MARKETS / FINANCE

Wall Street was set for a higher open on Tuesday after Italian bond yields fell from session highs amid hopes a meeting of European finance ministers will be a step forward in resolving the region's debt crisis.

American Airlines and its parent company AMR Corp filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday after failing to win a labor deal with pilots and suffering from mounting fuel costs.

Simone Bora is contemplating the unthinkable -- an Indian wedding without lavish amounts of gold after record high prices and a sinking rupee have dimmed her hopes of sparkling at the party.

Italian borrowing costs hit euro lifetime peaks at a debt auction on Tuesday as investors demand ever higher premiums to keep funding the country, in a sign that the sovereign debt crisis is nearing make-or-break point.

Stock index futures rose on Tuesday after Italian bond yields fell from session highs amid hopes a meeting of European finance ministers will be a step forward in resolving the region's debt crisis.

Thomas H. Lee Partners is interested in buying the U.S. operations of Yahoo Inc, breaking away from other bidders that are for now eyeing either a minority stake or teaming up with the Internet giant's partners in Asia, sources familiar with the matter said.

British government borrowing will fall much less than expected because of slower economic growth, finance minister George Osborne said on Tuesday, erasing any room for error in the coalition government's deficit reduction plan.

Stock index futures rose on Tuesday on investor relief over a well-received Italian bond auction that showed the highly indebted country still had access to capital markets.

Worries about the euro zone's debt crisis worsened in November and dragged the European Commission's economic and consumer sentiment index to a two-year low, heightening the risks of a recession in Europe.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.15 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.27 percent at 4:19 a.m. ET.

British finance minister George Osborne will pave the way for several more years of deep government spending cuts, when he reveals forecasts for much weaker growth and a borrowing overshoot of 86 billion pounds over the coming years.

In the past week Hungary's bonds have become junk, the forint has slumped to a near-record low against the euro and the OECD has said the economy is headed for recession next year.

Gold prices barely moved Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of a critical Eurozone meeting expected to approve a boost to the continent's bailout fund and OK the next tranche of aid to debt-choked Greece.

Simone Bora is contemplating the unthinkable - an Indian wedding without lavish amounts of gold - after record high prices and a sinking rupee dimmed her hopes of sparkling at the party.

When Novo Nordisk's chief financial officer met marketing colleagues last Friday the conversation moved far beyond the usual discussion of sales and performance. Jesper Brandgaard asked a simple, far-reaching question: how would the firm set prices for two pivotal new insulin products if the euro collapsed?

Euro zone finance ministers are to agree on Tuesday the details of bolstering their bailout fund to help prevent contagion in bond markets, under pressure from the United States and ratings agencies to staunch a two-year-old debt crisis.

A two-day rally in European shares came to a halt on Tuesday, while the euro slipped from highs on investor caution ahead of an Italian bond auction and widespread skepticism over whether European policymakers will be able to prevent debt contagion.

When Novo Nordisk's chief financial officer met marketing colleagues last Friday the conversation moved far beyond the usual discussion of sales and performance. Jesper Brandgaard asked a simple, far-reaching question: how would the firm set prices for two pivotal new insulin products if the euro collapsed?

Several big banks are in talks to reach a settlement with bond insurer MBIA Inc that could end a legal battle over billions of dollars in losses triggered by the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

About $200 million in customer funds missing at MF Global may have surfaced at JP Morgan Chase in Britain, the New York Times said, citing people briefed on the matter.

Asian shares and the euro extended a rally into a second day on Tuesday, as investors were buoyed by expectations that European policy makers will outline details of how they will leverage a bailout fund so as to avert contagion in sovereign debt markets.

Thomas H. Lee Partners is interested in buying the U.S. operations of Yahoo Inc, breaking away from other bidders that are for now eyeing either a minority stake or teaming up with the Internet giant's partners in Asia, sources familiar with the matter said.

Euro zone finance ministers are to agree on Tuesday on details of leveraging their EFSF bailout fund so it can help Italy or Spain should they need aid, and are likely to approve the next tranche of emergency loans for Greece and Ireland.

Ratings agency Moody's said on Tuesday it could downgrade the subordinated debt of 87 banks across 15 European Union nations on concerns that governments would be too cash-strapped to bail out holders of riskier bank debt in times of stress.

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's could change the outlook for France's triple-A rating to negative within the next 10 days, a French newspaper reported on Monday, citing several sources. Such a move would signal a possible downgrade.

Fitch Ratings gave the United States until 2013 to come up with a credible plan to tackle its ballooning budget deficit or risk a downgrade of the country's coveted AAA rating.

One glance at the numbers for the first big weekend of holiday shopping and you might think Americans are flush with cash and spending it freely.

Fitch Ratings on Monday revised to negative the outlook on the United States' AAA credit rating after a Congress committee failed last week to agree on at least $1.2 trillion in deficit-reduction measures.

Activision Blizzard Chief Executive Bobby Kotick told Reuters that stores may face a shortage of its new children's game this holiday season and tried to cast doubt on a rival's upcoming game that analysts say could eat into Activision's user base.