MARKETS / FINANCE

U.S. stocks climbed to a fresh two-year intraday high on Tuesday as investors bet a deal to extend tax breaks will prompt increased spending and buoy the economy while preserving returns for shareholders.

Following are comments by EU finance ministers and other officials after talks in Brussels on Tuesday.

Toronto-Dominion Bank is in talks to buy lender Chrysler Financial from private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management , a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Stocks jumped to a fresh two-year intraday high on Tuesday as investors bet that a deal to extend tax breaks will prompt increased spending and buoy the economy.

Crude production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) dropped in November by around 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 29.1 million bpd, a Platts survey of oil industry officials and analysts showed on Monday.

The struggle of EUR/USD to free from the downward channel formed early November intensified after Friday's weak US jobs data, but the pair is finding it really difficult to break above the key long-term support-turned resistance of 1.3422.

Wall Street was set to rise strongly on Tuesday as investors bet that a deal to extend tax breaks will prompt increased spending and buoy the economy.

China is likely to raise interest rates in the coming days in a demonstration of the government's resolve to tame inflation, an official newspaper said on Tuesday.

Tension persisted on European bond markets on Tuesday after Germany and fellow euro zone states resisted IMF calls to do more to quell the currency bloc's debt crisis, leaving the ball with a reluctant European Central Bank.

Stock index futures rose on Tuesday after President Barack Obama forged a compromise with Republicans to extend Bush-era tax breaks for two years.

The United States is expected to see weak employment prospects though employers expect the modest hiring pace to continue in the first three months of the year, a survey reported.

Ireland's deeply unpopular government will unveil a record austerity budget on Tuesday, inflicting more pain on voters to bring down a soaring deficit and win quick access to emergency loans from the EU and IMF.

Global equities advanced on Tuesday after a compromise deal to extend expiring U.S. tax cuts, though the euro zone's debt crisis and speculation over a possible interest rate rise in China kept them in check. The euro rose on optimism that Irish lawmakers will pass its toughest ever budget later in the day. The single currency remained vulnerable, however, with European policymakers dithering ove...

PARIS - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, after President Barack Obama announced plans to extend tax breaks.

Asian stocks got a tentative boost on Tuesday from U.S. President Barack Obama's compromise deal to extend all Bush-era tax cuts, while the euro ticked up but remained vulnerable to debt-related pressure.

Tension on European bond markets was undiminished on Tuesday after German and fellow euro zone states resisted IMF calls to do more to quell the currency bloc's debt crisis.

The dollar fell to a three-week low against the yen on Tuesday, with gains in the Japanese currency pulling Tokyo stocks lower, while the euro came under renewed pressure as Europe struggled to contain its debt crisis.

European Union finance ministers meet on Tuesday to discuss the EU economy with markets expected to react nervously to Monday's decision by euro zone ministers to take no new steps to quell the debt crisis.

The U.S. government sold off its remaining shares in Citigroup Inc on Monday for $4.35 each, marking an exit from ownership in the bailed-out banking giant with a $12 billion gross profit for taxpayers.

The U.S. government sold off its remaining shares in Citigroup Inc on Monday for $4.35 each, marking an exit from ownership in the bailed-out banking giant with a $12 billion gross profit for taxpayers.

The U.S. government sold off its remaining shares in Citigroup Inc on Monday for $4.35 each, marking an exit from ownership in the bailed-out banking giant with a $12 billion gross profit for taxpayers.

Microsoft Corp is offering customers of Salesforce.com Inc thousands of dollars in rebates to switch over to its own customer relationship management system.

The U.S. government will sell off its remaining 7.0 percent stake in Citigroup -- 2.4 billion common shares -- in an underwritten public offering, the Treasury Department said on Monday.

The U.S. economic recovery remains on shaky ground, well over a year after the recession officially ended, and two top strategists said on Monday they fear the economy could suffer a new blow next year.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group , which has been considering an initial public offering for years, may file papers to go public late next year, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday.

Graphics chip designer Nvidia said it has chalked up 200 design wins for notebooks due out in 2011 that also feature Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge microprocessor.

Worries about Europe's debt crisis frustrated investors looking for a reason to take stocks to new highs for the year as the major indexes ended flat on Monday.

Sprint Nextel promised to save up to $11 billion in the next seven years from a big network restructuring that involves eventually getting rid of the iDen network it bought from Nextel in 2005.

Jessica Hall and Dhanya SkariachanPHILADELPHIA/NEW YORK - Hedge fund manager William Ackman is raising his wager on bookseller Borders Group Inc , offering to help it buy larger rival Barnes & Noble Inc for $963.7 million.