IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks edged lower on Tuesday after a batch of weaker-than-expected economic reports gave investors reason to pause after strong gains in world equity markets.

Stocks fell on Tuesday as optimism over a possible deal by Greece in its debt wrangling dissipated after a batch of weaker-than-expected economic reports.

Sharp Corp will halve its LCD panel output at its Sakai facility in Osaka in Japan, marking its second deep production cut in a year, hurt by slumping television demand, the Nikkei business daily said.

Venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz raised $1.5 billion for a new fund, bringing the firm's assets under management to $2.7 billion and cementing the firm's position among the venture-capital elite.

Prices of Mattel Inc toys like Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars have gone up as the company tries to compensate for increasing costs for materials like resin and rising wages in China.

Single-family home prices fell more than expected in November, highlighting a sector that continues to struggle to make a meaningful recovery, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.

Printer maker Lexmark International Inc. said it is slashing 625 jobs globally as part of a restructuring plan and forecast weaker sales and earnings in the current quarter.

A unit of Citigroup must pay $500,000 to a former branch manager who alleged the company fired him because of his age, according to a decision by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel.

Ukrainian police on Tuesday shut down the former Soviet republic's most popular file sharing website, Ex.ua, accusing its owners of illegally distributing copyright-protected software, music and videos.

Japanese conglomerate Hitachi Ltd might post a 33 percent fall in its operating profit for the three months ended December, hurt by a strong yen and weak sales, business daily The Nikkei reported.

Tellabs Inc. said it will cut 530 jobs -- its second such move in six months -- as the network equipment maker tries to cut costs and return to profitability.

Exxon Mobil Corp's profit narrowly beat expectations, as rising oil prices offset falling margins for chemicals and fuel, and production fell short of some estimates, and its shares fell almost 2 percent.

Investors have begun 2012 in a cautious mood, with U.S. and Japanese asset managers worried about the euro zone debt crisis cutting exposure to stocks and boosting bonds, while European accounts added risky assets, Reuters polls show.

The euro zone creaked under the weight of record unemployment at the end of 2011 while jobless rates in Germany fell to historic lows, putting the onus firmly on Europe's top economy to take the lead in steering the struggling region back to recovery.

CIT Group Inc , the business lender led by former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain, said fourth-quarter net income fell 59 percent, but a decline in problem loans and borrowing costs helped it beat analysts' expectations.

The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp, which has responsibility for insuring certain benefits under private defined benefit pension plans, said on Tuesday it believes American Airlines will seek to terminate employee pensions in bankruptcy.

The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp, which has responsibility for insuring certain benefits under private defined benefit pension plans, said on Tuesday it believes American Airlines will seek to terminate employee pensions in bankruptcy.

Bank of America Corp is shaking up the leadership of its investment bank as it looks to find its footing in a difficult market environment.

Apple Inc is hiring Dixons Chief Executive Officer John Browett, who drove a recent turnaround at the British electronics retailer, to lead the iPad maker's retail expansion.

Chancellor Angela Merkel cemented her political ascendancy in Europe Monday when 25 out of 27 EU states agreed to a German-inspired pact for stricter budget discipline, even as they struggled to rekindle growth from the ashes of austerity.

Home prices fell more steeply than expected in November, and consumer confidence soured in January, highlighting the hurdles still facing the economic recovery.

The two giant jars on Randolph Taylor's windowsill are filled with shards of credit cards, chopped up by the clients whose staggering indebtedness drove them to the front line of Canada's household debt crisis.

Stocks gave up early gains to turn flat on Tuesday, weighed down by mixed corporate earnings and weaker-than-expected data on Midwest business activity and consumer confidence.

Canada's economy unexpectedly shrank in November for the first time since May, setting the stage for lackluster fourth-quarter growth and a sluggish start to 2012.

European Union lawmakers are seeking to further ratchet down the fees mobile operators charge users when they travel abroad, according to a draft plan seen by Reuters, taking aim at a lucrative source of industry profit.

Competition from low-cost generic drugs squeezed quarterly profits at Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. but the drugmakers were able to somewhat weather those declines with help from other medicines.

CIT Group Inc will again stop providing loans to suppliers of Sears Holdings Corp after Tuesday as the business lender awaits more information on the retailer's financial health, two retail sources told Reuters on Monday.

EU regulators are investigating whether Samsung Electronics breached antitrust rules by accusing rivals such as Apple of infringing its technology patents, a tactic used by other companies such as Motorola Mobility.

Consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in January as more Americans worried about the country's weak job market, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.