IBT Staff Reporter

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open for equities on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.8-0.9 percent.

Online gaming firm Nexon Co fixed the price for its $1.2 billion initial public offering on Monday at the mid-point of a pre-set range, following U.S.-based rival Zynga in settling for a more conservative valuation amid tough stock market conditions.

Crisis-hit Franco-Belgian bank Dexia has secured temporary financing guarantees from Belgium, France and Luxembourg to keep it running while the countries cement the bailout they put together in October.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet in Paris on Monday under pressure to align their positions on centralizing control of euro zone budgets to stem a debt crisis that threatens Europe's currency union.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open for equities on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.8-0.9 percent.

Franco-Belgian financial services group Dexia has provisionally secured temporary guarantees from Belgium, France and Luxembourg to cover its financing, which dried up before its second state bailout was agreed in October.

World stocks rose and demand for German government bonds slipped on Monday as confidence grew European leaders would make big strides in solving the euro zone's debt crisis at a crucial summit this week.

World stocks and demand for German government bonds rose on Monday as confidence grew European leaders would make big strides in solving the euro zone's debt crisis at a crucial summit this week.

Asian shares and the euro steadied on Monday on hopes European leaders would agree on a definitive plan to solve the euro zone's debt crisis at a crucial summit this week, with sentiment also getting a lift from Italy unveiling austerity steps.

Asian shares and the euro steadied on Monday on hopes European leaders would agree on a definitive plan to solve the euro zone's debt crisis at a crucial summit this week, with sentiment also getting a lift from Italy unveiling austerity steps.

The threat of cyberattacks on the U.S. power grid should be dealt with by a single federal agency, not the welter of groups now charged with the electric system's security, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported on Monday.

The HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index for China's services sector fell to 52.5 from 54.1 in November, signalling its slowest rate of growth in three months and the latest in a series of data points portraying a quickly cooling economy in need of policy support.

Shares in Samsung Electronics Co Ltd rose more than 2 percent on Monday after Apple Inc's bid to halt U.S. sales of its Galaxy line of products was rejected, easing concern of slowing growth in its telecom business, which generates revenue of $13 billion per quarter.

Rafael Nadal emerged victorious over Juan Martin del Potro in an enthralling Davis Cup final, powering Spain to their fifth title.

China's new bank loans in 2012 may increase slightly from this year's quota of 7.5 trillion yuan ($1.18 trillion), but the government will maintain lending curbs on the property sector, the China Business News reported on Monday, citing an official from the China Banking Regulatory Commission .

China's services sector contracted in November, mirroring similar weakness in the country's giant manufacturing sector and underlining expectations that Beijing can ease monetary policy further to cushion the blows of the global economy.

At the age of 23, British rapper Tinie Tempah has already sold a million records with his debut album Disc-Overy.

Amy Winehouse's posthumous new album Lioness: Hidden Treasures hits stores on Monday, but the one fan who will find it hardest to listen is her father.

The missing five-year-old son of country singer Mindy McCready was found hiding in a closet with his mother in Arkansas, Deputy U.S. Marshall David Rahbany said on Saturday.

Brooke Mueller, the ex-wife of actor Charlie Sheen, was arrested for cocaine possession and assault in Aspen, Colorado, the ski resort town where Sheen was arrested for assaulting Mueller in December 2009.

Movie actor and director Dev Anand, known for his joie de vivre as Bollywood's evergreen hero, has died aged 88, an aide said, bringing the end to an era of Indian cinema.

The newest Twilight vampire movie ruled the domestic box office for a third time with $16.9 million in ticket sales over one of the slowest movie-going weekends of the year, studio estimates released on Sunday showed.

Lars von Trier's apocalyptic drama Melancholia walked away with the top award, European Film 2011, at the 24th European Film Awards in Berlin on Saturday.

Sony Pictures is steaming over the New Yorker's plan to review David Fincher's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo on Monday. That will be eight days in advance of the December 13 embargo that the studio imposed on all critics and journalists who attended early screenings of the long-awaited film.

Paddy Considine's wrenching character study Tyrannosaur has been named the year's best feature at the Moet British Independent Film Awards, which took place on Sunday night in London.

Nostalgia for the Light, Chilean director Patricio Guzman's documentary that mixes celestial exploration with families searching for the remains of victims of the Pinochet regime, has been named Best Feature of 2011 by the International Documentary Association.

Tens of thousands of Southern California residents remained without power on Sunday as officials warned that dangerously high winds would return to the region in the evening.

High winds returned to the Los Angeles area early on Saturday as over 100,000 homes and businesses lost power, due to fallen trees and other damage from an ongoing windstorm.

For Harley-Davidson, Michael Adams is a godsend.