IBT Staff Reporter

Bayer Schering Pharma, the drug business of Germany's Bayer AG, expects its revenues in Asia to rise by around 17 percent to more than 1.9 billion euros.

Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday reported an overall 14 percent sales decline in August, hurt by a decline in showroom sales, but set a higher production target for the fourth quarter. Excluding Ford's European luxury brands and heavy-duty trucks, Ford's sales fell 15 percent in August.

Manufacturing expansion slowed in August as a decline in new orders led factory managers to opt for caution, while construction spending unexpectedly fell in July, according to data released on Tuesday.

NovaStar Financial Inc said on Tuesday that it would eliminate 275 jobs and slash direct mortgage lending to preserve cash after it was forced to cancel a $101.2 million rights offering, and its shares fell 14 percent.

Worldwide semiconductor sales rose 2.2 percent to $20.6 billion in July, an industry group said on Tuesday, helped by rising demand for consumer electronics.

Vodafone sees glowing prospects for its position as Spanish market leader in third-generation (3G) mobile phone services, with 60 percent of its new customers opting for net-friendly handsets, more than overall market leader Telefonica.

Double Fusion, a private company that connects advertisers and video game publishers, rolls out new technology on Tuesday to allow advertisers to mount last-minute ad campaigns in games the same way they use spot TV ads.

Eurostar set a new Paris to London rail speed record of just over two hours on Tuesday with the first train to use Britain's long-awaited high speed track at around 320 kilometers (about 199 miles) per hour.

Apple Inc's iPhone outsold all smartphones in the United States in July, its first full month on sale, accounting for 1.8 percent of all U.S. mobile handset sales, research group iSuppli said on Tuesday.

Gold hit a six-week high on Tuesday, helped by safe-haven buying and good physical demand, with investors awaiting the release of U.S. economic data that may change bullion's short-term direction.

After a lightning visit to Iraq where he hinted at possible U.S. troop cuts, President George W. Bush arrived in Australia on Tuesday for an Asia-Pacific leaders' meeting amid heavy security and anti-war protests.

Millions of commuters in London endured travel chaos on Tuesday as a 72-hour strike by maintenance workers closed most of the underground rail network.

Hurricane Felix slammed into Nicaragua and Honduras on Tuesday as a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm, lashing remote coastal villages with violent winds and torrential rains.

Growing dependence on cheap coal to power rapid economic growth in the Asia-Pacific could undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that is blamed for harmful changes in the world's climate, experts said on Tuesday.

Kraft Foods Inc said on Tuesday it struck deals for Starbucks coffee to be sold for its Tassimo hot beverage machine and to replace the current manufacturer of the Tassimo machine with Bosch Household Appliances.

Title insurer First American Corp. said on Tuesday that it expected to reduce personnel by about 1,300 in the third quarter, citing rapidly changing economic conditions.

Wireless service provider MetroPCS Communications Inc said on Tuesday it proposed buying competitor Leap Wireless International Inc for more than $5 billion in stock.

Acacia Research Corp said its Disc Link Corp unit agreed with Oracle Corp to resolve a pending lawsuit on patents relating to portable storage devices with links that can retrieve added data through the Internet.

Franklin Templeton Investments, which manages $621 billion in assets, has bought 25 percent of Dubai's Algebra Capital Ltd and wants to grow its business in Arab markets, it said on Tuesday.

Deutsche Boerse declined to comment when asked on Tuesday whether the group was interested in U.S. Nasdaq Stock Market Inc's stake in London Stock Exchange.

Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli is considering buying Campbell Soup Co.'s Godiva Chocolatier brand, its chief executive told the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper.

Companies showed signs of shrugging off the caution that has enveloped the world economy since a credit crisis broke, as investors looked on Tuesday to U.S. data to gauge the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate cut.

The Nikkei average lost 0.6 percent on Tuesday on caution ahead of a wave of U.S. economic data, while clothing company Fast Retailing Co Ltd extended its slide after announcing further acquisition plans.

Uncertainty about the revised terms of the planned merger of Gaz de France and Suez and worries about a possible interference of the French state in the new power giant nagged the companies' shares again on Tuesday.

U.S. stock index futures indicated a weaker open on Wall Street on Tuesday before a key economic report forecast to show a dip in manufacturing activity last month.

Oil held above $74 on Tuesday, as investors tracked a potentially catastrophic hurricane threatening Central America and OPEC stuck to supply curbs ahead of its meeting next week.

The yen strengthened on Tuesday as softer equity markets ahead of a flurry of U.S. data signaled a return to risk aversion for nervous markets, leading investors to unwind carry trade positions.

Usually derided as teetering on the tip of irrelevance, this year's Asia-Pacific leaders' summit in Sydney hopes to rise above its reputation for glacial action and have a real impact on the course of climate change. Leaders gathered for the meeting hope to build on June's G8 summit, in which nations agreed to consider a 50 percent cut in emissions by 2050 and build momentum ahead of a U.N. climate change meeting later this month.

Now with directorial clout, British filmaker Ridley Scott remakes the movie he made 25 years ago.