IBT Staff Reporter

Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece and Portugal on Tuesday, citing risks that the countries' debts to a new European bailout fund would be repaid before bond investors, sending their borrowing costs sharply higher.

U.S. lenders would have to offer mortgages with at least a 20 percent down payment if they want to repackage the loan to sell to other investors without keeping some of the risk on their books, according to a proposal U.S. bank regulators endorsed on Tuesday.

U.S. Supreme Court justices sharply questioned on Tuesday whether more than a million female employees can join together against Wal-Mart Stores Inc in the largest class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit in history.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in London on Tuesday at an international gathering focusing on the political future of Libya, said no decision has been made as to arming Libyan rebels but said such an option was a possibility under a United Nations resolution passed last week.

Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece's debt deeper into junk status on Tuesday, saying that a bailout scheme agreed by euro zone leaders last week increased the likelihood of debt restructuring.

NASA will get its first ever close-up images of Mercury today, as the first spacecraft to do a detailed survey of the planet in 36 years powers up its cameras.

U.S. stocks advanced on Tuesday, boosted by strength in retail and tech stocks, but volume remained light as investors awaited a clearer picture of corporate earnings and the labor market.

Mohali has been hit by rain with mere hours left for the crunch semifinal clash between India and Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup 2011.

U.S. lenders would have to offer mortgages with at least a 20 percent down payment if they want to repackage the loan to sell to other investors without keeping some of the risk on their books, according to a proposal regulators are considering on Tuesday.

General Electric Co reached a $3.2 billion cash deal to acquire a French maker of high-efficiency motors used in the oil and gas sector, pouring more money into its most profitable division.

A former portfolio manager at Raj Rajaratnam's Galleon Group described pressure at the hedge fund to get an edge in stock trades and said he passed on secret details about companies to his boss.

Several U.S. Supreme Court justices sharply questioned on Tuesday whether female employees at Wal-Mart Stores Inc can proceed with the largest class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit in history that seeks billions of dollars.

Crude oil prices turned positive on Tuesday as investors eyed market technicals, an equities market bounce and reined in optimism about an early return of Libya's oil exporting capabilities.

Trace amounts of radiation from the Japanese nuclear disaster have been detected in several states as far apart as California and Massachusetts, but state and federal health officials say there is no cause for alarm.

Apple is expected use the technology it acquired via its 2010 purchase of Siri, developer of the personal assistant application of the same name.

French climber Alain Robert, the French Spiderman, braved heights and high winds as he scaled the tallest building in the world.

U.S. consumer confidence fell in March after hitting a three-year high in the prior month as expectations about jobs and income growth worsened, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

Cisco Systems Inc said on Tuesday it plans to buy privately held software company newScale Inc, in a deal that would ramp up its cloud computing services.

On Monday, Lady Gaga celebrated her 25th birthday. Like most people her age, the pop star decided to celebrate her birthday with a nice dinner with friends.

A report from the Office of the Inspector General has found NASA is vulnerable to cyber attacks.

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday in a light volume session, erasing initial declines as investors moved into sectors that lost ground after Japan's earthquake as the quarter draws to a close.

U.S. auto sales in March are expected to rise about 12 percent from last year's depressed levels, but high gasoline prices and production problems caused by the Japanese earthquake could slow a recovery, analysts and investors said.

Indian police will file charges against a former telecoms minister and other government and corporate officials this week, a government lawyer said on Tuesday, in a multi-billion dollar telecoms corruption case that has shaken government and business.

McCormick & Co posted a bigger quarterly profit as the top U.S. spicemaker was able to offset high input costs by raising prices, and saw strong demand in Asia and in its domestic market.

Nokia on Tuesday filed another complaint with the U.S. trade panel alleging that rival Apple infringes its patents in iPhones, iPads and other products.

Amazon.com Inc has beaten rivals Apple Inc and Google Inc by introducing an online music locker service that lets customers play songs they already own on many smartphones and computers.

Consumer confidence fell in March a month after hitting a three-year high as expectations about jobs and income growth worsened, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

McCormick & Co beat profit estimates for the fifth straight quarter, as the top U.S. spicemaker raised prices to offset high raw material and packaging costs, and saw strong demand in Asia and in its domestic market.

While negotiations between AMC and Lionsgate Television and Mad Men creator and executive producer Matt Weiner are still not settled, USA Today is reporting that the hit show's fifth season will not be ready for its summer debut and will be postponed for early 2012.