CHINA

Canada will apply existing foreign ownership laws to PetroChina's bid to buy Canadian oil sands assets but will not introduce further barriers to investing in the country, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday.

China, India, the United States and Germany are looking to replace old coal-fired energy plants, helping make up for slack overall global demand, Hitachi Power Europe's business development manager said.

Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch upgraded Coach Inc to buy from neutral, citing a successful start to the handbags and accessories maker's strategy of lowering price points.

Manufacturers from several nations delivered upbeat news on Tuesday, indicating a recovery from the deepest global recession since World War Two is gradually gaining traction.

Lenovo, the world's No. 4 PC brand, says it plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange when rules permit, opening an opportunity for the firm in one of the world's best performing stock markets.

Gain Capital Holdings Inc, an online provider of retail foreign exchange trading services, is planning to raise up to $125 million in the public markets, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

NEW YORK - Strong economic data on the manufacturing sector helped boost U.S. industrial shares in early trading on Tuesday, amid optimism the sector's earnings bottomed out in the second quarter and are set to improve.

NEW YORK - U.S. copper futures headed higher at the open on Tuesday, recovering a portion of the prior session's steep losses, as equity markets regained their footing and manufacturing and housing data suggested the economic recovery was on track.

China's Yunnan province is investigating possible lead poisoning in its capital city of Kunming, while smelter officials in its top lead producing city, Gejiu, are worried the provincial government may close local smelters with half a million tonnes of annual capacity.

Japan's Democratic Party, set to take power after a landslide election win on Sunday, has promised deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and more renewable energy use.

North Korea, facing tougher U.N. sanctions for its nuclear test in May and a series of missile launches, said on Tuesday it had sent a Foreign Ministry delegation to China, its biggest benefactor and only major ally.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday as ongoing concerns over the strength of an economic recovery looked set to eclipse a report expected to show U.S. manufacturing expanded in August.

Oil rose above $70 a barrel on Tuesday in choppy trade, as the market awaited U.S. data expected to indicate economic recovery and higher fuel consumption in the world's biggest energy market.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday as ongoing concerns over the strength of an economic recovery looked set to eclipse a report expected to show U.S. manufacturing expanded in August.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday as ongoing concerns over the strength of an economic recovery looked set to eclipse a report expected to show U.S. manufacturing expanded in August.

(Corrects first paragraph to show U.S. manufacturing is expected to have expanded for the first time since just after the recession began, not since the recession began.)

Oil fell below $70 a barrel on Tuesday, mirroring weaker equity markets, and dragged by data showing Britain's manufacturing sector dipped unexpectedly in August.

Stock index futures fell on Tuesday, ahead of report expected to show U.S. manufacturing expanded for the first time since the recession began, as fears persist about the strength of the global recovery.

Global stocks eased on Tuesday as buoyant shares and economic data in China failed to erase concern over the durability of the recent rally, while the yen held firm after a landslide election win for Japan's opposition.

China's vast manufacturing sector kept up its steady recovery last month, ignoring the gloom engulfing the Shanghai stock market, a pair of surveys showed on Tuesday.

Chinese shares bucked up on Tuesday after Monday's rout, helped by upbeat economic data, but the Aussie dollar fell after the central bank dashed expectations it would shift to a tighter policy bias.