UNITED KINGDOM

Stock index futures were flat on Tuesday as investors awaited key economic data for fresh signs of an economic recovery a day after the Dow and the S&P rallied to their highest closes in more than 15 months.

Iceland's president refused on Tuesday to sign into law a bill to repay more than $5 billion lost by savers in Britain and the Netherlands, forcing the issue to a referendum and stirring fresh turmoil in the crisis-hit country. President Olafur Grimsson's rejection of the unpopular bill put aid from international lenders and his country's aspirations to join the European Union in serious jeopar...

U.S. stock index futures were flat on Tuesday as investors awaited factory orders and pending home sales data for more signs about an economic recovery a day after the Dow and the S&P rallied to their highest closes in more than 15 months.

U.S. stock index futures were flat on Tuesday as investors awaited factory orders and pending home sales data for more signs about an economic recovery a day after the Dow and the S&P rallied to their highest closes in more than 15 months.

Nestle ruled itself out of a bid war over Cadbury and Kraft sweetened its $16.4 billion offer with a bigger cash portion, raising expectations the U.S. food group will win its prize.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.02 to 0.2 percent, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street on Tuesday.

Kraft Foods Inc sweetened its 10.2 billion pound ($16.4 billion) offer for Britain's Cadbury Plc with cash from a deal to sell its North American pizza unit to Swiss food giant Nestle .

Kraft Foods Inc on Tuesday said it was raising the cash portion of its hostile 10 billion pound ($16 billion) takeover offer for Britain's Cadbury Plc by 60 pence per share, funded by a deal to sell its North American pizza unit to Swiss food giant Nestle.

Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich will be among stars taking on real estate mogul Donald Trump in the boardroom for the Celebrity Apprentice television program in March, NBC said on Monday.

Chinese manufacturing grew at its fastest pace on record in December, data showed on Monday, while U.S. factories marked their best month in nearly four years, suggesting more improvement in the world economy.

Global factory business activity grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in December as new orders growth accelerated at a rate not seen in more that five and a half years, a survey showed on Monday.

The Australian Dollar opens higher on Tuesday at US91 cents as the greenback dropped across the board overnight.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday he was appalled that an Islamist group planned to march through a town renowned for honoring British troops killed in Afghanistan.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he believed a global agreement to combat climate change might still be possible despite the limited results of last month's Copenhagen meeting.

Oil rose more than 2 percent to touch two-month highs over $81 a barrel on Monday as cold weather battered the United States and other big consumer regions, driving up demand for heating fuel.

A gust of wind howls around Battersea Power Station, an industrial wasteland by the Thames whose coal-fired furnaces were once used by the Bank of England to burn millions of pounds worth of banknotes.

Anglo-French property investor Hammerson said on Monday it has sold a Paris office building to a client of Invesco for 84.5 million euros, about 14 percent below book value.

A top White House official said on Sunday the plot to bomb a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day exposed errors but he played down the need for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. security system.

Yemeni forces fought al Qaeda militants on Monday, killing at least two they said were behind security threats which forced the U.S. embassy and other foreign missions to close.

Whether Europe's most troubled economies have the political will to tackle record deficits will preoccupy investors in Western Europe in 2010, along with Britain's election and potential overspill from emerging market crises.

Financial markets were upbeat on the first trading day of 2010 on Monday, with Asian stocks hitting a 17-month high and the U.S. dollar up against major currencies on hopes U.S. job figures this week will reflect a sustained economic recovery.