IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. stocks were set for a sharply lower open on Tuesday as Greece's debt problems continued to rattle investors and after a broad rally in the previous session that took the S&P 500 to its biggest day in two months.

BP Plc struggled to stop oil gushing unchecked from a ruptured undersea well in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and calmer weather raised hopes of reducing the massive oil slick and limiting its impact on the U.S. shoreline.

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U.S. stock index futures sank on Tuesday on continued worries over Greece's financial state and after a broad rally in the previous session that took the S&P 500 to its biggest day in two months.

Striking public workers challenged the Greek government's bailout-for-austerity deal with the EU and IMF on Tuesday as investors fretted about Athens' ability to push through ambitious budget cuts.

International Cotton Advisory Committee said global cotton production in the coming season will leap 13% in reaction to surging prices triggered by rebounding demand and dwindling supplies. In a statement, ICAC said world cotton crop in the year from August 2010 through July 2011 is expected to climb to 114 million bales from 112 million the previous season. Cotton prices were high compared to alternative crops during the timeframe when cotton farmers make decisions on which crops to plant.

India's public oil utilities have owned a Russian oil company apart from acquiring strategic equity stakes in an oil field project in Venezuela through consortium route, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada.

Russia's Energy ministry said country's oil and gas production saw a favorable increase year-on-year in the first four months this year. In a report, the ministry said, From January to April, the country's oil output reached 165.3 million tons, which was a 3.1-percent growth over the same period of last year; while the gas production soared 20.4 percent year-on-year to 237.9 billion cubic meters.

Russia's northern Siberian province of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area is in talks with China to form joint energy projects. The Autonomous region, rich for its gas and oil reserves, accounts for more than 90% of Russia's natural gas output and 12% of oil production.

The wheat procurement by the state run Food Corporation of India (FCI) registered a slight dip due to the lower supplies in the major growing states of the country. FCI, the nodal agency for the purchase and supply of wheat and rice on the behalf of the government, wheat purchase fell marginally to 19.94 million metric tons during April 1 to May 2 period as against the 20.06 million tons a year earlier, said an official, who declined to be named.

With bullion analysts predicting a rise in gold prices following the European crisis and the Chinese crackdown on realty, scrap gold sales are set to shoot up. Scarp gold sales are normally up at a time when the gold prices go up as several people rush in to book profits. In April, India witnessed a surge in sales of old gold jewellery after remaining more or less tepid since the beginning of the new year. A consumer who wishes to sell old jewellery to a scrap trader is a contributor to recycled...

U.S. stock index futures fell on Tuesday after a broad rally in the previous that took the S&P 500 to its best day in two months as investors fretted over whether Greece could make deep spending cuts.

Fortress Investment , one of the world's largest publicly traded alternative asset managers, plans to rebuild its Asian operations and is in the process of setting up an office in Singapore, sources said.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were down 0.3 to 0.4 percent, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street on Tuesday.

UBS boss Oswald Gruebel predicted moderate asset withdrawals in the short term as the Swiss bank's forecast-beating quarterly results gradually start to boost client confidence and wealth advisors' morale.

Massive oil spill on the other side of the mainland prompted actor governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of US state California to withdrew his support of a plan to expand oil drilling off the state's coast. The governor had earlier proposed expanding oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara County to help close the state's $20 billion budget deficit.

In its quest to ensure enough oil for its vibrant economy, China on Monday signed an MoU with Egypt to build a $2 billion refinery in the Arab nation. According to sources, two Chinese companies, Rongsheng Holding Group and China National Chemical Engineering Co. Ltd., will build the refinery, the largest such plant in the Arab nation.

NYSE Euronext reported a 26 percent increase in quarterly profit as its growing derivatives operation offset sluggish stock trading.

Optimism about the recovering U.S. economy failed to spill over into European stock markets on Tuesday as investors remained jittery about whether Greece's aid package will work.

Cotton prices have surged in recent months which is reflected in the Cotlook A Index that rose from 64 cents per pound in August 2009 to 84-87 cents per pound in Marcha and early Aparil 2010, according to International Cotton Adivisory Committee (ICAC).

Is the Chinese economy overheated and the dragon country on the verge of collapse? Noted global investor and economic analyst Marc Faber says the Chinese economy might crash within one year. Faber, the publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, has predicted that the China is going to collapse in the wake of imminent property bubble and declining commodity and stock market prices.

UBS boss Oswald Gruebel signaled his strategy to regain clients' trust may be starting to work as withdrawals slowed and the bank delivered its strongest quarterly profit since the crisis started.

Dubai World's creditors have agreed in principal on the technical aspects of a debt restructuring agreement and should reach on an overall deal within two weeks, an Arabic language newspaper said on Tuesday.

The dollar rose on Tuesday as U.S. data showed factories running at their fastest pace in nearly six years, but stocks gains were reined in by worries about Greece's bailout and China's policy tightening.

NYSE Euronext said on Tuesday its quarterly profit rose 26 percent, matching expectations as its growing derivatives operation offset sluggish stock trading at the exchange operator.

S&P Valuation and Risk Strategies, part of McGraw-Hill Co's Standard & Poor's, has launched a new credit score tool that lets users compare credit profiles of more than 26,000 companies worldwide.

The dollar inched up on Tuesday, boosted by strong U.S. data indicating the world's largest economy was on the mend, but worries about Greece's bailout and China's policy tightening curbed earlier gain in Asian shares.

India's recent decision to raise the duty on iron ore lumps will rein in export of the commodity further. The government last week increased the export duty on iron ore lumps to 15% from 10% to discourage exports and improve raw material availability for local steel mills. India's iron ore lump exports was around 11 million tonnes in 2009-10 and declined by 28% in the past four years from a peak of 15.3 million tonnes in 2006-07.

World oil prices followed gold towards south in Asian trade Tuesday after hitting a 19-month high on positive economic news overnight. The black gold dropped below $86 a barrel mark mainly on a strong dollar against major currencies amid rise in US crude and fuel stockpiles. Light sweet crude for June was seen trading at $85.81 a barrel at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude was at $88.61 a barrel at the same time in London.