MARKETS / FINANCE

Gold traded flat on Tuesday, recouping initial losses, fueled by worries over a euro zone economic slowdown and fears that France could be sucked into its spiraling debt crisis.

When Mariya Kruseck broke her tailbone snowboarding and lost her part-time job five years ago, the then 19-year-old college student was relieved she had bought payment protection to go with her credit card.

Bank of America Corp learned a lesson from its abandoned debit card fee and will work to provide transparency and fair pricing to customers while producing a return for shareholders, Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said on Tuesday.

The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday tried to parry congressional critics of million-dollar pay packages for executives at the government-owned mortgage firms, saying he would seek to push compensation lower over time.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein said it is too early to say that Wall Street business is down because the industry has fundamentally changed.

Stocks rose in a choppy market on Tuesday, led by gains in technology shares that offset worries the euro zone's debt troubles will spread.

Hedge fund manager and long-time gold bull John Paulson's move to slash ETF bullion holdings by a third in the third quarter does not appear to be a sign that he is abandoning his upbeat view of the metal, industry sources and analysts said.

Retailers have grappled with rising commodity costs, thinning margins and jittery consumer confidence all year. Now they're set for the ultimate test: The make-or-break holiday shopping season, which accounts for 20-to-30 percent of all retail sales.

The euro zone economy grew just 0.2 percent in the third quarter as solid growth in Germany and France was dampened by countries at the sharp end of the debt crisis and economists expect a slide into recession by early next year.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as rising Italian bond yields kept alive worries that the euro zone's debt troubles will spread.

U.S. regulators are closer to discovering what happened to an estimated $600 million in missing customer money tied to bankrupt brokerage MF Global, but the search continues, an official said on Tuesday.

The debt crisis sweeping southern Europe and lapping France is cause for alarm in Washington and Beijing, but not it seems for the rank and file of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party.

Credit Suisse Group AG will fully integrate private bank Clariden Leu into its organization, ending the 250 year-old Leu brand and cutting jobs to achieve 200 million Swiss francs ($220 million) in annual cost savings.

Retail sales rose more than expected in October as strong receipts from motor vehicle and building material dealers offset the drag from service stations, suggesting the economy started the fourth quarter with some vigor.

Paul Achleitner's move to Deutsche Bank AG's supervisory board installs a dealmaker with deep connections to the German establishment and defuses a potential conflict with shareholders as well as future co-chiefs Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen.

Retail sales rose more than expected in October as strong receipts from motor vehicle and building material dealers offset the drag from service stations, suggesting the economy started the fourth quarter with some vigor.

A gauge of manufacturing in New York state rose in November, ending five straight months of contraction, while the outlook for coming months strengthened, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report on Tuesday.

Retail sales rose broadly in October and a gauge of New York state manufacturing showed growth this month for the first time since May, suggesting the economy started the fourth quarter with vigor.

Great Panther Silver posted a higher third-quarter net profit, and the Canadian miner, which operates mainly in Mexico, expects output in the fourth quarter to rise 14 percent over the current period.

South Africa's mine workers union on Tuesday rejected an increased wage offer from Lonmin Plc and said it was moving closer toward launching a strike at the platinum miner's operations.

Rising Chinese purchases of platinum jewelry will boost global demand for the metal to a two-year high in 2011, a British consultancy said Tuesday.

Wall Street stocks rose slightly on Tuesday but lingering risk aversion tied to Europe's debt crisis sent Italy's bond yields back into a perceived danger zone, capping gains.

Wall Street was set to fall on Tuesday, led by banks and resource-related stocks, as risk aversion tied to Europe's debt crisis sent Italy's bond yields back into a perceived danger zone.

The euro zone economy grew just 0.2 percent in the third quarter as Germany and France posted solid growth but countries at the sharp end of the debt crisis fared much worse, and analysts expect bleaker times ahead across the 17-country currency bloc.

Union workers at Freeport Indonesia are extending their strike into a third month, keeping production and exports halted from the world's second biggest copper mine.

China's autocatalyst palladium demand growth is expected to slow as the auto sector cuts back on buyer incentives, refiner Johnson Matthey said on Tuesday.

Greece and private bondholders will begin thrashing out a deal on Thursday to halve its public debt, a key pillar of a bailout plan to save the country from bankruptcy and ejection from the euro zone, sources said on Tuesday.

Hedge fund manager and long-time gold bull John Paulson slashed his bullion holdings by a third in the third quarter, data showed, dampening sentiment in the gold market on Tuesday.

Gold prices fell for a second day Tuesday on growing evidence that Europe's two-year sovereign debt crisis is spreading into the continent's core economies.