IBT Staff Reporter

Asian shares inched up on Tuesday with softer commodity prices weighing on Australian stocks, while the New Zealand dollar hit a 13-month high on signs of a recovery in prices for the country's key dairy exports.

Oil rose to $70 a barrel on Tuesday in a technical rebound after its 3.2 percent decline in the previous session, as traders watch for clues to the health of the global economy from a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting and a summit of G20 nations this week.

Oracle Corp Chief Executive Larry Ellison said Sun Microsystems Inc is losing about $100 million a month as European regulators delay approving his company's $7 billion purchase of the struggling hardware maker.

The global economic recovery is not only underway but it will most likely rebound more sharply than most forecasters expect, veteran economist Michael Mussa says.

Nortel Networks Corp, once North America's largest telecoms equipment maker, said on Monday that it will auction off software assets at its carrier division as it continues the process of selling its operation in pieces to pay creditors.

High U.S. unemployment keeps pushing up the rate of mortgage delinquencies, which could in turn drive personal bankruptcies and home foreclosures, monthly data from the Equifax Inc credit bureau showed on Monday.

What could be the biggest U.S. IPO week in 18 months, expected to raise up to $9.1 billion, took shape on Monday after Spanish bank Santander , insurance risk specialist Verisk Analytics Inc and biotech Omeros Corp set terms of initial public offerings next month.

The head of chocolate maker Cadbury PLC, which is facing a possible takeover by U.S. food giant Kraft Foods Inc, said there were some complementary elements in the two companies' portfolios, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Microsoft Corp's new Bing search engine continued to take share from Google Inc, grabbing 9.3 percent of the U.S. Internet search market in August, according to data released on Monday.

Spain's biggest bank Santander could raise about 13.13 billion reais ($7.3 billion) by listing 16.2 percent of its Brazilian unit in the Latin American country's biggest ever initial public offering.

Microsoft Corp's new Bing search engine continued to take share from Google Inc, grabbing 9.3 percent of the U.S. Internet search market in August, according to data released on Monday.

President Barack Obama insisted he can overhaul the U.S. healthcare system without raising taxes for anyone but the wealthiest Americans, in a media barrage on Sunday as he sought to take control of the debate on his top domestic policy priority.

The United States will urge world leaders this week to launch a new push in November to rebalance the world economy, but there are doubts national governments will bow to external advice.

According to UCLA economist, Lee E. Ohanian, concluded in a new study that the great depression was caused by Pro-labor policies pushed by President Herbert Hoover after the stock market crashed in 1929.

Bank of America failed to meet a Monday deadline to hand lawmakers further details about its acquisition of Merrill Lynch and faces the possibility of new charges from U.S. securities regulators.

Apple should consider acquiring Sonos if it wants to lead in the home audio networking market, a small niche with big potential, according to an analyst.

Dell Inc plans to buy Perot Systems Corp for about $3.9 billion, paying a steep 67.5 percent premium to expand its technology services business and compete with Hewlett-Packard Co and IBM.

Yahoo Inc hopes to get up to $500 million for a unit that hosts websites for small companies, after putting it on the market for several months, two people familiar with the matter said.

French media company Vivendi SA will decide whether to unload its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal by early December, setting the stage for a sale that may draw far more headlines than bidders.

Yahoo Inc hopes to get up to $500 million for a unit that hosts websites for small companies, after putting it on the market for several months, two people familiar with the matter said.

Intel Corp and the European Commission took divergent views on Monday of the Commission's release of the 517-page decision that underpins its 1.06 billion euro fine on the chip maker.

Technology distributor Synnex Corp posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by lower costs and an 18 percent rise in its global business service revenue, and forecast fourth-quarter results in line with Wall Street expectations.

President Barack Obama will deliver his first speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday and lay out his foreign policy vision.

U.S. phone companies may be forced to open their wireless networks to rival Internet services like Skype and Google Voice under a proposal brought out by the top telecom regulator to safeguard so-called Internet neutrality.

Bank of America Corp will end a nine-month old, $118 billion asset-guarantee program with the U.S. government, paying a $425 million exit fee, the company announced on Tuesday.

Insurance risk assessment specialist Verisk Analytics Inc on Monday set the terms of its initial public offering, saying it expects the offering to yield $1.7 billion in what could become the largest U.S. IPO in a year and a half.

Three companies backed by major investment firms plan initial public offerings this week to take advantage of distressed commercial real estate, but they face stiff competition and major risks if the market takes a long time to recover.

U.S. phone companies may be forced to open their wireless networks to rival Internet services like Skype and Google Voice under a proposal brought out by the top telecom regulator to safeguard so-called Internet neutrality.

Bank of America Corp failed to meet a Monday midday deadline to hand over further details about its acquisition of Merrill Lynch to a congressional investigative committee, a panel spokeswoman said.