By Alister Bull and Pedro da Costa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the central bank expects to slow the pace of its bond purchases later this year and bring them to a halt around mid-2014, comments that weighed on stocks and pushed bond yields to a 15-month high. The Fed expects moderate growth to lead to continuing healing in the job market as headwinds facing the economy ease, Bernanke said. He also said policymakers expect inflation to move back up toward their long-term 2 percent goal. ...

By Michelle Sierra NEW YORK (Reuters) - Carl Icahn reiterated his interest in owning Dell Inc and said the $5.2 billion in financing he's putting together to back his bid for the company continues to move forward as planned. The comments came in a telephone interview Tuesday, echoing statements he made earlier in the day in an open letter to Dell shareholders. "Nothing has changed regarding the financing," Icahn said. "We expect to have $5.2 billion in the next couple of weeks. Our investment bank is already committing $1.6 billion and my affiliates and I would provide $2 billion, if ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, with losses accelerating in afternoon trading after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank could begin to scale back its stimulus measures later this year. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 205.66 points, or 1.34 percent, at 15,112.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 22.88 points, or 1.39 percent, at 1,628.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 38.98 points, or 1.12 percent, at 3,443.20. (Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

(Reuters) - News Corp's publishing and entertainment arms began trading separately on a preliminary basis on Wednesday, one of the last steps before Rupert Murdoch's company officially splits in two on June 28. Shares of the new News Corp, the publishing arm that includes properties such as The Wall Street Journal, opened at $15.28 on Nasdaq, trading on a "when-issued" basis under the symbol "NWSAV." The shares were up 4.5 percent at mid-morning at $15.95 and were the second-most-active issue on Nasdaq with more than 20 million shares changing hands. ...

By Noel Randewich (Reuters) - Shares of chipmaker Nvidia surged nearly 6 percent on Wednesday after the company said it plans to license its graphics technology, opening the door to new business with Apple, Samsung Electronics and other mobile device makers. Chief Executive Officer Jen-Hsun Huang told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in San Francisco on Tuesday that licensing graphics cores and visual patents would help Nvidia take greater advantage of the booming market for smartphones and tablets and tap markets it could not reach through selling its own chips. ...