IBT Staff Reporter

Consumer confidence rose for the third straight month in January to the highest since September 2008, driven mostly by an improvement in present-day conditions, according to a private report released on Tuesday.

The pilot of an Ethiopian airliner that crashed off the Lebanese coast did not respond to a request to change direction before contact was cut, the Lebanese transport minister said on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama on Monday said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has his strongest support and is doing a good job.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the U.S. budget deficit for the current fiscal year will come in at $1.3 trillion, down slightly from its previous $1.38 trillion estimate, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama, under pressure from deficit hawks, will seek a three-year freeze on domestic spending in his 2011 budget that would save $250 billion by 2020, administration officials said on Monday.

U.S. home prices slipped in November and were softer than expected in the latest sign that a rebound in the U.S. housing market is tenuous, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller indexes on Tuesday.

U.S. home prices slipped in November and were softer than expected in the latest sign that a rebound in the U.S. housing market is still tenuous, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller indexes on Tuesday.

Wall Street opened lower on Tuesday after China tightened bank lending requirements and data showed a rebound in the U.S. housing market is tenuous.

Swiss food group Nestle is likely to set itself a long-term goal to buy Hershey after the Kraft-Cadbury deal, hoping that market pressures will wear down opposition from the controlling Hershey Trust.

The S&P 500 continued its slide from yesterday in early trading in New York. It was trading down 3.82 points, or 0.35 percent at 9:41 a.m. EST.

Advanced Micro Devices gained share in worldwide processor shipments at the expense of arch-rival Intel during the fourth quarter of 2009, according to new research.

Radical reform is needed to make the banking system safer, Britain's top central banker said on Tuesday, adding U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to curb some activities would not fully solve the too big to fail problem.

Delta Air Lines , the world's biggest air carrier, reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss on Tuesday as cost cuts outweighed revenue pressures.

Trust in business worldwide rebounded modestly last year, after plummeting in the face of a severe recession, but informed adults believe companies will revert to their old ways as memory of the downturn fades.

Google Inc unveiled a new version of its Internet phone service on Tuesday in its latest effort to bypass Apple Inc's gatekeepers and make Google Voice a popular service on the iPhone.

Delta Air Lines , the world's biggest air carrier, reported a much narrower fourth-quarter loss on Tuesday as cost cuts overshadowed revenue pressures.

DuPont posted a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday helped by a 12.3 percent jump in revenue, with the chemical maker boosting its earnings forecast for 2010.

U.S. stock index futures were down on Tuesday after China clamped down on lending requirements, weighing on overseas markets.

A U.S. bailout watchdog has launched two new investigations into the New York Federal Reserve Bank's actions on insurer AIG's disclosure of payments to banks after its 2008 rescue, excerpts of prepared congressional testimony showed on Monday.

Britain needs a safer and more robust banking system, its top central banker said on Tuesday, urging the country to work with President Barack Obama on his plans for a drastic overhaul of the global financial system.

Standard & Poor's cut its rating outlook on Japan on Tuesday and China implemented a clampdown on lending, hitting investor confidence about global economic recovery.

Standard and Poor's on Tuesday threatened to cut Japan's credit rating unless it produced a credible plan to rein in its soaring debt and lift growth in an economy plagued by persistent deflation.

Fears of more Chinese policy tightening spooked global markets on Tuesday after Beijing ordered some banks to comply immediately with a planned increase in reserves and a report suggested earlier attempts at curbing lending had failed.

Major U.S. stock exchanges are pressing the regulator to allow price quotes in increments as small as one-tenth of a cent, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street on Wednesday, following declines in Asia after China implemented an increase in higher reserve requirements for some lenders.

The yen hit a nine-month high against the euro on Tuesday, rallying after a Japanese Finance Ministry official pledged fiscal discipline after ratings agency S&P downgraded its outlook on the country's sovereign rating.

Standard and Poor's on Tuesday threatened to cut Japan's rating unless it produced a credible plan to rein in its soaring debt and lift growth in an economy plagued by persistent deflation.

Chinese state media stepped up their war of words with the United States over Internet control on Tuesday, with a top newspaper claiming a U.S. conspiracy and saying China can live without Google.

China implemented a planned increase in required reserves for some banks on Tuesday, sources said, sparking knee-jerk selling of Asian stocks which underscored how sensitive global investors are to Beijing's tightening of monetary policy.