IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. stocks closed mostly loweron Tuesday as differing views on whether the market can build on recent gains stalled the S&P 500's six-day winning streak.

The Australian Dollar opens steady against the greenback today at 0.9280. During local trade, the Aussie nudged a calendar-year high above US93 cents ahead of importer interest and profit taking which took the unit back down to 0.9270. Several major currencies have moved higher in recent days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the U.S. Dollar was overvalued. An upbeat NAB business confidence survey also underpinned the local unit yesterday. During offshore trade, the Aussie moved b...

Voter registration for a Palestinian election failed to get under way as scheduled on Tuesday, adding to signs that President Mahmoud Abbas might be bluffing about a make-or-break vote in January.

President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to make sure the gunman who killed 13 people in a rampage at a U.S. Army base in Texas pays for his crimes.

American Express Co said credit card spending increased in October from September in another sign that the worst of the financial crisis may have passed for the largest U.S. credit-card company, sending its shares up 1.5 percent to a 14-month high.

A reserve fund must be established ahead of time to give the government the working capital it needs to dismantle large, troubled financial companies, a top U.S. bank regulator said on Tuesday.

United Airlines has suspended a pilot who was arrested in London on suspicion that he was about to fly a Boeing 767 with 124 passengers while drunk, the airline said on Tuesday.

After a weaker than anticipated crowd showed up for the free swine flu vaccines in New York City over the weekend, the Health Department said it will continue to offer the free vaccines throughout the week.

The Australian Dollar opens steady against the greenback today at 0.9280. During local trade, the Aussie nudged a calendar-year high above US93 cents ahead of importer interest and profit taking which took the unit back down to 0.9270.

U.S. stocks closed little changed in light volume on Tuesday as differing views on whether the market can build on recent gains stalled the S&P 500's six-day winning streak. Investors paused to assess the rally just one day after the Dow average jumped a little over 200 points to close at a 13-month high.

Apple overtook Nokia in the third quarter as the cellphone maker generating the highest total operating profit in the industry, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Tuesday.

A reserve fund must be established ahead of time to give the government the working capital it needs to dismantle large, troubled financial companies, a top U.S. bank regulator said on Tuesday.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as the dollar firmed and energy companies began restoring offshore operations disrupted by Tropical Storm Ida.

When an expanded list of 10 movies competes next year for the best picture Oscar, director Pete Docter hopes his Up will become the first animated film since 1991's Beauty and the Beast to vie for Hollywood's most coveted honor.

The U.S. Senate's top banking legislator proposed ambitious financial regulation reforms on Tuesday, leaping beyond earlier proposals to tighten bank regulation, protect consumers and police systemic risk.

President Barack Obama's deliberations over war strategy in Afghanistan have narrowed to four options but a decision is still weeks away, the White House said on Tuesday.

Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate said on Tuesday they hope to bring a long-delayed healthcare bill to the floor next week, kicking off a tough fight that may well spill into next year.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday raised its forecast for OPEC crude oil production next year to 29.44 million barrels per day from its prior estimate of 29.19 million bpd.

U.S. stocks were little changed on Tuesday, stalling the S&P 500 index's string of six straight advances, as investors paused to assess recent gains.

German wind park developer PNE Wind aims to generate a quarter of its sales in the United States in three year's time, its chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday.

The proportion of the world's population with access to electricity will rise over the next 20 years but more than a billion people will still be without power in 2030, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.

Most U.S. consumers recognize the Environmental Protection Agency's blue Energy Star label when it is posted on an energy-saving refrigerator, water heater or other appliance.

A former Russian policeman, who accused officers in his home town of corruption in blogs that had more than one million Internet hits, said on Tuesday he wanted to discuss the affair with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday struck a cautious note on the U.S. economy, citing high unemployment, heavy reliance on government support and commercial real estate woes as hurdles to recovery.

China hopes that the United States will keep its deficit to an appropriate size to ensure basic stability in the U.S. dollar exchange rate, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Sunday.

EU finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to start major efforts to narrow budget gaps in 2011 at the latest and reached preliminary agreement to boost the amount of capital banks must hold to offset risky activities.

At first glance, Giuseppe Oglio's farm near Milan looks like it's suffering from neglect. Weeds run rampant amid the rice fields and clover grows unchecked around his millet crop.

The United States' economy is not robust enough yet and unemployment is too high for policymakers to begin to withdraw stimulus, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said on Tuesday.

The dollar bounced off a 15-month low on Tuesday and the euro dipped below $1.50 as investors paused to assess whether the global outlook justifies a recent rally in higher-yielding currencies and assets.