MARKETS / FINANCE

Democrats in Congress are racing against the clock to renew unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of jobless Americans, in legislation that also raises taxes on investment fund managers and multinational companies.

The Federal Reserve will watch the U.S. economy's progress through autumn and into 2011 as it decides how long it will hold interest rates at ultra-low levels, a top Fed official said on Tuesday.

Yahoo Inc and Nokia Oyj said they would team up to boost their mobile Internet offerings, seeking to regain market share lost to rivals like Apple Inc and Google Inc.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the Internet social network will roll out new privacy settings for its more than 400 million users, amid growing concerns that the company is pushing users to make more of their personal data public.

Most of Prudential Plc's investors are comfortable with its bid for AIG's Asian life unit AIA, its chairman said, moving to dispel fears shareholders may baulk at the $35.5 billion cost of the deal.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will urge European officials this week to conduct some form of banking system stress tests, CNBC reported on Tuesday, citing an Obama administration official.

A U.S. lawmaker charged with a key role in hammering out a final financial regulation bill said on Tuesday there is no need to force banks out of the lucrative over-the-counter derivatives business -- a potentially big win for Wall Street firms.

U.S. consumer confidence rose in May to a two-year high as concerns about the labor market eased, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

Consumer confidence rose for the third straight month in May to the highest in more than two years as concerns about the labor market continued to ease, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

Single-family home prices were unchanged in March from February, but fell in the first quarter on renewed price pressure, Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes showed on Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve will watch the U.S. economy's progress through autumn and into 2011 as it decides how long it will hold interest rates at ultra-low levels, a top Fed official said on Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve will watch the U.S. economy's progress through autumn and into 2011 as it decides how long it will hold interest rates at ultra-low levels, a top Fed official said on Tuesday.

News Corp's News International launched new paid-for websites for the Times of London and the Sunday Times on Tuesday, the first major consumer newspapers to charge readers for online access.

President Barack Obama is to renew a push on Tuesday to persuade the U.S. Congress to approve a $30 billion plan to spur lending to small businesses and trigger job creation.

Most of Prudential's investors are comfortable with its bid for AIG's Asian life unit AIA, its chairman said, moving to dispel fears shareholders may baulk at the $35.5 billion cost of the deal.

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Sony and Samsung Electronics discussed at a meeting on Monday further developing cooperation but not raising flat panel supplies to the Japanese firm as widely speculated, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon is broadly optimistic financial reform is headed in the right direction, he said on Monday at the Japan Society's Annual Dinner in New York.

Japan's Nikkei average fell 2 percent to its lowest in more than five months on Tuesday, as the euro fell further on worries that Europe's woes now included the health of some banks in addition to sovereign debt problems.

State governors working to close yawning deficits are again eyeing a tempting target -- the billions of dollars in benefits and wage hikes that public workers won in boom times.

Top Democratic lawmakers said on Monday they will hold a series of meetings starting in June to discuss proposals to revamp the U.S. communications law as regulators set a course on broadband oversight.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office on Monday put the cost of the Federal Reserve's emergency support program for the U.S. financial industry during the 2007-2009 crisis at about $21 billion.

The Texas Rangers baseball team filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday to ease the sale of the team to a group led by team president and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan for about $575 million.

The Texas Rangers baseball team filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday to ease the sale of the team to a group led by team president and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan for about $575 million.

The European debt crisis drew new cries of alarm on Monday as a top White House adviser warned it could slow a global economic recovery, a European Union official sharply critiqued Germany, and investors worried a Spanish bank bailout could signal further distress.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes touched a five-month high in April amid a late rush to take advantage of a homebuyer tax credit, but a jump in houses on the market pointed to a slow recovery.

Gentiva Health Services Inc agreed to buy Odyssey HealthCare Inc in a $1 billion cash deal, which could make it one of the top players in the U.S. home and hospice care market and spark more consolidation in the space.

The U.S. Federal Reserve does not expect to sell any of the billions of dollars worth of assets it bought to boost the economy in 2009 until it has started raising interest rates in a strong recovery, it said in its 2009 annual report released on Monday.

There are growing signs of a recovery in the U.S. economy but the high unemployment rate remains a big concern, White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers said on Monday.