IBT Staff Reporter

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton on Tuesday sought to defuse a media furor he created by posting a picture on his Twitter account that seemed to suggest teen pop star Miley Cyrus had been photographed without wearing underwear.

Fewer Americans fell behind on their credit card bills in May, signaling that consumers are closer to getting their debt levels under control even if the economy remains sluggish.

The Australian Dollar opens sharply higher against the greenback on Wednesday at 0.8650.

Manufacturing in New York state grew in June even as hiring slowed, supporting views the factory sector is recovering, while import prices recorded their largest decline in nearly a year in May.

Lawmakers on Tuesday girded for a showdown over a measure that could upend the business model of credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor's and Moody's Corp., in the first real test of the congressional panel crafting a final Wall Street reform bill.

Best Buy reported lower-than-expected sales and profit, hurt by rising costs of expanding its business and weaker consumer demand, sending its shares down 6 percent.

U.S. lawmakers blasted major oil companies on Tuesday for virtually worthless and cookie cutter plans to handle a deepwater oil disaster, with one top executive conceding the industry was ill prepared to handle big offshore spills.

Stocks jumped on Tuesday as investors went on a buying binge. The S&P 500 turned positive for the year and rose above its 200-day moving average for the first time in a month, suggesting the recent downtrend may be nearing an end.

Big U.S. airlines including Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines parent AMR Corp said on Tuesday that second-quarter unit revenue would rise, buoyed by recovering business and international traffic and by rising fares.

Top arms groups are on high alert to counter cyber spies from stealing their own secrets at a major arms bazaar outside Paris, even as they market new ways to clients on how to repel hackers in the digital battlespace.

Shares of CBOE Holdings Inc jumped as much as 16 percent in their stock market debut Tuesday as investors saw bright prospects for the parent of the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

(In fifth paragraph, corrects figure to 11 percent from 12 percent. The error first occurred in WRAPUP 2.)

Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd on Tuesday took the wraps off a new version of its DS handheld device that can play games and show movies in 3D without glasses, in an effort to revitalize demand.

U.S. stocks extended gains on Tuesday as semiconductors rose after two large Taiwanese producers pointed to growing global demand and energy shares were lifted by bets the sector may have seen the worst of the selling.

Customers attempting to reserve the next iPhone were thwarted by error messages on the websites of Apple Inc and AT&T Inc on Tuesday, the first day of pre-orders for the phone.

AT&T Inc is getting close to bringing its mobile phone call quality to where it should be, Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said in a CNBC television interview on Tuesday.

Big U.S. airlines including Delta Air Lines and American Airlines parent AMR Corp said on Tuesday second-quarter unit revenue would rise, buoyed by recovering business and international traffic and rising fares.

Best Buy reported lower-than-expected sales and profit, hurt by rising costs to expand its business and signs of weaker consumer demand, sending its shares down 6 percent.

Best Buy reported lower-than-expected sales and profit, hurt by rising costs to expand its business and signs of weaker consumer demand, sending its shares down 6 percent.

Credit rating agencies like Moody's Corp and Standard & Poor's hoped to win a reprieve on Tuesday from a proposal that would upend their business model as U.S. lawmakers sat down to craft a final rewrite of financial regulations

The S&P 500 index sent a bullish technical signal on Tuesday as it hit 1,111.11 and traded above its 200-day simple moving average for the first time since May 20.

Spain's and Portugal's fiscal tightening plans this year and next are appropriately ambitious but both countries should spell out in more detail austerity steps planned for 2011, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

The euro hit a two-week high above $1.23 on Tuesday as solid demand at European debt auctions eased worries about the region's fiscal crisis and prompted investors to cover short positions in the currency

Stocks extended gains on Tuesday with the Nasdaq rising 2 percent on strength in semiconductor stocks.

Manufacturing in New York state grew in June even as employment declined, supporting the view the factory sector is recovering, while import prices recorded their largest decline in nearly a year in May.

Stocks advanced on Tuesday as multinationals climbed in sync with the euro after a number of successful European debt auctions eased investor concerns about the continent's solvency crisis.

Credit card delinquencies fell again at major lenders in May as more consumers managed to pay their bills despite a sluggish economic recovery.

U.S. crude oil futures climbed on Tuesday after the euro and equities markets rose when debt auctions in Europe bolstered investor confidence in global economic recovery.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is proposing to pay $12 billion to take full control of British satellite broadcaster BSkyB as it seeks to generate steadier earnings and make better use of its cash pile.