IBT Staff Reporter

A state-backed fund in charge of turning around Japan Airlines (JAL) wants to see a tieup between JAL and Delta Air Lines, Kyodo news reported on Monday.

A growing number of consumers worldwide used their mobile telephones to help them shop early in the holiday season with usage particularly high among young adults seeking coupons, according to a study sponsored by Motorola Inc and released on Monday.

Heineken NV will buy the beer business of Mexico's FEMSA in a $7.9 billion deal that boosts the Dutch brewer's emerging-market presence and cements an alliance with Latin America's biggest drinks firm.

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, head of Kingdom Holding and shareholder in Citigroup , said the U.S. bank had put the worst behind it and was now on the right path.

Stock index futures rose on Monday after China's strong import figures stoked optimism about world economic recovery as investors awaited earnings from Alcoa Inc , which traditionally marks the kickoff of the U.S. quarterly earnings season.

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, head of Kingdom Holding and shareholder in Citigroup , said the U.S. bank had put the worst behind it and was now on the right path.

Chinese bank lending surged in the first week of 2010, industry sources said on Monday, adding to the concerns fueled by blockbuster trade data for December that the world's third-largest economy is overheating.

China's auto sales surged past the United States to reach record levels in 2009, industry figures showed on Monday, underscoring China's importance to the global auto industry as the world's biggest market.

A state-backed fund crafting a restructuring plan for Japan Airlines is leaning toward a delisting of the carrier after it files for bankruptcy, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

A Chinese investigation into a detained Australian Rio Tinto Ltd executive and three colleagues has been sent to prosecutors, Australia's foreign office and the mining company said on Monday.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.52 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.49 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.45 percent at 4.15 a.m. EST.

Chinese bank lending surged in the first week of 2010, a state newspaper reported on Monday, adding to the concerns fueled by blockbuster trade data for December that the world's third-largest economy is overheating.

Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd expects an investigation into loss making fuel-hedging in its Vietnamese joint venture airline to run for months after two executives were barred from leaving the country.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and investment company Genii Capital will soon have initial financing to show GM they can fund a purchase of carmaker Saab, daily Dagens Industri wrote on Monday.

Asian stocks hit a 17-month high on Monday as a strong rebound in China's exports raised investor optimism about Asia's economies while the dollar suffered its biggest loss in six weeks after poor U.S. jobs data.

Federal Reserve monetary policy is unlikely to pushed off course by December's surprising job losses, a senior Fed official said on Monday.

Asian stocks rose to a 17-month high on Monday as a strong rebound in China's exports raised optimism about the region's economic outlook as the dollar suffered following weak U.S. jobs data.

Chinese banks made about 600 billion yuan ($88 billion) in new loans in the first week of 2010, the Economic Information Daily reported on Monday.

Chinese property developer Shanghai Forte Land Co Ltd is in talks to buy a high-end residential property in Shanghai from Goldman Sachs in a deal worth more than $200 million, two people familiar with the situation said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc may expand a program that would require executives to give a part of their pay to charity, as it looks to cool public anger over compensation, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

A senior Federal Reserve official said the pace of job loss had slowed even though unemployment remains high and the challenge for policy makers will be to adjust extensive securities purchases.

Eleven Chinese brokerages including Citic Securities Co and Haitong Securities Co will vie to be included in a pilot program for margin trading and short selling following a nationwide test run in 2008, the China Securities Journal reported on Monday, citing an unidentified regulator.

A senior Federal Reserve official said on Sunday that while unemployment remains high, the pace of job loss has slowed and the main challenge for policy makers will be to adjust extensive securities purchases.

The U.S. dollar fell on Monday, extending losses after posting its biggest loss in six weeks after U.S. jobs data disappointed, while the Australian dollar soared on the back of strong export numbers from China.

Venezuela's devaluation of its currency will further complicate its troubled commercial relationship with neighboring Colombia, where the economy is already suffering from a breakdown in cross-border trade.

Growth in China's exports and imports last month blew past expectations, providing fresh evidence of the vigor of the economy and strengthening the case for Beijing to let the yuan start climbing again.

Time Warner Cable is one of the most compelling investments in the cable industry, Barron's said on Sunday, with its shares poised to rally about 30 percent in the next year as its earnings improve.

China will extend active fiscal policies aimed at countering the global economic slowdown into 2010, the nation's finance minister said, warning that departing too early from those policies could damage the economy.

The Australian Dollar opens higher on Monday at 0.9260 after U.S. non-farm payrolls came in weaker than expected sparking a sell-off in the greenback.