MARKETS / FINANCE

Wall Street stocks kicked off 2012 with a rally on Tuesday after data showed U.S. manufacturing activity and construction spending picked up, signaling the economic recovery was gaining steam.

The tiny central African nation of Rwanda elected the world's first women-dominated legislature.

Manufacturing activity picked up nationwide in December, with new orders and employment improving, according to a national survey of purchasing managers.

Wall Street stocks kicked off 2012 with a sharp rally on Tuesday after data showed U.S. manufacturing activity and construction spending picked up, signaling the economic recovery was gaining steam.

The focus of the U.S. political world is on Iowa and its caucuses, as it marks the first, popular-based data point of the 2012 campaign for president of the United States. But that does not mean Iowa is predictive.

Manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in six months in December, capping a late-year rally in the sector, while a rise in new orders suggested good momentum in 2012, an industry report showed on Tuesday.

Construction spending surged to a near 1-1/2 year high in November as investment in public and private projects rose solidly, cementing expectations of

Billionaire hedge fund manager Philip Falcone's LightSquared Inc on Tuesday named telecommunications veteran Marc Montagner as chief financial officer, replacing Michael Montemarano.

Pressure grew on Hungary to change its policies to satisfy international lenders on Tuesday after bond yields jumped above 10 percent and the European Commission told the government to safeguard the central bank's independence.

Wall Street stocks kicked off 2012 with a sharp rally on Tuesday after data showed U.S. manufacturing activity and construction spending picked up, signaling the economic recovery was gaining steam.

Stocks slightly added to their sharp gains on Tuesday, with both the Dow and S&P advancing two percent after data on construction spending and manufacturing came in higher than expected.

Wall Street stocks were set for a sharply higher open on Tuesday as upbeat Chinese and German data boosted optimism about the global economy after the S&P 500 index ended flat in 2011.

BP has called on contractor Halliburton to pay all costs and expenses it incurred to clean up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which the oil major previously put at around $42 billion.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones futures and Nasdaq 100 futures up 1.1 to 1.9 percent at 6 a.m. EST.

Banks cut their intake of one-week European Central Bank funding by just under 15 billion euros on Tuesday, as they continued to readjust their borrowing needs having recently gorged themselves on the ECB's first ever offering of three-year cash.

Policymakers marked the 10th anniversary on Sunday of the introduction of euro notes and coins by urging governments in the currency bloc to save and consolidate to overcome their debt crisis.

Computer hackers published details of thousands of active Israeli credit cards after breaking into Israeli websites, the chief executive of Israel's largest card company said Tuesday.

Resilience in the manufacturing sector and a surprise drop in German unemployment lifted global stocks and the euro on Tuesday but positive sentiment is seen vulnerable to a daunting schedule of first quarter debt issuance in Europe.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has rung in the New Year with a new Twitter account that includes praise for Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum and opinions on President Barack Obama's policies and the Steve Jobs biography.

The International Monetary Fund will release as early as this summer the results of health checks on Japanese banks, including their ability to withstand the European debt crisis and weak economic growth, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

If hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert wants to save one of the oldest retail empires in the United States, he should consider shutting down Sears Holdings Corp's Kmart discount chain and focus on revamping its Sears department stores.

Economists trimmed forecasts for Brazil's inflation rate for 2012 for a fifth week, after estimating that consumer prices last year topped the official target for the first time since 2003, a central bank weekly survey showed on Monday.

Sprint Nextel Corp extended a December 31 deadline for LightSquared Inc, with which it may share infrastructure, to get a regulatory clearance for operating a planned telecommunications network.

SANTIAGO, Jan 2 - Chile's state copper giant Codelco said on Monday it exercised a disputed option to buy a stake in Anglo American's south Chile mining assets, but is willing to consider taking a smaller stake if Anglo proposes a formula that safeguards its full value.

Shaky Europe. Political gridlock. Volatile markets.

SANTIAGO, Jan 2 - Chile state copper giant Codelco on Monday said it had exercised a $6 billion option to buy mining assets in southern Chile, but global miner Anglo American defied the move, setting the stage for a lengthy legal battle.

Global miner Anglo American said on Monday it was not obliged to sell any of its shares in its southern Chilean properties to state copper giant Codelco, as a battle over a disputed option contract deepened.

American shareholders are suing Britain's Lloyds Banking Group and the bank's former executives, saying they were misled over its rescue of fellow lender HBOS in the depths of the financial crisis in 2008.