IBT Staff Reporter

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived in North Korea on Tuesday to try to negotiate the release of two U.S. journalists convicted by the communist state of grave crimes, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein told employees to avoid making high profile purchases, the New York Post said, citing sources.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to North Korea on Tuesday to try to win the release of two jailed American journalists, a move some analysts said could mark the isolated state's return to talks over nuclear weapons.

CVS Caremark Corp posted a bigger-than-expected jump in quarterly profit on Tuesday, aided by new stores and increased demand as consumers bought Easter treats and products to combat the H1N1 flu.

U.S. stocks headed for a lower open on Tuesday as a mixed data on June personal consumption and expenditures sparked caution, and investors set out to book profits a day after Wall Street rallied to a fresh nine-month closing high.

U.S. consumer spending rose slightly more than expected in June, a government report showed on Tuesday, likely pushed up by higher gasoline prices, and incomes saw their biggest drop in four-and-a-half years.

U.S. stock futures slipped on Tuesday as investors paused to gauge if the recent run-up will hold, while retreating oil prices looked set to weigh on energy shares.

U.S. stock futures fell on Tuesday as caution prevailed ahead of reports on June personal income data and pending home sales, a day after Wall Street rallied to a fresh nine-month closing high.

Small-capped Australian iron ore miners say it is business as usual with Chinese steelmakers despite protracted negotiations between China and mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton to settle an annual benchmark price.

U.S. stock futures slipped on Tuesday as investors paused to gauge if the recent run-up will hold, while retreating oil prices looked set to weigh on energy shares.

The fate of U.S. climate control legislation is in the hands of the Senate, where it faces an uphill climb. Democratic leaders hope to put it to a vote in October.

Oil fell more than $1 to below $71 per barrel on Tuesday, paring three days of gains as expectations for a rise in U.S. crude inventories offset optimism over positive U.S. and Chinese manufacturing data.

The semi-official China News Service quickly withdrew a report on Tuesday that said China had suspended iron ore negotiations with Australian miners, offering no further insight on the status of fraught price talks.

Leading global automakers reported forecast-beating quarterly results on Tuesday, but continued to give cautious outlooks for the industry, which remains hard hit by weak demand and a lack of consumer credit.

The World Trade Center's public projects, such as the mass transit hub, should not be delayed by a financing battle with Developer Larry Silverstein over his office towers, Governor David Paterson said on Monday.

French bank BNP Paribas's revenues from corporate and investment banking nearly doubled in the second quarter as robust investor demand boosted revenues from the bank's fixed income business unit.

U.S. manufacturing contracted at a much slower pace in July, while construction spending rose unexpectedly in June, according to data released on Monday that bolstered the view the economy was pulling out of recession.

Swiss bank UBS posted another big loss in the second quarter as wealthy clients were scared off by a U.S. tax row, but said it hoped to start winning back trust now that a U.S. deal was in sight.

BNP Paribas , France's biggest bank by market value, posted higher second-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by its purchase of Fortis assets, and expressed some optimism over prospects for financial markets.

Stock index futures point to a lower open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with the down S&P 500, the Dow and Nasdaq at 0.7 to 0.8 percent at 5:03 a.m. EDT.

Global stocks and commodity prices pulled back on Tuesday as investors paused to assess the state of the economy after pushing them higher in the past two weeks, while the U.S. dollar was broadly flat.

Oil fell to below $71 per barrel on Tuesday, paring three days of gains, as worries about a rise in U.S. crude inventories offset optimism from positive U.S. and Chinese manufacturing data.

Toyota Motor Corp said its annual loss would be smaller than earlier forecast thanks to deeper cost cuts and government measures to jump-start sluggish global auto demand, but remained cautious on the prospects for a sustainable recovery.

Global miner BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc has named veteran former Ford Motor Co Chief Executive Jac Nasser as its new chairman to succeed Don Argus, it said on Tuesday.

Asian stocks hit an 11-month high on Tuesday before profit taking pulled them back, while the Australian dollar also pared gains after the country's central bank left interest rates unchanged but offered no clues on when tightening would begin.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wants former Kmart Chief Executive Charles Conaway to pay $22.6 million, alleging he mislead investors before the company filed for bankruptcy in 2002, court documents showed.

Toyota Motor Corp reported its third straight quarterly loss, but beat expectations and said its annual loss would be smaller than earlier forecast, as deep cost reductions help make up for some of the slump in global vehicle sales.

U.S. retailers could post their 11th consecutive drop in monthly same-store sales this week as cool weather, a weak job market, and a lack of tax-free holidays had shoppers picking through the clearance racks in July instead of buying full-priced back-to-school clothes.

UBS said it remained cautious about its prospects after client withdrawals spurred by protracted U.S. tax litigation dragged the Swiss bank into another big quarterly loss on Tuesday.