ECONOMY & MARKETS

Japan’s trade with other nations rose only slightly in October, raising fears of a slowdown in the recovery of the export-dependent country.

Google's launch of e-book store has put the search giant in direct rivalry with market leader Amazon, unfolding an interesting battle on cards in the coming days.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Discovery Communications, Volterra Semiconductor, FX Energy, Netflix, Dollar Tree, Layne Christensen, Warner Chilcott, Expeditors International of Washington, OpenTable, and AgFeed Industries.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Orexigen Therapeutics, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Mitcham Industries, VIVUS, Casella Waste Systems, Scientific Games, Discovery Communications, Digirad, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, DIRECTV, and Lamar Advertising.

After falling as low as 0.9779 from its previous close of 0.9827, AUD/USD is now targetting 0.9723 (S1) before hitting a relatively stronger support line at 0.9707 (S2).

The United Nations explains in a report why the fragile and uneven global recovery that started in 2009 began to decelerate in the middle of 2010 and lists the myriad of problems that still plagues the economy

Two Morgan Stanley economists predict that U.S. 10-year Treasury yields will rise to about 3.75 percent by the end of 2011 because of accelerated economic growth.

A moderate stock rally fueled by a compromise between President Obama and Republicans on tax extensions and unemployment benefits petered out in late-session trading, resulting in a narrowly mixed results for major equity indices.

Next target up for USD/CAD may be 1.0109 (R1) as suggested by the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement from 1.0285 to 1.0001, before a relatively stronger resistance near 1.0120 (R2).

Standpoint Research downgraded chip maker Intel to 'hold' from 'buy' on valuation concerns.

Fundamentals for the commodity currency now back AUD/USD targeting 1.0006, as the 61.8 percent fibonacci from 1.0181 to 0.9723 projects.

Economy of California is expected to witness a slight pick up next year with a drop in unemployment rate, said a report on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks advanced in early trade on Tuesday as sentiment was buoyed by President Barack Obama's announcement of an agreement with Republicans on a plan to extend income tax cuts for all Americans.

Search giant Google could witness a rally in its stock price amid its leadership in search advertising market and soaring adoption of its Android operating system in smartphones and tablets.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Geron, Fuel Systems Solutions, Avago Technologies, Wintrust Financial, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, RealPage, and Research In Motion.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Cytori Therapeutics, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Zix, Powerwave Technologies, optionsXpress Holdings, Interactive Brokers Group, Qiao Xing Universal Resources, Seagate Technology, and Fifth Third Bancorp.

Energy services company AGL Resources Inc. announced an agreement to acquire rival Nicor Inc. for about $2.4 billion in cash and stock, creating a leading natural gas distributor in the U.S.

GBP/USD has broken above the 1.5786 weak resistance (100-day SMA) and is heading towards the key 1.5838 medium-term resistance, as predicted by IBT FX on Monday. The level is also suggested by the upper Bollinger band on 4-hour chart.

Barclays Capital increased its third quarter and full-year profit estimates for Research In Motion, citing strong demand for the company's latest Smartphone - BlackBerry Torch .

Emerging East Asian economies will grow more than forecast this year but growth will slow in the region next year, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday.

Industrial production dropped unexpectedly in October, but manufacturing output rose during the month, boosted by machinery and equipment industries, the Office for National Statistics said.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Abiomed, Fuel Systems Solutions, Geron, Wintrust Financial, Avago Technologies, James River Coal, Micrel, Celgene, United Therapeutics, and Novatel Wireless.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, First Place Financial, Cytokinetics, Photronics, FX Energy, Ultralife, Healthways, Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, optionsXpress Holdings, and SuperMedia.

British construction products supplier Wolseley said trading profit rose 39 percent in the first quarter, helped by revenue growth in the US and Canada as well as cost control measures.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury said it plans a public offering of its remaining 2.4 billion shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) common stock.

Stocks, which fell early in the session on some gloomy remarks on the economy from Federal reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, pared much of their losses later in the day on hopes that The Republicans and Democrats in Congress can hammer out a compromise on extending the Bush tax cuts as well as unemployment benefits.

Wikileaks revealed that Li Keqiang, a senior Chinese politician with many economic-related duties, doubts the country's economic data.

If the pair consolidates above 1.56 levels, it might help confirm an intermediate short-term upward trend, and in that case, next important target for GBP/USD will be 1.5838 (R2), a medium term support-turned resistance for the pair.

S&P 500 Index slid 3.63 points, or 0.31 percent, to trade at 1,220.95 at 09:55 a.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 30.08 points, or 0.26 percent, to trade at 11,352.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.28 percent to trade at 2,584.64.