Daily Investor Briefing: Wall Street ends higher for second...

	Click to View in Browser 03/18/2014 Wall Street ends higher for second session NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed for a second straight session on Tuesday, as the S&P 500 came within several points of its record after comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin calmed worries that tensions over Ukraine could escalate. GM CEO says only learned of defective cars in late January DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co Chief Executive Mary Barra said on Tuesday that she did not learn details about defective GM cars linked to 12 deaths until January 31, just two weeks after she took over as CEO and nearly 13 years after GM engineers first documented problems. Oracle says new software sales rose 4 percent in third quarter SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oracle Corp on Tuesday said new software sales and Internet-based software subscriptions in its fiscal third quarter rose 4 percent from a year earlier. Weak U.S. inflation, housing data point to sluggish growth WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. inflation was muted in February and housing starts fell for a third straight month, giving the Federal Reserve plenty of room to keep interest rates low even as it scales back the amount of money it is pumping into the economy. Microsoft shares flirt with dotcom-boom levels on iPad app report (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's shares scaled levels last seen in the dotcom boom following reports that the company plans to unveil an iPad version of its Office software suite, potentially generating billions of dollars in revenue. Adobe's quarterly results beat estimates (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc, the maker of Photoshop and Acrobat software, reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, helped by strong demand for its digital marketing software. Exclusive: EU legal opinion opens door to Tobin tax on forex LONDON (Reuters) - Deals from the multi-trillion euro a day foreign exchange market could in principle be included in a tax on financial transactions, a legal opinion from European Union lawyers seen by Reuters said. Alibaba leaning toward NYSE listing: Wall Street Journal (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is leaning toward listing its shares on IntercontinentalExchange Group's New York Stock Exchange instead of Nasdaq OMX Group's exchange, according to the Wall Street Journal. Wells Fargo leaves CEO Stumpf's 2013 pay unchanged (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co Chief Executive John Stumpf earned $19.3 million in 2013, identical to what he took home a year earlier, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. Apple replaces iPad 2 with iPad 4, launches cheaper iPhone 5C (Reuters) - Apple Inc said it would offer an iPad 4 tablet in place of the mid-range iPad 2 at the same price and the company launched a cheaper, lower capacity version of its plastic-backed iPhone 5C in Australia, China and some European countries. Related Video Breakingviews: Diplomatic export to China Rough Cut: UK PM warns Russia of further punitive measures Related News Retirement confidence bounces back, but only among wealthy savers American Century Investments founder Stowers dies at 90 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