MARKETS / FINANCE

Simon Murray, the South Pole adventurer and former Vodafone board member, is in the running for the role of chairman at Glencore, the commodities giant set to detail plans for a $10 billion-plus listing later this week.

Stocks rose on Monday as investors bet on a strong corporate earnings season, which Alcoa Inc unofficially launches after the market's close.

PIMCO has shifted to a short position in U.S. government-related debt in the world's largest bond fund, while also raising cash holdings in a sign of the asset manager's serious concerns about the U.S. fiscal outlook.

Internet content delivery company Level 3 Communications Inc plans to buy smaller rival Global Crossing Ltd for about $1.9 billion in a stock deal, as it looks to wrestle market share from Akamai Technologies Inc.

Deutsche Boerse has no plans to raise its offer for NYSE Euronext , two people familiar with the company's thinking said on Monday.

Stocks rose on Monday on hopes of strong corporate earnings as aluminum company Alcoa will be the first Dow component to release first-quarter results.

Expectations of another rise in European Central Bank interest rates by July kept the euro close to recent highs on Monday and pushed euro zone government bond prices lower.

The growth outlook for major industrialized economies is improving with Germany and the United States leading the recovery, the OECD's leading indicator for February showed on Monday.

Britain's top banks should shield retail operations from riskier investment banking activities and boost capital levels to protect taxpayers from future crises, a government-commissioned report said.

Wall Street stocks were set for a slightly higher open on Monday on hopes of strong corporate earnings.

Stock index futures edged up on Monday as hopes for a strong earnings season offset some concerns about another earthquake in Japan.

Simon Murray, the South Pole adventurer and former Vodafone Group Plc board member, told Reuters on Monday that he's in the running for the chairman role at Glencore International AG, the commodities trading giant planning a roughly $10 billion dual listing in London and Hong Kong.

Stock index futures edged up on Monday as hopes for a strong earnings season offset some concerns about another earthquake in Japan.

Commodities prices rose on Monday, pushing the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index to a fresh two-and-a-half year high on a weaker dollar and strong trade data from China.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.1 to 0.3 percent.

Britain and the Netherlands plan to sue Iceland in a potentially drawn-out legal battle to recover $5 billion lost in a bank crash after Icelandic voters rejected a plan to repay the money.

Britain's top banks should shield their retail operations from riskier investment banking activities and hold more capital to protect taxpayers in the event of another financial crisis, a report said.

Now it is hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam's lawyers' turn to make their case at his insider trading trial on Monday that the government was wrong to accuse him of conspiracy and fraud.

South Korea's financial watchdog launched an investigation on Monday into the leak of personal information from South Korea's Hyundai Capital, the consumer finance unit of Hyundai Motor Group, a Financial Supervisory Service official said.

The Raine Group, the boutique investment bank started by two former Wall Street dealmakers, has received new investments from three media and technology executives, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa on Monday reiterated that Japan's economy is likely to return to a recovery path once supply constraints caused by last month's earthquake and tsunami ease, and as exports grow.

Nasdaq OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange responded late Sunday to NYSE Euronext's rejection of their joint proposed bid, reaffirming that their cash and stock offer is superior to the offer submitted by rival Deutsche Boerse AG.

Alliance Data Systems Corp could face costs and lost sales of $100 million or more as it tries to recover after hackers stole reams of names and email addresses from its Epsilon marketing unit.

NYSE Euronext stuck to its deal with Deutsche Boerse AG over a higher takeover bid from Nasdaq OMX Group, calling the rival offer too risky and counter to the Big Board's vision.

Warner Music Group's board is expected to review second-round bids for the company at a meeting in the coming week, a source familiar with the matter said.

NYSE Euronext chose its deal with Deutsche Boerse AG over a higher, rival takeover offer from Nasdaq OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange Inc, dealing the latest blow in what could be a drawn-out bidding process.

The chief executive of Glencore was quoted on Sunday as saying that the launch of an initial public offering by the global commodities trader was imminent.

While the world watches revolutions in the Arab world and a nuclear crisis in Japan, the Group of 20 is engrossed in an esoteric debate over something called indicative guidelines.

NYSE Euronext chose its deal with Deutsche Boerse AG over a higher, rival takeover offer from Nasdaq OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange Inc, dealing the latest blow in what could be a drawn-out bidding process.