IBT Staff Reporter

Brazilian mining company Vale said on Wednesday that it would pay $3.8 billion to buy Bunge Ltd's fertilizer assets in Brazil, as global demand for potash is boosted by growing food consumption.

Industrial conglomerate Tyco International Ltd reported a 10 percent increase in quarterly net income amid improved margins at its biggest unit, ADT security services.

Students at one of America's top business schools see evidence that high-technology, startup and alternative energy companies will hire more actively this year after a difficult 2009 for graduates.

U.S. stock index futures were higher on Thursday in the wake of President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech, which had no new plans to tighten Wall Street oversight, and after strong results from Procter & Gamble and Ford.

Paid virtual private networks are quietly catching on in China as a way to access forbidden websites, analysts say, while authorities are leaving them alone until they become more popular.

Top mobile phone maker Nokia reported stronger than expected fourth-quarter sales and profits powered by improving market share in smartphones, sending its shares more than 10 percent higher.

Futures for the Nasdaq 100 briefly turned negative on Thursday ahead of major earnings results, with Greek credit default swap hitting record highs prompting investors to trade cautiously.

Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke's nomination for a second term running the world's most powerful central bank faces a decisive day in the Senate on Thursday when his confirmation vote looks set to go ahead.

Stock futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rise 0.4 to 0.5 percent, pointing to a stronger start on Wall Street on Thursday.

Nintendo Co Ltd posted a 23 percent fall in quarterly profit as software sales for its DS handheld game player slowed and it cut the price of its Wii console, keeping its forecast for the first annual profit decline in four years.

Several franchise holders of McDonald's Corp's German unit have accused the world's largest hamburger chain of trying to force them out of their contracts, the Wall Street Journal reported. The restaurant operators said McDonald's used private investigators and offered jobs to franchise employees in exchange for information needed to terminate franchise holders' contracts, the J...

Toyota Motor Corp could face an unprecedented recall of 8 million cars over problems with sticking accelerators in the biggest ever blow to the reputation of the world's largest auto maker.

North Korea said on Thursday it had detained an American who crossed into its territory from China on January 25 and was interrogating him.

Facing a make-or-break year in Afghanistan, ministers from some 60 countries meet on Thursday to hammer out a strategy to try to bring an end to the war.

India's cotton arrivals in the domestic market witnessed a minimal rise of 0.1% to 16.50 million bales since the start of crop year to January 23. Higher arrivals in Gujarat and Rajasthan markets offset in other growing states, according to the Cotton Corporation of India's data.

At a time when India's steel industry is slowly rising prices, its counterparts in the US are struggling to do the same as the production costs have gone up. But, the US steel industry is very skeptical about the prices rise as the demand for steel is yet to pick up properly in the country. Even as India and China are witnessing a major surge in demand for steel, the US industry is still slowly picking up pace.

President Barack Obama said his focus on nuclear disarmament had strengthened U.S. diplomacy in dealing with North Korea and Iran, and he warned Tehran faced growing consequences over its nuclear program.

Nickel prices largely depend on global steel demand, which is low in the west and up in China and India now. So, the fall in demand from auto makers in the west and a huge rise in China have complicated the nickel prices. Some 65% of nickel goes into making stainless steel.

As a major step towards it entry into Africa's energy fields, energy hungry India expressed its desire to develop refineries, natural gas and LNG projects in oil-rich Nigeria. India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora during his visit to the western African country said India has committed to invest more than $360 million in developing two oil blocks in Africa's largest energy-producing country.

The Philippines has decided to buy 2.1 million 50-kg bags of unhusked rice, locally known as palay, from local farmers starting February until April to help farmers. In a statement issued here National Food Authority of Philippines said this is almost a fifth of the agency's full-year procurement target of 11.6 million bags.

Noted global economist Nouriel Roubini says that there have been 'excessive increases' in gold and oil prices that is creating possible commodity bubbles. Talking to reporters at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, Roubini-a professor of economics at the New York University--said that there is an urgent need to curb the excessive rise in prices in commodities.

Nintendo Co Ltd posted a 41 percent fall in nine-month profit as sales of its DS handheld game player slowed and it cut the price of its Wii console, and the company kept a forecast for a first annual profit slide in four years.

Toyota Motor Corp shut down sales of its best-selling vehicles on Wednesday under pressure from the Obama administration to address a product safety crisis that threatens its image in its largest market.

The U.S. dollar rose to a six-month high against the euro on Thursday, on signs the Federal Reserve is more confident about a recovery, while Asian equities were on track to snap a nine-day losing streak. U.S. stock futures rose during Asian session after U.S. President Barack Obama in an address to Congress had a more moderate tone on restrictions toward U.S. banks.

Stocks rose on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates near zero and stock futures signaled more gains ahead after President Barack Obama struck a conciliatory tone on banks in his State of the Union speech.

Proxy materials have been delivered to Biogen Idec Inc by Carl Icahn, as the billionaire investor seeks greater control of the biotechnology company's board, according to a source familiar with the situation.

President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday to boost jobs growth and impose tough new regulations on Wall Street as he recast his agenda after suffering a devastating political setback.

Stock index futures added gains in late after-hours trading on Wednesday as investors took President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech as toning down some of the rhetoric that unnerved investors last week when he unveiled new restrictions on U.S. banks.

Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan will be paid $950,000 a year for his new job, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.