IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. thrift industry reported its third consecutive quarter of profit, earning $1.82 billion during the first three months of the year.

Marks & Spencer, Britain's No.1 clothing retailer, said it was cautious about the outlook for consumers ahead of expected tax rises, as it posted a smaller rise in annual profit than most of its major rivals.

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.

Marks & Spencer, Britain's biggest clothing retailer, said it was cautious about the outlook for consumers ahead of expected tax rises as it met forecasts with a 4.6 percent rise in annual profit.

Microsoft Corp is set to overhaul management of its division focused on mobile phones, videogames and other consumer devices, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

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.

Gold prices dropped nearly half a percent in Asian trade Tuesday mainly after the dollar rebounded on Euro zone worries. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $ 1190.71 an ounce at 11.30 a.m Singapore time after fell as low as $1184.90 an ounce earlier in the day. US gold futures for June delivery was at $1190.50 an ounce at the same time on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Canon Inc officially called it quits on a long-delayed project to develop a new type of flat TVs for homes, underscoring its struggle to cultivate new sources of earnings growth.

Prudential Plc shares fell on their Asia debut on Tuesday, hit by a global sell-off and concerns over shareholder support for the British insurer's planned purchase of AIA, the industry's biggest acquisition.

Asia stocks fell to multi-month lows, the euro slid and oil and higher yielding currencies weakened on Tuesday on fears that Europe's sovereign debt woes will trigger a renewed crisis in the continent's banking sector.

Sony and Samsung Electronics discussed at a meeting on Monday further developing cooperation but not raising flat panel supplies to the Japanese firm as widely speculated, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday.

Hospitals are now plagued by another source of hospital-acquired infection, putting health workers and patients at risk, says British researchers.

Europe's debt crisis may be prolonged and hamper global economic recovery, Japanese policymakers said on Tuesday, as fears of a double-dip recession piled more pressure on equities and the battered euro.

Microsoft Corp is set to shake up the management of its division focused on videogames, mobile phones and other consumer devices, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Scientists say that allergy sufferers are less likely to contract cancer than anyone else.

Asian stocks fell to multi-month lows and the euro slipped on Tuesday on fears that Europe's sovereign debt woes will trigger a renewed crisis in the continent's banking sector.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon is broadly optimistic financial reform is headed in the right direction, he said on Monday at the Japan Society's Annual Dinner in New York.

Australian dads may do less housework and childcare comparing to Australian women but new research shows that Australian dads fare better than fathers in Italy, France and even Denmark.

Japan's Nikkei average fell 2 percent to its lowest in more than five months on Tuesday, as the euro fell further on worries that Europe's woes now included the health of some banks in addition to sovereign debt problems.

Shareholders have sued the board of BP Plc for failing to monitor safety and exposing the company to potentially enormous liability related to the Deepwater spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, according to court documents.

Ten people have been cleared of the preliminary blood tests of the potentially fatal Hendra virus following contact with an infected horse on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

A group of Spanish researchers claimed that they have found a link that suggests the occasional drink keeps the illness at bay especially in women and non-smokers.

The government's push to make BP Plc pay for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may have wider repercussions, raising tricky legal debates and possibly making it too costly for some companies to operate offshore.

Growing demand for healthy food has encouraged food manufacturing companies to leverage health and wellness into various products. This is likely to be seen in dairy products such as Danone's Actimel and Unilever's Benecol.