IBT Staff Reporter

Gold edged higher on Tuesday, continuing its rally as crude oil prices rose, the U.S. dollar weakened and a report showed rising U.S. producer prices.

Many parts of southern Florida were blacked out on Tuesday afternoon, leaving two to three million residents without electricity.

Microsoft plans to launch a special test version of its latest Internet Explorer web browser, the company said Tuesday, boasting new features and better support for widely held Internet standards.

Apple refreshed its MacBook and MacBook pro lineups on Tuesday, equipping the units with faster processors, bigger hard drives and a new multi-touch trackpad.

The FTSE 100 index finished 87.9 points up on Tuesday at 6,087.4. The rise is almost a two per cent increase on the previous session and took the index above 6,000.

Quarterlife began at ABC, moved to the Internet, and now will air on NBC with its first episode to premier tonight, making it the first prime-time drama pulled from the Web to TV.

Traders sold the greenback after key economic data reinforced the current dilemma facing the US Federal Reserve. The dollar slipped past the 1.49-level against the euro and relinquished the 0.93-mark versus the Aussie. Persistent

U.S. crude oil futures climbed above $100 a barrel on Tuesday, approaching a recent record high of $101.32 reached last February 20, the highest since trading began 25 years ago.

U.S. treasuries rose on Tuesday as investors fled to the safe-haven investments following the release of downbeat data about the U.S. economy.

Apple Inc's iTunes media store emerged the second most popular music retailer in the United States behind Wal-Mart Stores.

Cocoa posted record gains on Tuesday in London amid concerns that Ivory Coast supplies were declining and that the bean quality will deteriorate.

Natural gas remained stable on Tuesday, above $9 per million thermal units on concern that supplies will decline as cold weather moves into the regions of highest consumption.

The dollar fell on Tuesday, approaching a record low versus the euro after economic data painted the U.S. economy in a negative light.

MySpaceTV, the video platform run by the popular social network, announced Tuesday the launch of Special Delivery, a new unscripted, hidden-camera reality show.

Sony Corp said it would take a one-third stake in Sharp Corp's $3.5 billion LCD panel plant set for completion by March 2010, in an effort to meet fast-growing demand for flat televisions.

Gold and silver futures rose after a report showed U.S. producer prices rose more than expected last month, increasing the appeal of the precious metals as a hedge against inflation.

Wall Street dropped for the first time in three days after producer prices rose more than expected and Google shares fell after data showed that the number web users clicking on ads, have decreased.

Treasury officials have met executives from two of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds to discuss embracing a set of promises not to use their wealth for political advantage, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

MBIA Inc, the world's largest bond insurer, said it will stop guaranteeing asset-backed securities for six months and plans to split that business from its municipal bond unit, moves aimed at restoring stability in troubled credit markets.

India's prime stock index, the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) Sensex, climbed 1.7 percent or 301.50 points, Monday, to 17,650.57, with 26 components rising, riding on the wave of renewed confidence of investors who are looking forward to a positive budget being announcement by the Central Government.

India's No.3 software services exporter Wipro Ltd said on Tuesday it aimed to tie up with Japanese firms and may consider M&A, highlighting Indian software firms' growing desire to get into the Japanese market.

Japan Stocks declined Tuesday in Tokyo as investors fears both of the U.S. and domestic economy.

It's tempting to cut back on marketing but experts say smaller companies need it to stand out from the crowd.

Cold War foes the United States and North Korea enjoyed a rare moment of harmony on Tuesday that could bring them closer together, when the New York Philharmonic played an unprecedented concert in the hermit state.

Former Democratic presidential hopeful Chris Dodd will endorse Barack Obama in his bid for the White House on Tuesday, a source close to the Obama campaign said.

Antidepressant medications appear to help only very severely depressed people and work no better than placebos in many patients, British researchers said.

Iraq on Tuesday condemned Turkey's incursion into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish guerrillas in the strongest terms so far and demanded an immediate end to what it called a violation of its sovereignty. The Turkish troops crossed the border last Thursday to root out PKK fighters who have used mountainous northern Iraq as a base for their fight for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey since the 1990s.

The United States' oldest symphony orchestra played an unprecedented concert on Tuesday in hermit North Korea that both sides say they hope will bring a little harmony to relations between the bitter Cold War foes.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged China on Tuesday to press North Korea to disclose its nuclear programs so that a stalled disarmament deal can move forward.