IBT Staff Reporter

The Sensex, the 30-share prime index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), took a beating on Tuesday, ending down 338 points on reports that the overseas operations of India's No.2 bank, ICICI Bank, had lost $264.34 million due to its exposure to the subprime crisis.

Menopausal women who took estrogen and progesterone faced a small increased risk for cancer for more than two years after they stopped taking the pills, researchers said on Tuesday.

Cocoa declined on Tuesday after rallying for six days on speculations that there will be a supply shortfall.

Google is making Google Gears available on mobile phones, an application programming interface that allows users store Web application data on their handsets.

Soybeans and soybean oil dropped on Tuesday amid speculations that China will increase sales of vegetable oil from inventories to slow food inflation.

Oil prices fell above $3 on Tuesday as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will keep crude output unchanged at its meeting tomorrow.

Gold futures dropped sharply Tuesday, as traders cashed in recent gains after the metal's surge to a record high in the previous session, while platinum surged close to $2,300 an ounce.

U.S. stocks dropped to an 18-month low on Tuesday , after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged banks to write down more mortgage debts. Financial shares led indexes to fall while oil and gold dropped from previous records.

The mobile gaming market suffered an unexpected slump last year, with many game developers and analysts pointing to telecom operators' lack of interest in investing in marketing games.

When a user winks, movement in their skin is detected by sensors clipped to their glasses or headphones, said Kazuhiro Taniguchi of Osaka University's Graduate School of Engineering Science, who developed the KomeKami Switch or Temple Switch.

For the second time in a month, Apple has simply missed the mark. Apple reportedly has failed to meet their goal of having 1,000 titles available on the iTunes Store rental service by the end of February.

Japan stocks closed Tuesday almost unchanged as investors worried about soaring raw material prices and the U.S. dollar's depreciation.

The FTSE 100 share index dropped 1.1 per cent on Monday after poor performances by banks and oil companies and worries of a possible U.S. recession. Overall the FTSE 100 dropped 65.7 points down to 5,818.6.

Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank, may need more capital from outside investors despite raising billions of dollars after reporting large write-downs related to bad investments in the U.S. subprime mortgage market, the CEO of Gulf state firm Dubai International Capital LLC said Tuesday, according to a report.

NBC Universal said on Monday it expanded the job of three executives and divided the responsibilities held by its previous integrated media president who will return to General Electric.

The three-month moving average of global chip sales came in at $21.49 billion, up 0.03 percent from January 2007 and ahead of expectations according to one research firm.

Incoming students at Oklahoma Christian University will receive new Apple Macbook laptops the school said, and also get a choice between a new iPhone or an iPod Touch.

Crude oil futures rose to another record on Monday on the falling dollar, a decreased chance for an OPEC output hike, and downbeat U.S. manufacturing and spending reports.

Shares of jumbo mortgage lender Thornburg Mortgage, Inc. (NYSE: TMA) rebounded slightly after plummeting more than 50 percent on Monday.

Restricting the amount of time young children spend watching TV and playing computer games can help them shed calories from their diets and lower their risk of becoming obese, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

The dollar continues to struggle across the board amid lingering fears that the economy is headed toward a recession – dragging the currency to a new all-time low against the euro at 1.5275 and a three-year low versus the yen at

T-Mobile International was confirmed on Monday as the sole carrier of Nokia's new 6650 smart phone after a joint announcement from both firms at the CeBIT tradeshow in Hanover, Germany.

Ten year U.S. Treasuries fell on Monday despite new manufacturing and construction data which reinforces concerns that the Federal Reserve may cut lending costs.

After mixed reports surrounding Apple and China mobile talks, the mobile carrier confirmed on Monday that it has not yet entered into negotiations to take the iPhone to China, saying such talks may be held closer to the release of a 3G version of the touch-screen handset later this year.

American teenagers who skip breakfast are more likely to be overweight than those who eat a morning meal, according to a study which researchers say may be linked to rising obesity among adolescents.

Wheat increased on Monday over concerns that severe weather conditions will hurt the crops.

U.S. stocks edged lower Monday for a third day after analysts reduced earnings estimates for securities firms while manufacturing report was not as bad as forecast, while a separate report on construction showed a steep weakness in spending on non-residential projects.

Venezuela and Ecuador sent troops to their borders with Colombia and downgraded diplomatic ties after their Andean neighbor bombed Colombian rebels inside Ecuador in an attack Caracas said could spark a war.

HSBC's profits rose 10 percent last year as buoyant growth in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia helped Europe's biggest bank absorb $17.2 billion in bad debts as the U.S. housing crisis deepened. Hong Kong profits rose 42 percent while Asia earnings grew by 70 percent. North America was managed a small gain.