BUSINESS

Following are highlights of a news conference by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday following their talks in Berlin to discuss how to boost growth and jobs in euro zone states hit by the debt crisis.

Following are highlights of a news conference by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday following their talks in Berlin to discuss how to boost growth and jobs in euro zone states hit by the debt crisis.

Volkswagen is itching to combine Porsche SE's sportscar business with its own and is looking at the possibility of using put-call options to achieve that, VW Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said.

Home prices fell for a fourth straight month in November as distressed sales continued to weigh on prices, data analysis firm CoreLogic said on Monday.

Stocks were set to tick up at the open on Monday as investors focused on a European meeting intended to find ways to boost the region's economies and tackle a debt crisis and prepared for the start of U.S. corporate earnings.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open for equities on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.1 percent, for the Dow Jones up 0.1 percent and for the Nasdaq 100 up 0.1 percent.

U.S. authorities are moving toward taking legal action against Wegelin & Co, which could lead to an indictment of one of Switzerland's last pure private banks, on charges that it enabled wealthy Americans to evade taxes, according to two persons with knowledge of the case.

The German and French leaders meet on Monday to discuss ways to boost growth in euro zone states struggling to overcome the sovereign debt crisis and rising unemployment, and finalise a deal to increase fiscal coordination within the currency union.

A part of The World, a man-made archipelago off the coast of Dubai, is reportedly ready to receive tourists. The island - supposedly Lebanon Island - has seen development activities recently.

Signs of improvement in the German and U.S. economies helped offset concerns over the prospects for euro zone debt auctions later this week, lifting the single currency and European shares on Monday.

The euro zone crisis seemed to vanish from the headlines for a brief moment as 2011 ticked over into 2012, but it is about to return with a vengeance.

Europe as a whole may avoid a recession this year and there were reasons to be more upbeat about prospects for the region, South Africa's Business Day newspaper quoted International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde as saying.

Many partners at Goldman Sachs Group , can expect to see their 2011 pay cut at least in half from 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Global regulators vowed on Sunday to press ahead with tough new liquidity rules for banks from 2015, but in a move to head off opposition from industry, also said lenders can tap into safety buffers in times of stress.

Signs the recovery is gaining strength suggest the Federal Reserve may not need to buy any more bonds to spur growth, a top policymaker said on Saturday.

Counting container ships plying the high seas and air cargo takeoffs is one way to track the outlook for the global economy. Both measures point to weak growth in the months ahead but no severe storms.

Alcoa Inc shares could rise by as much as 30 percent in 2012 as weak aluminum prices may have bottomed while demand for the metal remains strong, financial weekly Barron's reported on Sunday.

U.S. authorities have given Swiss banks suspected of selling tax evasion services to wealthy Americans a Jan 23. deadline to hand over the names of client advisers, a Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday.

Nissan Motor Co and Daimler AG said on Sunday they would produce Mercedes-Benz gasoline engines at Nissan's Tennessee factory from 2014 to be fitted on Mercedes and Infiniti models.

Tobii Technology, a pioneer pioneer and the world leader in eye tracking and eye control technology, is all set to show off its recent innovation at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 (better known as CES 2012), which is set to kick off on Jan. 10 in Las Vegas - its gaze interface for Microsoft Windows 8 Metro, which allows users to interact with their computers using eye tracking technology.

Italy plans gradual liberalizations in sectors ranging from energy to professional services to revive its ailing economy, the industry minister said on Sunday, ahead of meetings with European partners to discuss ways to stem the debt crisis.

Chinese banks ratcheted up the pace of lending in the last month of 2011 to 640.5 billion yuan ($101.51 billion) from 562.2 billion yuan in November as the central bank eases policy to cushion the domestic impact of the global economic slowdown.

Central bank actions work better than tax and spending measures to protect an economy from shocks, even when interest rates are at rock bottom levels, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Saturday.

The World Bank will recommend reforms to China's domestic financial system as part of broader proposals to help wean the country from a dependence on exports to sustain economic growth, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Saturday.

In the constant game of thrones that is the Silicon Valley tech giants' battle for dominance, 2012 could be the year that Microsoft comes back from exile.

Stocks have strayed from their recent link to euro moves, and the start of U.S. corporate earnings next week could help shift investor focus back to U.S. fundamentals from Europe.

U.S. securities regulators said on Friday that defendants can no longer settle civil cases using neither admit nor deny language if they have already admitted to wrongdoing in parallel criminal cases.

Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin on Saturday said the Fed must impose monetary penalties on banks who entered into an April agreement with regulators over how to fix problems in their mortgage servicing businesses.

Securities regulators will no longer let companies settle civil cases without admitting or denying the charges if they have already admitted wrongdoing in parallel criminal cases.