NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell in choppy trade on Wednesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its fourth consecutive decline as concerns about the euro zone continue to be at the forefront of investors' focus. German Chancellor Angela Merkel attempted to quell some fears by saying the euro zone was committed to keeping Greece in the currency union, but news the European Central Bank had stopped providing liquidity to some Greek banks as recapitalization wasn't in place pushed markets lower. Investors failed to be enticed by the minutes from the U.S. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday confirmed that the agency has opened a "preliminary investigation" into JPMorgan Chase & Co , the nation's largest bank. JPMorgan disclosed last week that it had suffered a multibillion-dollar trading loss due to a failed hedging strategy. A person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday that the FBI's New York office has opened a preliminary probe into the loss, which has been estimated at more than $2 billion. Mueller was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. ...

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (Reuters) - Out past the vacant storefronts and abandoned buildings, beyond the shuttered steel mills and decaying industrial plants, residents of eastern Ohio suddenly are seeing dollar signs. In a region more accustomed to hard times than optimism, residents hope that a boom in shale gas drilling using the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing - or "fracking" - will lead to wealth, jobs and a reservoir of domestic energy that could dramatically boost the area's fortunes. ...

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank has stopped providing liquidity to some Greek banks as they have not been successfully recapitalized, the ECB said on Wednesday, confirming news earlier reported exclusively by Reuters. The news sent the euro lower against the dollar, fanning concerns among investors and in Greece that the country may have to leave the euro zone. ...

(Reuters) - Bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc will sell its shares in Asian insurer AIA Group Ltd after a lock-up period expires in early September, Chief Executive Bob Benmosche said on Wednesday. Benmosche said the shares "will be liquidated after September 4," according to a transcript of AIG's annual shareholder meeting on its website. He said the sale would help decrease volatility in AIG's earnings. AIG spun off two-thirds of AIA in 2010 as part of a package of asset sales to repay its $182 billion U.S. government rescue. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Groundbreaking for U.S. homes rebounded in April and factory activity gained momentum, suggesting a moderate pickup in economic growth early in the second quarter. The reports on Wednesday were the latest in a series to dampen fears that the recovery in the world's largest economy was stagnating after tepid job growth last month. The Commerce Department said housing starts increased 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000 units. In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said production at the nation's mines, factories and utilities rose 1. ...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Apple Inc plans to use a larger screen on the next-generation iPhone and has begun to place orders for the new displays from suppliers in South Korea and Japan, people familiar with the situation said on Wednesday. The new iPhone screens will measure 4 inches from corner to corner, one source said. That would represent a roughly 30 percent increase in viewing area, assuming Apple keeps other dimensions proportional. Apple has used a 3.5-inch screen since introducing the iPhone in 2007. ...

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc increased the size of its initial public offering by almost 25 percent, and could raise as much as $16 billion as strong investor demand for a share of the No.1 social network trumps debate about its long-term potential to make money. Facebook, founded eight years ago by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room, said on Wednesday it will add about 84 million shares to its IPO, floating about 421 million shares in an offering expected to be priced on Thursday. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the face of it, Universal Music Group's bid to buy a big chunk of EMI stands to make the world's leading music company an even more formidable force, combining Universal's star lineup of Lady Gaga and Rihanna with the British company's deep library of The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Katy Perry. Certainly the fierce opposition from rival Warner Music Group, consumer groups and independent music companies makes it seem that way. They have all vowed to fight it tooth and nail, telling U.S. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co was the target of two separate lawsuits by shareholders on Wednesday, accusing the bank and its management of excessive risk that led to trading losses of at least $2 billion. A spokesman for JPMorgan Chase declined to comment on the lawsuits, which were filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, days after Chief Executive Jamie Dimon's May 10 statement that a "failed hedging strategy" caused the massive loss over the last month. ...