained by Reuters. Companies hire less, manufacturing growth slows in April NEW YORK (Reuters) - Companies hired the fewest employees in seven months in April while manufacturing growth slowed to a crawl, suggesting the economy has run into a soft patch as budget-cutting in Washington starts to bite. Loblaw promises more actions after Bangladesh tragedy (Reuters) - Loblaw Cos Ltd , Canada's largest food retailer, said it would soon announce more actions in the wake of the collapse of a building in Bangladesh where some of its "Joe Fresh" garments were manufactured. Major media companies top estimates in shaky ad market (Reuters) - Some of the biggest media conglomerates beat earnings expectations on Wednesday, though Time Warner Inc, Viacom Inc and Comcast Corp all found their television businesses under scrutiny in a tough advertising market. Auto sales growth slows in April; Detroit gains ground DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. automakers gained share in a slowing U.S. auto market in April as improvements in the housing sector played in to Detroit's traditional strengths: pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Chesapeake posts quarterly profit, oil output up (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp reported quarterly profit that exceeded Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, as the U.S. oil and gas company produced more crude oil from shale basins like the Eagle Ford in Texas and expenses fell. Berkshire buys rest of Israel's Iscar for $2.05 billion (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Wednesday said it paid $2.05 billion cash to buy the 20 percent it did not already own of toolmaker Iscar from the Israeli company's founding Wertheimer family. Related Video Fed worries about jobs and fiscal drag: statement Techquity: Google's tax issue, Facebook number to watch Economic News Fed holds steady on stimulus, worried by fiscal drag U.S. may reduce borrowing as budget gap shrinks A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today   The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today   » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook Forward to a friend