IBT Staff Reporter

European policymakers came out in support of a rescue fund that would mark a new phase of economic cooperation within the 16-nation euro zone, setting them on a potential collision course with its central bank.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp , the world's largest custodian of financial assets, said it agreed to acquire Germany's BHF Asset Servicing GmbH for $343 million.

Technology bolstered Wall Street slightly on Monday, as investors bought shares after analysts' comments on BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and Cisco Systems.

Efforts to pry open the culturally sensitive Canadian media industry to more foreign ownership took a new turn Monday when Amazon.com sought federal approval to start a new business in Canada.

The widely held outlook that U.S. unemployment will ease this year may be overly rosy if companies continue to boost productivity at faster-than-usual levels, economists from the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank said in a study released on Monday.

Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG and U.S. biotechnology company Biogen Idec are suspending experimental rheumatoid arthritis and lupus treatment ocrelizumab after deaths following its use, casting doubt over its future.

U.S. banking regulator Sheila Bair said on Monday that a low interest rate policy is clearly appropriate to get credit flowing, while also saying regulators should stop short of ordering banks to lend.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is taking an additional measure to lay the groundwork to drain excess bank reserves, as it seeks to remove some of the $1 trillion in cash it injected during the global credit crisis.

U.S. stocks were nearly flat on Monday as upbeat sentiment from AIG's sale of a unit and McDonald's sales data were offset by falling healthcare shares after President Barack Obama's criticism of health insurers.

Online retail sales in the United States could reach $248.7 billion by 2014, growing 60 percent from 2009, according to a study released on Monday.

Maurice Hank Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group Inc , will testify on Wednesday over a sham transaction involving the insurer and a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc , a judge ruled.

McDonald's Corp reported a better-than-expected 4.8 percent rise in February sales at established restaurants as Asia helped offset softness in the United States and Europe, sending its shares up nearly 3 percent.

The stock market is struggling on Monday despite reassuring news from China, Europe, and AIG.

President Barack Obama on Monday criticized U.S. health insurance companies for raising premiums and denying coverage to the sick, as he sought to rally Democratic support for his healthcare bill.

U.S. stocks barely budged on Monday as hopes stirred by AIG's sale of a unit and McDonald's upbeat sales were offset by falling healthcare shares after President Barack Obama's criticism.

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday criticized U.S. health insurance companies for raising premiums and denying coverage to the sick, as he sought to rally Democratic support for his healthcare bill.

A low interest rate policy is clearly appropriate due to the still struggling economy, a top U.S. bank regulator said on Monday, while also expressing frustration that banks are not doing enough to get credit flowing.

The European Union is considering creating a rescue fund that could herald fundamental changes in the 27-country bloc and bring closer economic cooperation following Greece's debt crisis.

China is moving ahead with bilateral co-operations in the field of energy exchange and other sectors with Iran, ignoring Western countries calls for stringent sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

South East Asian (SEA) region comprising two of world's largest rice exporters, Thailand and Vietnam remained as world's top trade destination for the commodity. The food crisis of 2008 has inspired various countries in Asia to vie for status as the world's rice bowl and many hope to be able to dethrone Thailand.

Will gold prices hit $1,200 per ounce this month? If you go by the opinion of bullion market analysts, the yellow metal may cross $1,200 mark this month as the bull run in bullion has lreay started. In January, the yellow metal had crossed $1,160 per ounce. And analysts now say that this will go beyond $1,200 this month.

In a quiet day for U.S. earnings and economic releases, major U.S. indices are mixed after some positive developments from Europe and Dubai on debt issues. The tech sector leads on Cisco and upgrades.

Warring creditors of Six Flags Inc take their battle for the theme park operator before a bankruptcy judge on Monday, with the outcome likely hanging on how much debt the company can afford.

A Web application that alerts wine grape farmers when their vines are thirsty has won first place in a competition to spur entrepreneurs in the investment-starved water sector, organizers said on Monday.

German carmaker Daimler was selling its entire stake in India's Tata Motors to raise up to $429 million worth of shares

(Reuters) - India will have to scale up prevention of HIV to avoid having to spend an increasing share of its health budget on treatment of AIDS patients, the World Bank and other agencies said Sunday.

Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely than whites and Asians to lose sleep over job and money worries, a sleep survey released on Monday found.

The famous Route 66 is a historic highway that ran from Chicago, Illinois and ended at the coastal city of Los Angeles, California.

(Reuters) - Vitamin D is vital in activating human defences and low levels suffered by around half the world's population may mean their immune systems' killer T cells are poor at fighting infection, scientists said on Sunday.