MARKETS / FINANCE

The euro zone's overall budget gap fell last year but deficits in Greece and Portugal were higher than expected, underlining the challenges presented by their austerity programs.

States are short $1.26 trillion in paying for public employee pensions and other retirement benefits, a gap that grew 26 percent in one year and will take many more years to wipe out, according to a report released on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks index futures rose on Tuesday after earnings from Ford Motor Co and 3M Co beat analysts' forecasts on a big day for bellwether companies.

China's Minmetals Resources bowed out of the battle for copper miner Equinox Minerals on Tuesday, saying Barrick Gold Corp's C$7.3 billion ($7.7 billion) bid was too rich to justify a counter-offer.

Ford Motor Co reported its best first-quarter profit in 13 years, driven by strong sales in its home market and demand for more fuel efficient vehicles.

French dairy group Lactalis launched a 3.4 billion euro ($4.9 billion) takeover bid for Italy's Parmalat , raising pressure on Italian investors who want to keep the company in domestic hands.

Sony launched its first tablet computers in an ambitious attempt to grab the No 2 spot in a market dominated by Apple's iPad and set to quadruple in four years.

Sony launched its first tablet computers in an ambitious attempt to grab the second spot in the market more than a year after Apple's iPad revolutionized mobile computing.

UBS appeared to put the financial crisis behind it, with money pouring back into its core wealth management arm in the first quarter, although its investment bank struggled to regain momentum.

At 0909 GMT (5:09 a.m. ET) futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones futures and Nasdaq futures were 0.1 to 0.3 percent higher.

UBS reported a big rise in client inflows in the first quarter on Tuesday, attracting the most money for its wealth management arm since the financial crisis began.

Japan's Canon Inc <7751.T> reported a 5 percent fall in quarterly operating profit and slashed its annual outlook to below market expectations as it tries to deal with a quake-hit supply chain that it said was months away from being fixed.

Silver prices trimmed a fall on Tuesday that had ended the precious metal's surge to a record high, as option traders sold back metal to cover risks ahead of options expiry later in the day.

Silver tumbled on Tuesday and Asian shares pulled back from recent three-year highs in a bout of profit-taking before the Federal Reserve meeting this week where investors are seeking clues on when it plans to begin exiting its ultra-easy monetary policy.

Canon Inc <7751.T> reported a 5 percent fall in quarterly operating profit and cut its annual outlook to below market expectations as it copes with the effects of Japan's earthquake, which has hit suppliers and hobbled production.

Canon Inc <7751.T> reported a 5 percent fall in quarterly operating profit and cut its annual outlook on Tuesday as it copes with the effects of Japan's earthquake, which halted some production and looks likely to hinder it further.

Silver prices fell nearly five percent on Tuesday, snapping a rally in previous sessions that had carried them close to a record high, as option traders sold back metal to cover risks ahead of options expiry later in the day.

Sony, a laggard in the booming tablet market, unveiled its first tablet computers in an ambitious attempt to grab second place in the market created and still dominated by Apple's iPad.

China has increased capital requirements for its five biggest banks above the minimum 11.5 percent mark to guard against risks in the banking sector, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Barrick Gold Corp has not ruled out raising its C$7.3 billion ($7.68 billion) bid for Equinox Minerals , saying it will take a wait and see approach if China's Minmetals Resources <1208.HK> fights back with a higher offer.

The euro retreated on Tuesday, though losses are seen as limited, while Asian shares pulled back from recent three-year peaks before this week's Federal Reserve meeting where investors will hunt for clues on when it plans to exit ultra-easy monetary policy.

Canada's Barrick Gold Corp will wait and see if an offer to trump its C$7.3 billion ($7.68 billion) bid for Equinox Minerals emerges, Barrick's chief executive said on Tuesday.

Oracle Corp has replaced its chief financial officer less than three years after he joined the company, tapping its president Safra Catz to do the job.

Traders and investors in Netflix are bracing for a sizable move in the stock's price after earnings on Monday afternoon -- just not as big as usual.

A group of creditors led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley proposed a restructuring plan for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc that would boost recoveries for the banks and keep separate the assets of Lehman's bankrupt subsidiaries.

In the lightest volume session of the year, stocks fell after a lowered outlook from Kimberly-Clark heightened concerns about higher commodity costs squeezing profits in coming quarters.

Nasdaq OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange warned NYSE Euronext investors to be highly skeptical of the additional cost savings that the NYSE says will result from its friendly merger with Deutsche Bourse.

In the lightest volume session of the year, U.S. stocks fell on Monday after a lowered outlook from Kimberly-Clark increased concerns about higher commodity costs squeezing profits in coming quarters.

Silver surged as much as 8 percent on Monday before pulling back sharply when a failure to pierce the all time high from 1980 unleashed a wave of technical selling amid record volume in U.S. futures.