UNITED STATES

Boosting credit to needy small businesses is crucial to sustain a tepid U.S. recovery but how to do so poses a difficult policy challenge, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Monday.

A hedge fund is taking aim at the world's biggest banks in an effort to recoup $1.2 billion it lost on subprime mortgages, entering a legal fight where so far Wall Street has largely been unscathed.

Alcoa Inc , the largest U.S. aluminum producer, posted a stronger-than-expected second-quarter profit on Monday and raised its estimate for global aluminum consumption, sending its shares up 3 percent.

U.S. railroad CSX Corp said on Monday that its profit rose 36 percent in the second quarter, beating analysts' expectations, as volume improved across the varied markets the company serves.

The Obama administration issued a new moratorium on deepwater oil drilling on Monday, a move the industry said was unnecessary and would place tens of thousands of jobs at risk.

(Corrects 4th paragraph to delete that Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke and Jeffrey Lacker spoke at the same conference; they spoke at different events)

Alcoa Inc , the largest U.S. aluminum producer, posted a second-quarter profit on Monday, as sales rose 22 percent despite a recent drop in aluminum prices.

(Corrects headline, first paragraph to show sales rose 22 percent, not 18 percent)

The U.S. Interior Department on Monday formally issued its new offshore oil drilling moratorium, saying it would end by November 30 or sooner and it would no longer be based on water depths.

A Manhattan federal judge on Monday rejected Citigroup Inc's bid to dismiss a class-action lawsuit by bondholders who said the bank misled them about its exposure to toxic mortgages.

Caution prevailed in the U.S. stock market on Monday, with indexes edging higher as investors kept bets to a minimum in front of earnings.

Caution ruled in the U.S. stock market on Monday, with indexes edging higher as investors kept bets to a minimum in front of earnings.

Campbell Soup Co is introducing new V8 juice drinks and other products to boost sales in the United States.

The Obama administration prepared a new moratorium on deepwater oil drilling on Monday, seeking to make the industry safer while protecting thousands of jobs during the worst spill in U.S. history.

BP Plc is in talks with U.S. energy company Apache Corp and others to sell assets worth up to $10 billion as it grapples with the cost of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

U.S. bank regulators would have more power to examine the largest and riskiest institutions, under a new interagency memorandum approved on Monday.

An Al Qaeda magazine posted online with articles such as make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom is a bid to recruit Americans to launch attacks in the United States, a senior U.S. lawmaker said on Monday.

Stocks were little changed on Monday as China's weakening demand for materials weighed on resource shares and as the imminent start of earnings season pushed investors to the sidelines.

Stocks were little changed on Monday as China's weakening demand for materials weighed on resource shares and as the imminent start of earnings season pushed investors to the sidelines.

The economy remains on track for firm growth and investors should not worry too much just because a few reports have been weaker than forecast, Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker said on Monday.

U.S. bank regulators would have more power to examine the largest and riskiest institutions, under a new interagency memorandum approved on Monday.