IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. retail sales should rise 2.5 percent this year, signaling that store chains have made it through the worst of the downturn as improvements in the housing and job markets bolster shoppers' confidence, a trade group forecast on Tuesday.

Investment company Genii Capital has withdrawn from the bidding for General Motors' unit Saab, leaving Spyker Cars as the sole remaining bidder to rescue the ailing Swedish auto brand.

Asian stocks fell on Tuesday as fears of further clampdowns on lending in China and a U.S. plan to freeze domestic spending sparked worries about the outlook for global growth.

The 40th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting will open on January 27 in Davos, Switzerland to redesign the state of the world.

Avatar, which is set to beat 'Titanic' in the next few weeks as the all-time record holder for U.S. Domestic box-office receipts is still relatively far from beating 1933's “Gone With the Wind” as the inflation-adjusted box office champion.

Amgen Inc issued a 2010 forecast on Monday that showed potential to exceed Wall Street expectations, but the company's slightly higher fourth-quarter profit came in shy of analyst estimates primarily due to higher expenses.

Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan will ask the Bank of Japan to support the economy through flexible monetary policy in a speech in parliament this week, the Nikkei financial daily reported on Tuesday. Kan will make the unusual reference to the central bank's policy in a speech planned for Friday as part of the government's efforts to to overcome deflation, the paper said without citing sources.

The yen held broadly steady on Tuesday, hovering below a nine-month peak struck against the euro last week and taking a breather from a rally triggered by the onset of risk reduction. The yen surged last week as investors dumped higher-yielding currencies and risky assets on concerns that China's efforts to curb its surging economy could impair global growth and worries over a White House plan to curb risk-taking among banks.

NYSE Liffe, the European derivatives business of NYSE Euronext, today announced that the Exchanges Rapeseed Futures Contract has been added to the benchmark Rogers International Commodity Index (RICI) for the first time. The index now gives European rapeseed a weight of 0.25%.

After the slump in 2009, aluminium consumption is set to shoot up in the coming three years. Chief executive of Rio Tinto's Alcan division Jacynthe Cote told Chinese media that if there's one sector with enormous growth potential, it's aluminium.

With the copper prices rising day by day, several companies have decided hike the price of their consumer durable products, which need usage of copper. Companies like LG, Godrej & Boyce, Videocon and Whirlpool may hike the prices by around 5% in refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and flat panel displays by March to make up for increasing input costs.

Apple Inc. reported on Monday a net profit of $3.38 billion for the quarter ended on Dec. 26, or $3.67 a share, from $2.26 billion in the first quarter of 2009, or $2.50 a share and its sales rose to $15.7 billion.

In the coming decade, nobody can stop the rise of gold, that is what the opinion of Owen Hegarty, an Australian expert in mineral resources. He told a Chinese news agency that gold prices are expected to remain on an upward track in a decade to come despite recent fluctuations. For the foreseeable future, or at least in this decade, all reasons to buy gold are positive, he said.

Texas Instruments on Monday posted a quarterly profit at the top end of its target range and the chipmaker said there was strong demand in all its product areas and markets including Europe and the Americas.

The U.S. Senate looked likely to grudgingly approve Ben Bernanke to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman this week after the White House stepped in to defend his crisis-fighting record and rally votes.

Texas Instruments on Monday posted a quarterly profit at the top end of its target range and the chipmaker said it saw strong demand in all its end markets.

The life of Paraguayan soccer player Salvador Cabanas is still in risk hours after he was attacked, Dr. Ernesto Martinez, the head of the team of surgeons that treated the player at a hospital in Mexico City, told the press today.

President Barack Obama will deliver his first State of the Union speech at 9 p.m. EST on January 27 to reassure Americans about their jobs and the economy.

Amgen Inc on Monday issued a 2010 forecast that was in line with Wall Street expectations, but its slightly higher fourth-quarter profit came in shy of analyst estimates.

American Idol contestant Michael Lynche was disqualified from the top 24 semifinalists after his father broke a confidentially agreement, according to reports Monday.

Apple Inc reported record sales of Mac computers and stronger-than-expected gross margins, but iPhone sales were slightly below some of Wall Street's most bullish forecasts.

President Barack Obama, concerned by voter anxiety over high unemployment, will use his State of the Union speech on Wednesday to reassure Americans worried about jobs and the economy, aides said.

Apple Inc. on Monday reported its strongest quarter ever in revenue and net income for the first quarter of 2010, on the back of strong sales of its iPhone and Mac computers.

The technology sector was a leader in the stock market rally on Monday, as Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 23.88 points, or 0.23 percent and the Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index gained 0.76 percent.

Yesterday's surprise 0.4% decline in the Producer Price Index did little to curb the markets support for the Aussie dollar around 90 cents as it traded at an intraday high near 0.9075.

Apple Inc reported much better-than-expected quarterly margins on record sales of iPhones and Mac computers, driving a big jump in quarterly revenue and earnings.

Stocks snapped a three-day slide on Monday as signs that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would win a U.S. Senate vote for a second term helped ease investors' concerns.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher today, up 23.88 points, or 0.23 percent, as investors saw signs that the economic stimulus policies of the Obama administration and Bernanke-led Federal Reserve may continue.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes suffered a record drop last month as the boost from a popular tax credit waned, raising doubts the housing market recovery can be sustained without government support.