MARKETS / FINANCE

Stock index futures rose on Tuesday as expectations grew that a solution will be found for Greece to avoid a default and a short-term contagion risk to other euro zone countries could be contained.

Stock index futures pointed to a strong open for Wall Street on Tuesday, adding to gains from the previous session, as expectations grew that a solution would be found for Greece to avoid a default.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's cabinet faces a confidence vote late on Tuesday, the first of three tests the Greek government must survive to avert the euro zone's first sovereign debt default.

World stocks and the euro rose from last week's three-week lows on Tuesday as expectations that the euro zone will avoid a messy default of Greek sovereign debt attracted investors back into risky assets.

The rash of accounting scandals that has hit U.S.-listed Chinese stocks has not curbed the appetite of private equity and venture capital firms looking for the next set of Chinese Internet stars in the mainland's So-Lo-Mo and luxury e-commerce sectors.

Shares of major Chinese lenders China Construction Bank <0939.HK> and Agricultural Bank of China <1288.HK> fell to multi-month lows on Tuesday, hit by potentially souring loans, an economic slowdown and tighter capital requirements.

Google Inc has been ordered by city police to suspend its Street View service in the Indian IT hub of Bangalore, the company said on Tuesday, in the latest setback to its global mapping project that has been hit by privacy fears.

The euro inched up in choppy trading on Tuesday on hopes that squabbling policymakers will come up with a solution to avoid a debt default by Greece, sentiment that also buoyed Asian shares.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou faces a confidence vote on Tuesday, a hurdle he must clear to win backing for a new round of spending cuts, tax hikes and state asset sales needed to secure a 12 billion euro ($17.2 billion) lifeline and avert the euro zone's first sovereign debt default.

The euro inched up in choppy trading on Tuesday on hopes squabbling policymakers will come up with a solution to avoid a default by Greece, sentiment that also buoyed Asian shares.

The cost of complying with new securities rules is making it harder for small and mid-sized U.S. brokerages to stay profitable -- and may force more mergers in the sector.

Affiliates of TerreStar Networks Inc say they do not owe Sprint Nextel Corp reimbursement for costs related to clearing spectrum bands because they were never licensees of the bandwidth.

LightSquared is dramatically altering its plans for a high-speed wireless network because of interference problems with GPS services, in the latest setback for hedge fund manager Philip Falcone's telecom start-up.

AT&T Inc could greatly expand its network capacity for a fraction of the cost it plans to shell out to buy T-Mobile USA, Sprint Nextel said on Monday.

An $8.4 billion lawsuit brought last week against Blackstone LP by creditors of the bankrupt Extended Stay hotel chain ranks as one of the largest ever filed over a failed leveraged buyout.

A jury took only 6-1/2 hours to convict former technology company consultant Winifred Jiau of insider trading charges on Monday after a trial that the panel's forewoman described as leaving her in despair about corruption at some hedge funds.

A federal appeals court handed a major defeat to Wall Street banks by ruling that an online news service did not misappropriate their stock research by publishing headlines about analyst upgrades and downgrades.

LightSquared, a telecom start-up backed by Philip Falcone's hedge fund Harbinger, is caving into demands from GPS providers and changing its plans to build a high-speed wireless network to avoid interference problems with GPS services.

Microchip heavyweights Micron and Hynix used their combined power to prevent Rambus' superior memory technology from becoming an industry standard, a Rambus lawyer said in court.

Royal Bank of Canada will focus on expanding its U.S. asset management business now that it has sold its money-losing U.S. retail banking operations to PNC Financial Services Group Inc for $3.45 billion in cash and stock.

A spate of high-profile online break-ins has given defense firms at the Paris Air Show a new sales pitch: cyber security.

The cost of complying with new securities rules is making it harder for small- and mid-sized U.S. brokerages to stay profitable -- and may force more mergers in the sector.

Investors are increasingly worried that troubles in the euro zone and China will hurt global economic growth this year, curbing gains in equity and commodity markets, a Barclays Capital survey showed on Monday.

Stocks rose on Monday, as the latest development to reduce Greece's debt helped draw buyers and the S&P 500 touched a key support level, but anemic volume signaled the recent weakness may not be over.

Euro zone finance ministers gave Greece two weeks from Monday to approve further spending cuts and tax increases in exchange for another 12 billion euros in emergency loans, piling pressure on Athens to get its ragged finances in order.

Stocks rose on Monday, as a move toward a key technical level on the S&P 500 drew support, while the latest plan to help Greece solve its debt woes eased some investor worries.

International lenders are making an unexpected visit to Athens to check on its resolve to implement painful austerity plans that have caused weeks of public protests and political confusion.

Facebook's U.S. advertising revenue will total roughly $2.2 billion in 2011, displacing Yahoo Inc to collect the biggest slice of online display advertising dollars, according to a new study.

The U.S. credit union regulator filed lawsuits on Monday against JPMorgan Chase & Co's JPMorgan Securities and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc's RBS Securities, alleging misrepresentation of investment vehicles backed by mortgages.