IBT Staff Reporter

Asian shares and the euro fell on Tuesday, as surging Spanish borrowing costs underscored the fading impact of the European Central Bank's bond purchases and stoked investor nervousness over euro zone debt woes, sapping their risk appetite.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde hopes to gain broad consensus on a more than $400 billion rise in the fund's firepower this week, an Italian newspaper on Tuesday quoted her as saying, though it may take some time to gain final commitments.

An Oracle attorney cited emails between top executives at Google as prime evidence that Google took its intellectual property to gain an edge in the lucrative smartphone market, at the start of a high stakes trial between the two tech giants.

China is at a promising moment for speeding up interest rate and exchange rate reforms, the central bank's statistics department said in a report published Tuesday, following the latest move to make the Chinese currency more flexible.

Americans shrugged off high gasoline prices in March and spent more strongly than expected, suggesting economic growth in the first quarter was probably not as weak as many had feared.

Japan said on Tuesday it will provide $60 billion in loans to the International Monetary Fund, becoming the first non-European nation to commit money to boost the fund's financial firepower to contain the euro zone debt crisis.

A unit of Toshiba Corp is in talks to buy IBM Corp's point-of-sale terminal business, which includes cash registers, a source familiar with the deal said on Tuesday.

Two top Federal Reserve officials pointed on Monday to last month's surprisingly weak jobs report as all the more reason to take a wait-and-see approach to a U.S. economy that, in general, is improving.

The World Bank on Monday chose Korean-born American health expert Jim Yong Kim as its new president, maintaining Washington's grip on the job and leaving developing countries frustrated with the selection process.

Five years ago, Justin Edmund arrived at Carnegie Mellon University, a floppy-haired freshman, with artistic talent and dreams of joining a venerable design firm like IDEO or Frog. But during his sophomore year, a recruiting pitch from a Facebook employee turned his head, and prompted a detour of his ambitions.

The Federal Reserve is independent but it does not exist in a vacuum, as waning appetite at the central bank for contentious bond purchases suggests.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is taking extra steps to bulletproof its rulemaking, after U.S. appeals court judges, Republican lawmakers and government watchdogs have criticized how the agency measures the economic impact of its rules.

Citigroup Inc posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter results as bond trading and underwriting revenue jumped compared with the 2011 fourth quarter.

Google Inc's decision to use Oracle Corp's intellectual property for its Android operating system was no accident but rather a conscious move made at the highest levels of the company, an attorney for Oracle said in court.

IBM Corp reports earnings after the bell on Tuesday and investors are hoping strong software demand will make for a repeat of last year's first-quarter performance, when the company raised its full year forecast.

AMR Corp Chief Executive Tom Horton may have a soft-spoken demeanor, but people who know him say he has a backbone of steel and will not flinch if he has to cut thousands of jobs to save the bankrupt American Airlines.

Three of the biggest U.S. tobacco companies said on Monday they have paid a total of $6.5 billion this year to U.S. states, unchanged from 2011, under a 1998 national accord that obliges companies to help cover the health bills of ailing smokers.

Yet another grim development in China's ongoing battle with poor industrial and manufacturing practices -- what do you do if the pills you take make you even sicker than before?

Mexican cement maker Cemex is likely to try and renegotiate a hefty portion of its debt in coming months to avoid a potential clash with creditors in 2014.

Billionaire George Soros warned on Monday that the euro crisis is growing deeper, tearing at the fabric of European Union cohesion, because policymakers are prescribing the wrong remedies.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc Chief Executive Mike Duke earned $18.1 million last year, down from $18.7 million a year earlier, as the company's operating income and sales growth fell short of goals.

The Federal Reserve was neither hawkish nor dovish when it set a formal inflation target, and such a move would make sense even if the U.S. central bank had a single mandate, a top Fed official said on Monday.

Stocks rose on Monday on better-than-expected retail sales, but concerns about Spain's rising bond yields kept gains in check and a slide in Apple pushed the Nasdaq lower.

Coty Inc on Monday urged Avon Products Inc shareholders to ask their company to give Coty a look at inside information, which would give the private cosmetics company a chance to then offer its best price.

McDonald's Corp will promote Tim Fenton, currently president of its Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa unit, to the post of chief operating officer effective July 1, the world's biggest fast-food chain said on Monday.

Spain and Italy faced growing market pressure on Monday, stoking fears of a new phase in the euro zone debt crisis as Madrid's budget problems threatened to drag in other southern European economies.

The Dow rose on Monday, buoyed by big consumer staples stocks as Wall Street turned defensive, while the broader market fell as Spain's rising bond yields fed worries about Europe's debt crisis and offset optimism over a jump in retail sales.

The United Nations has issued a unanimous statement on Monday denouncing North Korea's attempted satellite launch and warned of further actions in response to new ballistic missile tests or nuclear testing from the North.

Moody's dealt a fresh ratings blow to Nokia on Monday, dragging its shares to their lowest level in 15 years and reflecting the Finnish handset maker's struggle to compete with Apple and Samsung.