MARKETS / FINANCE

Gold prices overcame nearly all of a big early session loss Tuesday sparked by Standard & Poor's threatening 15 European nations with a credit rating downgrade.

The Federal Reserve looks set to hold off on easing monetary policy for a second meeting in a row as it gauges the impact of Europe's crisis on the U.S. economy and ponders additional transparency steps.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in Germany on Tuesday that the European Central Bank was playing a positive role in the euro zone debt crisis, but he played down talk that the U.S. Federal Reserve could boost IMF funding for the crisis.

Shares of Greece-focused European Goldfields Ltd. were halted Tuesday after rocketing more than 20 percent on a reported approach by another gold company, according to a published report.

China's Qihoo 360 Technology Co denied once again a report that alleged the online services provider was either committing fraud or was misleading Wall Street about its revenue model.

Wells Fargo & Co is well positioned for upcoming stress tests of the largest U.S. banks, Chief Executive John Stumpf said on Tuesday.

Tighter oversight of euro zone fiscal policy can be achieved through minor, rapid adjustments to the EU treaty, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy told EU leaders in an interim report to be discussed at a summit on December 8-9.

The stock of online retail giant Amazon.com (AMZN) has dipped recently, but is the pull-back a buy opportunity?

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn went hostile with his $1.73 billion bid to buy Commercial Metals Co on Tuesday, a day after the metals recycler rejected his buy-out attempt.

Stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday as cautious investors continued to digest the S&P's recent downgrade warning for the euro zone.

Global miner Xstrata said on Tuesday it still saw value in its investment in Lonmin , despite a significant underperformance in the platinum producer's share price against the sector this year.

Schroders holds the lowest position possible in equities and has extremely high levels of gold and cash, reflecting its concern about recession in the developed world and a failure to resolve the euro zone debt crisis, its chief investment officer said on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks were little changed in choppy trading on Tuesday, with cautious investors hoping S&P's downgrade warning for euro zone nations would lead to tighter budget rules at a summit this week.

A threat by Standard & Poors to slash credit ratings across the euro zone sounded a clarion call on Tuesday, which could help Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel force through a change to the European Union treaty at a summit this week.

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit from greater margins, but its chief financial officer said real improvement will not occur until U.S. home buying rebounds.

The Citigroup Economic Surprise Index (CESIYUSD), a closely watched index that compares economists' expectations for key indicators and actual results, is at a peak. If trends are to be believed, it's three months from a cyclical nadir -- a point that has signaled a stock market correction in the past.

Centerra Gold Inc. resumed shipping diesel fuel and other supplies from the Kumtor marshalling yard in Kyrgyzstan to Kumtor mine after the voluntary lifting of the previously announced roadblock, the company said Tuesday.

Stocks were little changed in choppy trading on Tuesday, with cautious investors hoping S&P's downgrade warning for the euro zone would help force budget changes at a European Union summit this week.

Afghanistan has begun accepting applications to explore and produce gold and copper in four areas, the country's Ministry of Mines said Tuesday.

Iamgold Corp., a Canadian gold producer, said Tuesday it paid $10 million for a 13.2 percent stake in Tolima Gold Corp., which holds interests in Colombia's most prolific gold belts.

Retailers are generally optimistic about their holiday performance so far, although shaky economic conditions could change things quickly, the chief executive officer of American Express Co said on Tuesday.

The balance sheet of the Eurosystem of central banks hit a new high last week, while gold and gold receivables held by euro zone central banks remained unchanged at 419.822 billion euros in the week ending Dec. 2, European Central Bank data showed on Tuesday.

Women are attending and obtaining degrees from U.S. colleges and universities at a pace exceeding that of men. On some co-ed campuses, the girls outnumber the boys by a ratio of almost three-to-one.

Home prices fell in October for the third month in a row with growth in the beleaguered sector expected to remain flat for years to come, data analysis firm CoreLogic Inc said on Tuesday.

Stocks were set to edge higher at the open on Tuesday as investors hoped S&P's downgrade warning for the euro zone would help force budget changes at a European Union summit this week.

Same bed, different dreams.Since the inception of the euro, France and Germany have pursued divergent visions of European economic and monetary union. In two decades, the French have become a little more German, the Germans a little more French. But the gulf remains.

Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on higher margins, and indicated a possible uptick in home deliveries and pricing in 2012 based on an increase in backlog and community count.

Stock index futures rose on Tuesday as investors hoped S&P's downgrade warning on the euro zone's credit ratings will help force through budget changes at a European Union summit this week.

European stocks and the euro slid and most bond yields rose after the threat from rating agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade euro zone countries en masse if no credible plan to solve the debt crisis emerges at a summit later this week.