MARKETS / FINANCE

A Slovak ruling party said it would abstain on Tuesday from a vote on expanding the euro zone's EFSF rescue fund, forcing the government to turn to opposition parties to push through a deal agreed by the currency bloc to contain the Greek debt crisis.

Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden) swung to a net profit of 27.4 million riyals ($7.3 million) in the third-quarter on increasing sales and prices, but the results missed analyst forecasts.

Stock index futures fell on Tuesday after a strong rally in the prior session as investors awaited the results of a key vote by Slovakia on expanding the euro zone rescue fund.

CME Group aims to launch cleared over-the-counter metals products in Europe by the end of 2011, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Ghana is in talks with gold miners in the country, Africa's second-biggest producer, over additional taxes so as to benefit from the soaring price of the precious metal, the government said on Tuesday.

Europe's top financial watchdog warned on Tuesday that the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis has become systemic and threatens global economic stability unless decisive action is taken urgently.

India gold rose on Tuesday to the highest in more than a week, on a weak rupee, while demand in the local spot market remained moderate as despite the price rise consumers were buying for a key festival, dealers said.

The European Union postponed a summit by a week on Monday to allow time for a broader solution to Greece's debt crisis, after Athens said it had concluded talks with international lenders on an aid payment needed to avert default.

Centamin Egypt Ltd. said its gold production had returned to planned levels after the regular delivery of blasting products resumed in late July.

Gold eased 1 percent early Tuesday, giving up some of the previous day's gains, as stocks and the euro were pressured by waning optimism over a new plan to tackle euro zone debt, and ahead of a vote in Slovakia to ratify changes to the bloc's rescue fund.

The euro zone sovereign debt crisis has become systemic and risks to the economy are increasing rapidly with Europe's banks in the danger zone, European Systemic Risk Board Chairman Jean-Claude Trichet said on Tuesday.

Japan will consult with the United States before it considers buying more euro zone bonds, raising the stakes for European policymakers under pressure from world leaders to resolve the debt crisis quickly.

The sovereign debt crisis has become systemic and risks to the economy are increasing swiftly, European Systemic Risk Board Chairman Jean-Claude Trichet said on Tuesday.

European shares fell on Tuesday, while the euro took a breather from a rally against the dollar with investors focused on Slovakia's parliamentary vote to ratify an expansion of the euro zone's rescue fund.

China's purchases of beaten-down bank shares may be one of several baby steps along an easing path that eventually leads to interest rate cuts.

Asian shares rose on Tuesday after China moved to support its stock market by buying shares of major banks, and the euro held the previous session's big gains on hopes that European leaders are finally taking action to protect the continent's lenders.

Regulators Tuesday are set to give nervous insurance companies, mutual funds and other big players in financial markets a better idea of whether they will be tapped for the same type of additional government scrutiny facing large U.S. banks.

Hana Financial Group <086790.KS> is willing to renegotiate its agreed takeover deal of Korea Exchange Bank <004940.KS> from Lone Star , should the U.S. fund decide not to appeal a court verdict against it, Hana's chairman said on Tuesday.

American student Amanda Knox, cleared last week of the 2007 murder of her roommate, British exchange student Meredith Kercher, is finally getting back on track. Knox, 24, who is back in Seattle, Wash. ventured out for a shopping trip to grab a bar of chocolate and toothpaste, probably for the first time in four years, putting the four years of Italian prison ordeal behind her. Knox's first attempt to get over her secluded existence comes along with new details of sexual harassment she was sub...

China's young migrant workers believe manufacturers can afford bigger pay rises and they are increasingly willing to strike to win them, according to a report that documents the spread of labor unrest across the country's export zones.

Hana Financial Group <086790.KS> is willing to renegotiate its agreed $4.1 billion deal to buy Korea Exchange Bank <004940.KS> from Lone Star , should the U.S. fund decide not to appeal a court verdict against it, Hana's chairman said on Tuesday.

Asian shares jumped on Tuesday after China moved to support its stock market by buying shares of major banks, and the euro held the previous session's big gains on hopes that European leaders are finally taking action to protect the continent's lenders.

A reported threat from an activist hacker group to take protests against Wall Street to the Internet by crippling the New York Stock Exchange website appeared to come to nothing on Monday.

Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova will put the future of her government on the line on Tuesday before lawmakers cast ballots on a euro zone rescue mechanism that one of her junior ruling parties looks set to shoot down.

Stocks jumped 3 percent on Monday, extending gains into a second week as a pledge by German and French leaders boosted hopes that the euro-zone debt crisis may be resolved.

Thomas H. Lee Partners and a consortium that includes Blackstone Group and Carlyle Group are finalists to acquire Regions Financial Corp's Morgan Keegan brokerage and investment banking unit, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Hedge fund manager John Paulson, long lionized for his successful bets on the collapse of the subprime mortgage market and the surge in gold prices, is now facing the toughest challenge of his career.

The European Commission will not include over-the-counter derivatives in its review of Deutsche Boerse's planned takeover of NYSE Euronext, three people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The release of the iPhone 4s smartphone by Apple (AAPL) will likely juice the shares of AT&T's (T) by attracting hundreds of thousands of younger adult subscribers to AT&T's stable. Those extra subscribers should also help T improve its network quicker -- something the company needs to do.