MARKETS / FINANCE

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will urge European officials this week to conduct some form of banking system stress tests, CNBC reported on Tuesday, citing an Obama administration official.

A U.S. lawmaker charged with a key role in hammering out a final financial regulation bill said on Tuesday there is no need to force banks out of the lucrative over-the-counter derivatives business -- a potentially big win for Wall Street firms.

U.S. stocks dropped in a broad global sell-off on Tuesday as investors worried that Europe's banking problems could derail the economic recovery.

Stocks sank in a broad global sell-off on Tuesday as investors worried that Europe's banking problems and North Korea's threats of military action against South Korea could derail the economic recovery.

U.S. consumer confidence rose in May to a two-year high as concerns about the labor market eased, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

Stocks sank in a broad global sell-off on Tuesday as investors worried that Europe's banking problems and North Korea's threats of military action against South Korea could derail the economic recovery.

Consumer confidence rose for the third straight month in May to the highest in more than two years as concerns about the labor market continued to ease, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

Single-family home prices were unchanged in March from February, but fell in the first quarter on renewed price pressure, Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes showed on Tuesday.

Stocks tumbled about 2 percent on Tuesday, tracking a sell-off in global equities, on worries over Europe's banking sector and as short-term funding costs soared.

The Federal Reserve will watch the U.S. economy's progress through autumn and into 2011 as it decides how long it will hold interest rates at ultra-low levels, a top Fed official said on Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve will watch the U.S. economy's progress through autumn and into 2011 as it decides how long it will hold interest rates at ultra-low levels, a top Fed official said on Tuesday.

The frequency of strikes in metals and mining companies in Latin America are not likely to lead to rating downgrades in the region in 2010, according to Fitch Ratings.. The companies that have tapped the debt capital markets, namely in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru, tend to have diversified operations, enabling them to effectively weather strike action.

In an attempt to bypass the dangerous routes in Pakistan, India and Iran are discussing building a gas pipeline between the two countries along the bed of the Arabian Sea. According to South Asia Gas Enterprise Private Ltd (SAGE), The carrying capacity of the gas pipeline's first leg will total 31 billion cu m annually, with the cost of construction estimated at $4 billion

President Barack Obama is to renew a push on Tuesday to persuade the U.S. Congress to approve a $30 billion plan to spur lending to small businesses and trigger job creation.

News Corp's News International launched new paid-for websites for the Times of London and the Sunday Times on Tuesday, the first major consumer newspapers to charge readers for online access.

Sovereign debt crisis in Europe, a much weaker-than-expected Euro and slightly higher-than-expected non-OPEC supply has forced Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofAML) to revises its WTI and Brent crude oil forecasts for second half of 2010 from $92/barrel to $78 per barrel. Yet despite the much reduced likelihood of a robust upswing in global economic activity, BofAML remain cautiously optimistic that the breadth of the recovery outside Southern Europe will prevent a double-dip scenario. Hence it...

Kuwait's General Administration of Customs on Tuesday said country's crude oil exports to China grew 17.8 percent in April to a record high of 1.081 million tons. In a report issued here it said the new figure is equal to 264,000 barrels per day. Kuwait provided 5.1 percent of China's total crude oil imports, compared with 5.7 percent in the same month of last year and 4.5 percent in March.

Most of Prudential's investors are comfortable with its bid for AIG's Asian life unit AIA, its chairman said, moving to dispel fears shareholders may baulk at the $35.5 billion cost of the deal.

Single-family home prices were unchanged in March from February, but fell in the first quarter on renewed price pressure as federal aid faded away, Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes showed on Tuesday.

Stock index futures pointed to a fall of 2 percent at the open on Tuesday, tracking a sell-off in global equities, on worries over Europe's banking sector and as North Korea ramped up rhetoric against the South.

European stocks and the euro slumped on Tuesday and German bonds hit a record high as investors worried about the fate of euro zone banks and the impact of austerity measures on economic growth.

Dear Sam: I would like to get your opinion on how to improve my résumé. I am 55 years old with 20 years of management experience in the food and landscape industries. I have a degree in landscape design.

Good morning dear traders,I hope you relaxed during the weekend and are fit for the new trading week. I had some goods trades on Friday - however I´m not a Friday trader.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were down 2.2 to 2.5 percent at 0915 GMT (5:15 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, pointing to a steep decline on Wall Street.

World and emerging stocks slid to their lowest since Sept 2009 and the euro and oil fell on Tuesday on worries over the euro zone banking sector and concerns over tensions on the Korean peninsula.

China's General Administration of Customs said country's imports of refined copper dropped 2.7% year on year to 309,772 tons in April, or decreased 8.1% month on month from 337,125 tons. According to the statistics released by the GAC, in the first four months of this year, the country's refined copper imports slightly declined 0.2% to 1.1 million tons from the same period in 2009.

It is often difficult to guage whether price of a commodity reflects the underlying fundamentals or reflects the mood of investors in financial markets either in terms of risk aversion or increased risk appetite.

World oil prices eased below $70 a barrel n Asian trade Tuesday on market concerns over Euro zone's debt crisis and a fragile global economic recovery. Light sweet crude for July delivery was seen trading at $69.64 a barrel at 11.30 a.m Singapore time after hitting as low as $69.32 a barrel in early trade. In London, Brent crude for July was at $70.55 a barrel at the same time.

World's largest wheat exporter, the US is likely to lose its position to Black Sea states, warned US Department of Agriculture. According to a report from the USDA, Black Sea states of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine look set to raise wheat exports by one half to more than 50m tonnes by the end of the decade, overtaking US for the first time since second World War.