IBT Staff Reporter

Shares of Sun Microsystems Inc dropped on Monday after a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that IBM's talks to acquire its smaller rival broke down.

Shares of Sun Microsystems Inc dropped on Monday after a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that IBM's talks to acquire its smaller rival broke down.

HSBC shares rose over 4 percent on Monday after its massive 12.9 billion pound ($18.9 billion) rights issue received a robust response from investors.

Wireless carrier T-Mobile is planning an aggressive push into the home with a variety of communication devices that will use Google's new Android operating software, the New York Times said.

Asian shares climbed to a six-month high on Monday, as hopes that the global economic downturn is nearing its bottom spur demand for riskier assets while hitting the yen and safe-haven government bonds.

The court-appointed administrator of GM's Saab said on Monday the carmaker was seeking to write off about three quarters of its non-prioritized debt to help it reach a positive cash flow in 2011.

Shares of HSBC jumped more than 4 percent on Monday to five-week highs after its massive rights issue received a robust response from investors.

Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 outsold Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii in March for the first time in 16 months in Japan thanks to hot new PS3 titles from Sega Sammy and Capcom , a game magazine publisher said.

Revolution Money, an online payment firm backed by AOL co-founder Steve Case, said on Monday it has received funding of $42 million from a group that includes a Goldman Sachs affiliate and earlier investors Citigroup and Morgan Stanley .

Shares of HSBC jumped more than 4 percent on Monday to five-week highs after its massive rights issue received a robust response from investors.

U.S. crude oil futures on Monday gained more than $1 from the previous close as weak U.S. jobs data did little to dampen investors' improved appetite for risk and their expectation of a global economic recovery.

IBM's talks to acquire smaller computer and software rival Sun Microsystems Inc broke down on Sunday after Sun rejected IBM's $7 billion offer, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

Asian shares climbed to a six-month high on Monday, as hopes that the global economic downturn is nearing its bottom spur demand for riskier assets while hitting the yen and safe-haven government bonds.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has drawn up contingency plans to raise $8 billion in a rights issue underwritten by JP Morgan Cazenove and Credit Suisse, the Sunday Times reported without citing sources.

The chief executive of spain’s largest bank, Banco Santander SA said it has no need to buy mid-sized banks in the country, according to a report.

HSBC investors jumped at the chance to put more money into the UK-based bank, buying most of the 5 billion shares the bank put on the market.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Sunday that banks needing ‘exceptional’ U.S. aid may be forced to make management and board changes.

Swiss banking giant UBS has banned travel for over 1,000 financial advisers as the company reviews its policies, following a scandal in which the bank admitted helping some of its customers evade taxes.

This season's $60 a gallon price tag on maple syrup makes for one expensive pancake breakfast, but it's a windfall for those who coax it out of trees.

At least $300 billion of the $1.1 trillion stimulus package agreed by G20 leaders last week should be allocated toward helping developing countries, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday.

North Korea fired a long-range rocket on Sunday, provoking international outrage, but a divided U.N. Security Council failed at an emergency meeting to agree on a reaction to Pyongyang's defiant move.

IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc broke off acquisition talks after Sun indicated it was unhappy with IBM's offer of $9.40 or below per share, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday.

Talks between IBM Corp and computer and software company Sun Microsystems Inc are on the brink of collapse, The Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Sunday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner denied on Sunday the Obama administration was crafting bailout initiatives to allow companies to evade limits on executive pay and other restrictions imposed by Congress.

Representatives from at least 15 U.S. states discussed with a federal regulator the possibility of using their pension funds to buy troubled loans and securities, or toxic assets, the Bergen County Record in New Jersey reported.

U.S. stocks should rally further this week, if investors get more signs that the economic slump is abating and earnings season does not get off to a rocky start.

AT&T Inc said on Sunday that the company is continuing negotiations with a labor union after five labor contracts covering more than 80,000 of its workers expired on April 4.

MGM Mirage has hired Morgan Stanley to handle potential sales of two of its cash cows -- MGM Grand Detroit and Biloxi's Beau Rivage casinos, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.