MARKETS / FINANCE

Stocks rose on Tuesday, led by financials, as better-than-expected bank earnings overshadowed new worries about the crisis in Europe fueled by a warning over France's credit rating.

A Swiss parliamentary commission is edging toward accepting a government proposal that would allow the transfer of bank clients' data to the United States to settle a tax evasion dispute, Swiss news agency SDA reported.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday the country's tax code was riddled with special preferences but it was not possible to fix the system before the end of the year.

Producer prices rose at their fastest pace in five months in September as the cost of gasoline surged, but a small gain in core prices suggested the increased price pressure was unlikely to be sustained.

Gold was set for its largest one-day fall in two weeks on Tuesday after U.S. bank Goldman Sachs reported a quarterly loss, which coupled with evidence of slowing Chinese growth and mounting Eurozone concerns, lifted the dollar.

Newmont Mining Corp. halted work at its giant Yanacocha gold mine on Monday after protesters blocked an access road and torched eight pieces of earth-moving equipment, prompting the company to ask Peru's government to intervene.

ETF Securities said on Tuesday the amount of metal it held to back its Physical Platinum exchange traded commodity fell 10 percent in the week to Aug. 24.

Producer prices rose more than expected in September to record their largest increase in five months as gasoline prices surged, a government report showed on Tuesday.

U.S. producer prices rose more than expected in September to record their largest increase in five months as gasoline prices surged, a government report showed on Tuesday.

Scorpio Mining Corp. said Tuesday that third-quarter production of silver and other metals from its Nuestra Señora operation in Mexico rose 13 percent over the year-earlier level.

The United States is set to pass narrowly on Tuesday its toughest measures yet to curtail speculation in commodity markets, likely shifting the focus of a fierce four-year debate from the regulators to the courts.

Volatile markets and souring mortgages slashed earnings by nearly a third at Bank of America's wealth management businesses during the third quarter.

Wall Street stocks fell on Tuesday after a Moody's warning about France's credit rating added to worries about Europe and mixed earnings from some big corporations.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc lost $428 million during the third quarter, its second ever quarterly loss as a public company, hurt by sharp declines in the value of investment securities and customer trading assets.

Producer prices rose more than expected in September to record their largest increase in five months as gasoline prices surged, a government report showed on Tuesday.

Wall Street stocks fell on Tuesday after a Moody's warning about France's credit rating added to worries about Europe and mixed earnings from some big corporations.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc lost $428 million in the third quarter, only its second quarterly loss as a public company, as its investment portfolio tanked and trading revenue fell.

Bank of America Corp reported a third-quarter profit, helped by accounting gains and asset sales, though the bank's main businesses showed signs of weakness as lending profit fell and expenses rose.

Homebuilder sentiment perked up in October to its highest level in a year and a half, though ongoing challenges still kept confidence historically low, the National Association of Home Builders said on Tuesday.

Moody's decision to review France's triple-A credit rating cast new doubt on Tuesday on Europe's hopes of drawing a line under its sovereign debt crisis, five days before a crucial EU summit.

Canada-based Eastern Platinum Ltd. said Tuesday production from its flagship Crocodile River mine in South Africa fell nearly a third due mainly to the consequences of labor disputes earlier this year.

China's economic expansion slowed in the third quarter to its weakest pace in more than two years as euro-debt strains and a sluggish U.S. economy took a toll, but healthy domestic drivers suggest little room to relax monetary policy near term.

Contentious legislation in the United States aimed at pressuring China to raise the value of the yuan reflects broader American frustrations with its trade partner, a senior U.S. trade official said on Tuesday.

Kazakhstan, the second-largest ex-Soviet economy and oil producer after Russia, has enough reserves to weather a new wave of financial crisis and keep its currency stable, the National Bank governor told Reuters Insider TV.

Bank of America Corp, the largest U.S. bank by assets, reported a $5.9 billion third-quarter profit after selling shares of China Construction Bank and recording two accounting gains.

S&P 500 stock index futures eased modestly on Tuesday after a Moody's warning on France's credit rating and a slowdown in China's growth revived concerns over a worsening debt crisis in Europe and a hard landing for Asian economies.

Equity index futures pointed to a flat opening on Tuesday after Moody's said it would review France's credit rating and investors grappled with less-than-stellar earnings from some big corporations.

Bank of America Corp asked a judge to disqualify the law firm representing AIG in the insurance company's $10 billion mortgage-fraud lawsuit against the bank, alleging a conflict of interest by one of the firm's partners.

Voters in a sparsely populated district of rural Alaska have narrowly passed a ballot initiative that could block development of the controversial Pebble Mine, local officials said late Monday.