UNITED STATES

Privately owned U.S. oil and gas producer Chaparral Energy Inc and United Refining Energy Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company, will merge and transfer its listing to the New York Stock Exchange.

Within weeks of taking office, U.S. President Barack Obama rode to the rescue of homeowners resigned to financial ruin.

Want a snapshot of the U.S. housing market? Check out a mortgage modification event -- the lending equivalent of speed dating.

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee will vote on Tuesday on a bill to reform the U.S. healthcare system, President Barack Obama's main domestic objective.

Japanese specialty chipmaker Rohm Co Ltd said on Tuesday that it will buy all the shares of U.S. sensor-maker Kionix Inc for an undisclosed sum in a bid to chase the growing motion sensor business.

* U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on Tuesday as investors awaited earning reports from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and Intel Corp (INTC.O).

Stock futures rose slightly on Tuesday as investors awaited earning reports from Johnson & Johnson and Intel Corp .

American International Group is to sell its Taiwan life insurance unit for $2.15 billion, marking the largest disposal since a U.S. government bailout saved the insurer from collapse last year.

While optimism among small U.S. businesses perked up slightly in September, owners saw little to celebrate as they planned to cut inventories and trim their workforce, a survey released on Tuesday showed.

European shares were lower at midday on Tuesday, dragged down by financials ahead of earnings news from major U.S. banks and after prominent sector analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded her rating on Goldman Sachs (GS.N).

Britain's leading shares were 0.3 percent lower early on Tuesday, retreating from a 12-month high set the previous session with investors staying on the sidelines ahead of UK inflation data and upcoming U.S. corporate earnings.

* U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower opening on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 SPc1 down 0.13 percent, Dow Jones DJc1 futures down 0.11 percent and Nasdaq 100 NDc1 futures down 0.06 percent at 0830 GMT.

The number of high net-worth individuals in Asia Pacific slumped 14 percent in 2008 and they lost over a fifth of their wealth, leading to only cautious moves from cash back into stocks this year, Merrill Lynch and Capgemini said on Tuesday.

American International Group has struck a deal to sell its Taiwan life insurance unit for $2.15 billion, marking its largest disposal of a unit since a government bailout saved it from collapse last year.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower opening on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.13 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.11 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.06 percent at 4.30 a.m. EDT.

World stocks fell from this week's one-year high on Tuesday as investors grew cautious ahead of major third-quarter U.S. corporate earnings, while risk-hungry investors drove the Australian dollar to a 14-month peak.

Asian stocks rose to a 14-month high and the U.S. dollar steadied on Tuesday, with some investors taking bets that third-quarter U.S. corporate earnings, expected to shrink for the ninth quarter, will be good enough to keep a rally going.

Macau's move to review gaming rules in the world's fastest-growing gambling market could brighten the outlook for casino stocks as potential curbs would help profits by limiting oversupply, analysts said on Tuesday.

American International Group struck a deal to sell its Taiwan life insurance for $2.15 billion, marking its largest disposal of a division since a government bailout last year saved it from collapse.

A hijacker who avoided prosecution for more than four decades returned to the United States and surrendered, officials said on Monday.

American International Group Inc is in talks to sell a small part of its portfolio of commercial aircraft to a group led by the chief executive of its aircraft leasing business, sources familiar with the matter said