(Reuters) - Shares of Dell Inc rose 11 percent on Wednesday, a day after the world No. 2 personal computer maker reported blockbuster quarterly profit, somewhat staying fears about its business sustainability. The company reported market-topping fourth-quarter margins at 21.5 percent, as component costs dropped, and expects more benefit from the ongoing corporate spending to replace old technology and equipment.

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(Reuters) - Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings as it benefited from surging ad sales and signed up customers to higher-priced packages of cable, voice and broadband service. Comcast's subscriber growth was also ahead of most expectations in a quarter when the company plowed resources into finishing its deal to acquired control of NBC Universal. The deal closed in late January, adding a broadcast network, cable networks like MSNBC and USA, theme parks and a movie studio to Comcast's lineup.

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(Reuters) - EADS (EAD.PA) North America said it submitted a final proposal in the politically charged U.S. tanker competition against Boeing Co (BA.N) and that it lowered its price. "We submitted what we think is a very competitive price proposal," EADS North America Chairman Ralph Crosby, who was speaking from Washington, D.C., told a briefing for reporters. Asked how much the price was lowered, he said: "Just enough to win."

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(Reuters) - Farm equipment maker Deere & Co (DE.N) reported a much higher-than-expected profit on Wednesday and raised its full-year forecast, as high food costs drove farm investment in new machinery, sending its shares to a record high in early trading. Rising prices of food commodities including corn, wheat and soybeans have boosted farmers' incomes, and in turn they can afford to buy high-margin machinery, especially in North America. More inflation since the start of 2011 is helping lift the outlook for the world's largest maker of tractors and combines.

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(Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) is recalling over 44,000 Cadillac CTS sedans for a flaw that could cause one of the rear wheels to become unstable. The recall affects CTS vehicles from the 2009 and 2010 model years. The CTS is the best-selling Cadillac car. GM said it would begin to notify owners of the vehicles covered by the recall. Dealers will inspect vehicles under recall and replace a potentially faulty rear toe link.

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(Reuters) - New Bank of England forecasts opened the door on Wednesday for interest rates to rise slowly in Britain but Governor Mervyn King warned against jumping to conclusions about when the central bank would pull the trigger. The Bank's quarterly inflation report suggested expectations it will start hiking rates soon from a record low 0.5 percent were not far off the mark, given that inflation is double its two percent target and likely to climb further.

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(Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday after data showed weaker retail sales last month, raising a question mark about a recovery in consumer spending. Sales at U.S. retailers in January were pressured by anemic receipts at building materials and restaurant outlets, likely reflecting the effects from snowstorms that had slammed large parts of the country. The S&P retail index .RLX fell 0.1 percent. Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO.N) dropped nearly 1 percent to $43.43, while Saks Inc (SKS.N) lost 0.7 percent to $12.44.

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(Reuters) - Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext announced the creation of the world's largest exchange operator on Tuesday, dodging political issues that could threaten completion of a deal. A key compromise is an agreement to headquarter the combined group in both New York and Frankfurt. 60 percent of the group will be owned by Deutsche Boerse shareholders and the remainder by NYSE investors. However there was no name given to the proposed group.

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(Reuters) - Sales at U.S. retailers slowed in January as extreme weather in large parts of the country kept some shoppers at home, but the underlying improving trend in spending remained intact. Total retail sales rose 0.3 percent, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday, advancing for a seventh straight month. Sales rose 0.5 percent in December.

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(Reuters) - Chinese inflation hit a lower-than-forecast 4.9 percent in January, but price pressures excluding food were their strongest in at least a decade and will force the central bank to keep tightening monetary policy. In a tentative sign that its actions so far, including higher interest rates and lending restrictions, have started to bite, money growth eased to its slowest pace in six months in January at 17.2 percent year on year. "The money supply and lending data suggest that government efforts to clamp down on liquidity might be taking hold, though broad-based inflation provides no leeway for the central bank to relax its tightening stance," said Connie Tse, economist at Forecast PTE in Singapore.

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