CHINA

Asian suppliers to Apple Inc (AAPL.O) have begun manufacturing a lower-priced version of its hot-selling iPhone 4 with a smaller 8 gigabyte flash drive, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, boosted by better-than-expected manufacturing data in Germany and China and by uncertainty in Libya where government loyalists staged a fight back.

Stocks rose on Tuesday, but a rally from premarket trading faded for a second consecutive day, a sign the recent bout of selling may not yet be exhausted.

Gold dropped 2.4 percent on Tuesday from the record $1,917.90 it achieve the day before as investors moved out of safe-haven assets like precious metals and U.S. Treasuries for stocks and other riskier assets.

China Telecom Corp Ltd, the smallest of the country's three telecommunications carriers, is still in talks with Apple Inc to carry its iPhone, targeting growth in high-end users.

China's factory sector is likely to slow slightly for a second consecutive month in August as sluggish overseas demand saps new orders, HSBC's China Flash PMI showed on Tuesday.

BYD Co's profit warning and failure to deliver its promised electric car plan sent shares plunging to a more than two-year low, as the Chinese auto and battery maker backed by Warren Buffett struggles with steady sales declines and waning popularity of its top model.

Stock index futures rose sharply on Tuesday, tracking global equities that gained after gauges of Chinese and euro zone economic activity came in less gloomy than feared.

Spot gold soared to an all-time high above $1,910 on Tuesday, scoring a record top for a fourth consecutive session, as persistent worries about global economic growth burnished bullion's safe-haven appeal.

Stock index futures rose sharply on Tuesday, tracking global equities that gained after gauges of Chinese and euro zone economic activity came in less gloomy than feared.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's China unit has received regulatory approval to trade gold futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, it said on Tuesday, becoming the second foreign bank allowed access to the country's gold futures market.

A son of Muammar Gaddafi, previously reported captured, made a surprise appearance with jubilant supporters in Tripoli overnight, urging loyalists to fight off rebels who say they control most of the Libyan capital.

Microsoft Corp will develop and market cloud-computing products in China with a Chinese partner, a pattern that the software giant could use as a model in other emerging markets, an executive said on Tuesday.

Brent crude rose toward $109 on Tuesday as fighting in Libya continued and in anticipation of a fall in U.S. crude stockpiles.

World stocks, the euro and commodity prices advanced on Tuesday after gauges of Chinese and German manufacturing activity were not as weak as some had feared.

World stocks, the euro and commodity prices advanced on Tuesday after gauges of Chinese and German manufacturing activity were not as weak as some had feared.

Spot gold soared to an all-time high above $1,910 on Tuesday, scoring a record top for a fourth consecutive session, as persistent worries about global economic growth burnished bullion's safe-haven appeal.

European shares were set to follow Asian gains on Tuesday after a survey of Chinese factory output soothed fears of a hard landing for the world's No.2 economy, but gold hit a record on persistent concerns about the health of the developed world.

China's factory sector is likely to slow slightly for a second consecutive month in August as sluggish overseas demand saps new orders, HSBC's China Flash PMI indicated Tuesday.

A group of 35 Michael Jackson fan clubs have joined forces to lobby for the cancellation of a Michael Jackson tribute concert, saying the October event is doomed to fail.

Brent crude neared $109 Tuesday as fighting in Libya continued and in anticipation of a fall in U.S. crude stockpiles.