IBT Staff Reporter

Software giant Microsoft abandoned its nine-year fight with European regulators on Monday, yielding to implement substantial changes required by the European Commission.

U.S. Treasuries declined on Monday, ending a five-day runup amid a few credit worries and the eagerness of investors to seek out riskier investments, with two-year note yields reaching their lowest levels in over two years.

Oil fell towards $87 per barrel on Monday as dollar-based commodities declined on the strengthening U.S Dollar.

Shares of Apple computer surged in late Monday trading, gaining nearly 8 percent after the consumer electronics maker posted profit that surpassed Wall-Street expectations. The maker of the iPod music player estimates with a 67 percent rise in quarterly profit , led by strong sales of its Macintosh computers and a big first full quarter from the iPhone.

Retail shares were mostly higher on Monday, with gainers including Sears Holdings, Staples and Macy’s.

China is likely to become the world's second-largest consumer market by 2015, says a new report released by the Boston Consulting Group.

The dollar posted gains on Monday, making a comeback from record lows versus the Euro and other major currencies.

Sharp Corp announced on Monday that it’s April-September period operating profit would fall 12.4 percent to 79 billion yen because of higher business costs and accounting changes.

Today, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling will be meeting with business leaders about his plans to reform the capital gains tax system.

At least ten African Heads of State are xpected to attend the forthcoming information and communication technology summit in Kigali-Rwanda, on 28 October 2007, to discuss key Information and communication technologies (ICT) related issues for the Africa region.

Stocks were mixed in late trading on Monday with broader indexes posting small declines while the technology stocks rose higher ahead of Apple’s quarterly earnings announcement.

Ratification of the tentative labor contract between the United Auto Workers union and Chrysler LLC was thrown into jeopardy on Monday after workers at four of the eight assembly plants that must vote on the deal rejected it. The strong opposition to the Chrysler deal marks a setback for leadership of the UAW, which reached a tentative agreement with Chrysler on October 10 after a six-hour strike.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lambasted Moscow on Monday for using its oil and gas wealth as a "political weapon" and said democratic reforms would strengthen Russia's ties with Washington.

Dell Inc (DELL.O) said it would sell personal computers, printers, monitors and ink supplies in 1,400 Staples Inc (SPLS.O) stores in the United States, its latest move into retail after breaking from 23 years of selling directly to consumers.

Oil fell sharply toward $87 a barrel on Monday as part of a broad-based commodities sell-off on concerns over the health of the U.S. economy and a recovery in the U.S. dollar.

Merck & Co (MRK.N) reported a better-than-expected profit on Monday, helped by sales of its vaccines and cholesterol drugs, and raised its 2007 profit forecast.

Gold fell 2.6 percent on Monday after matching 28-year highs as worries about the U.S. economy and fears over bank credit triggered a heavy sell-off in financial and commodities markets.

The dollar rebounded from a fresh low on Monday as traders pared back bets against the currency after the weekend's Group of Seven meeting yielded no call to action on the falling greenback.

Oil fell nearly $2 to below $87 a barrel on Monday as financial markets tumbled on growing concerns over the health of the U.S. economy, triggering a correction from recent record highs.

Countrywide Financial Corp Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo should give up his role as chairman, and the largest U.S. mortgage lender should overhaul its practices for granting stock options, a union-affiliated pension plan urged on Monday.

The Dow and S&P 500 declined on Monday as energy company shares fell on lower oil prices and investors worried about the economy, but Nasdaq rose, lifted by Apple Inc. Oil dropped 2 percent amid economic concerns, sending Exxon Mobil Corp down 2.1 percent at $90.15. The stock weighed on the Dow and S&P 500.

Turkey said on Monday it will exhaust diplomatic channels before launching any military strike into northern Iraq to root out Kurdish rebels, who killed at least a dozen Turkish soldiers in fighting over the weekend.

IBM and Taiwan's top chip design firm Mediatek Inc said on Monday they are jointly launching a research and development project to develop ultra-fast chipsets to tap into growth in the consumer market.

AT&T Inc, the biggest U.S. mobile service, said on Monday it would offer wireless song downloads from Napster Inc's digital music service, expanding an existing agreement.

Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have lined up emergency funds of up to $30 billion from the U.S. Federal Reserve to bail out American clients caught up in the global credit crunch, a paper said.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President William Poole said on Friday that interest rates are about right and if the Fed decides to cut again, it ought be confident it will not have to quickly reverse course.

British insurer Resolution hit six-year highs in a weaker market on Monday, lifted by hopes of a 5 billion pound ($10.2 billion) bid from rival Standard Life, backed by giant Swiss Re.

Multinational retailers are waiting for India's chaotic industry to settle down.

Microsoft Corp ended three years of resistance on Monday and finally agreed to comply with a landmark 2004 antitrust decision by the European Commission.