IBT Staff Reporter

North Korea said on Tuesday it saw talks on ending its nuclear weapons program as useless and it planned to restart a plant that makes arms-grade plutonium, state media quoted its Foreign Ministry as saying.

Deere & Co said on Tuesday it will combine its worldwide agricultural equipment division with its commercial and consumer equipment unit into a single division to reduce costs, starting on May 1.

North Korea said on Tuesday it would quit international nuclear disarmament talks and restart a plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium after the United Nations chastised it for launching a long-range rocket.

President Barack Obama will give Americans a progress report Tuesday on his steps to rescue the recession-hit economy, telling them there are signs of recovery but by no means are we out of the woods just yet.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold $5 billion of stock to help fulfill what it called its duty to repay a federal bailout, but the government fears a quick return of the funds would put other banks in a bad light.

Stocks fell on Tuesday after an unexpected drop in retail sales dampened recent optimism over the state of the U.S. economy.

General Motors stock fell sharply in Frankfurt on Tuesday on renewed bankruptcy fears, weighing on autos stocks across the region, as peer Chrysler pinned its hopes on a tie-up with Fiat .

Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell in March, snapping two months of increases, as motor vehicle and electronic good purchases declined, according to a government report on Tuesday that indicated subdued consumer spending amid rising unemployment.

General Motors Corp is recalling nearly 1.5 million Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac mid-sized cars due to a potential leak of engine oil that could cause an engine fire.

Oil erased an earlier gain to fall below $50 a barrel on Tuesday after weak U.S. economic data refocused attention on falling global oil demand and forecasts for rising U.S. supplies.

Sales at U.S. retailers fell in March, snapping two months of increases, a government report showed on Tuesday, indicating the recession was far from hitting bottom as mounting unemployment depress consumer spending.

Stocks opened lower on Tuesday after data showed retail sales and producer prices came in worse than expected in March, offsetting earnings from Johnson & Johnson.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc has a duty to return the $10 billion it received in a U.S. government bailout, as it moves to benefit from an expected recovery in capital markets, its chief financial officer said.

Confidence among U.S. small businesses was stuck at 35-year lows in March, with employers stepping up layoffs even as the recession-hit economy shows some signs of improving, according to a survey.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc posted much higher-than-expected first-quarter profit as it took more trading risk, and said it plans a $5 billion common share sale to help pay back government funds.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open after data showed retail sales and producer prices came in worse than expected in March, offsetting earnings from Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs.

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday said its quarterly earnings fell, hurt by generic competition for its Risperdal schizophrenia drug and the strong dollar, but lower costs enabled the company to beat Wall Street expectations

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday said its quarterly earnings fell, hurt by generic competition for its Risperdal schizophrenia drug and the strong dollar, but lower costs enabled the company to beat Wall Street expectations

Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell in March, snapping two months of increases, as motor vehicle and electronic good purchases declined, according to a government report on Tuesday that indicated subdued consumer spending amid rising unemployment.

Abound Solar, a U.S. solar startup whose top rival is low-cost industry leader First Solar Inc, starts production at its first factory on Tuesday, promising that it will lead the way to making solar competitive with power from dirtier sources.

U.S. producer prices fell unexpectedly in March and also notched the largest year-over-year decline since 1950 as energy prices slipped, government data on Tuesday showed.

The threat of tougher regulation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should ease industrial opposition to a cap-and-trade market on greenhouse gases, a U.S. lawmaker said on Monday.

Corn ethanol's future is already muddied by concerns that it requires a substantial amount of energy to produce and that heightened demand makes corn more costly in human food and livestock feed. Now, with climate change concerns mounting and drought becoming more of a problem in many areas, the water-intensive nature of creating ethanol also is a growing concern.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat to higher open on Tuesday as strong earnings from Goldman Sachs lifted bank shares and, Johnson & Johnson results were slightly above forecast, while investors awaited U.S. retail sales for March.

Oil rose above $50 a barrel on Tuesday, recovering after an earlier fall, as a stock market rally countered the impact of weakening global oil demand and forecasts for rising U.S. supplies.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Tuesday as strong earnings from Goldman Sachs lifted bank shares and investors awaited the latest news on the consumer from Johnson & Johnson results and U.S. retail sales for March.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc may succeed in its bid to pay back U.S. taxpayer money with the help of a $5 billion common share sale, but it may still not get the freedom it wants from intense public scrutiny.

Swiss bank UBS is cutting 3 percent of its Asia-Pacific staff, in what banking sources said was part of a fresh round of global job cuts at the crisis-hit bank.

S&P 500 stock index futures were slightly lower on Tuesday as investors digested Goldman Sachs's plan to issue equity after strong earnings, and prepared for Johnson & Johnson results and economic data.