IBT Staff Reporter

Australia's trade minister said on Monday China's detention of Rio Tinto employees would not hurt economic relations if handled properly, but said the case was a signal to everyone looking to invest in China.

U.S. stock index futures were higher, pointing to a firmer start on Wall Street on Monday, with both the Dow Jones futures and the S&P 500 futures up 0.3 percent by 3.56 a.m. ET, and the Nasdaq futures up 0.2 percent.

Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co on Monday moved a step closer to merging with its Euronext-listed fund after receiving approval from the board of the fund to combine businesses.

Asian stocks outside Japan rose on Monday to their highest level since the dark days following Lehman Brothers' collapse in September while the U.S. dollar fell, as strong company earnings encouraged investors to move into riskier, higher-yielding assets and commodities.

Asian stocks rose on Monday to their highest level since the dark days following Lehman Brothers' collapse last September while the U.S. dollar fell, as a solid outlook for corporate earnings lured investors to riskier, higher-yielding assets and commodities.

Creditors of Wilton Holdings Inc, one of largest makers of equipment for decorating food, asked a court to put the company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to $208 million in debts, according to court documents.

Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co on Monday moved a step closer to merging with its Euronext-listed fund, after receiving approval from the board of the fund to combine businesses.

CIT Group Inc's board signed off on a deal late Sunday for $3 billion in rescue financing from a group of bondholders, in a plan the lender hopes will stave off bankruptcy, a source close to the situation said.

Citigroup is facing fresh problems at its private-investments division over two funds that were overseen by Michael Froman, who left the bank's Alternative Investments unit in January to be a White House aide, the Wall Street Journal said.

Microsoft Corp will likely report the first annual sales dip in its history as a public company, but investors are looking beyond that for upbeat comments on Windows 7, signs of a tech sector recovery, and even a deal with Yahoo Inc to challenge Google Inc.

CIT Group was close to securing a deal with bondholders on Sunday which would relieve a liquidity crunch at the U.S. lender which threatens the bank with the prospect of filing for bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Microsoft Corp will likely report the first annual sales dip in its history as a public company, but investors are looking beyond that for upbeat comments on Windows 7, signs of a tech sector recovery, and even a deal with Yahoo Inc to challenge Google Inc.

CIT said to reach deal, High Level UBS tax talks, India rejects Clinton push

CIT Group Inc has reached a tentative deal with a bondholder group for $3 billion in rescue financing, which the lender hopes will help it avoid bankruptcy, sources close to the situation said on Sunday.

Earnings are set to take center stage again this week as more marquee U.S. companies line up to report their quarterly scorecards and investors decide whether to keep pushing stocks higher.

CIT Group Inc has reached a tentative deal with a bondholder group for $3 billion in rescue financing, which the lender hopes will help it avoid bankruptcy, a source close to the situation said on Sunday.

MUZU.TV, an Irish-based video website, has signed a licensing deal with the agency behind the world's leading independent music labels, giving it access to footage from the Arctic Monkeys to Radiohead.

CIT Group Inc has cut a deal with its key bondholders for $3 billion in financing that will allow the 101-year-old lender to avoid bankruptcy, according to a headline on the Wall Street Journal's web site.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to visit Israel on July 27 for talks likely to focus on Iran's nuclear ambitions and U.S.-Israeli strategic ties, officials involved in planning the trip said on Sunday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come under fire from leading hardliners for naming as his top deputy a man who said Iran was friends with everyone, including arch-foe Israel, local media said on Sunday.

Ethnic rioting in China's far western region of Xinjiang was well planned and co-ordinated to take place at more than 50 locations across the regional capital Urumqi, the official People's Daily reported Sunday.

Indonesian police said on Sunday that deadly attacks on two Jakarta hotels used the same methods and equipment as previous bombings by the militant Jemaah Islamiah group.

British Airways has told its check-in staff to look out for passengers showing symptoms of the H1N1 virus and to alert doctors who could bar them from boarding a flight, the airline said on Sunday.

Minerals firm Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Maaden) reduced losses by 59 percent in the second quarter in 2009 but posted profit on operational levels as gold revenues rose, the firm said on Sunday.

Paula Abdul may not return to “American Idol” for a ninth season, according to a comment her manager made in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Almarai Co., the Gulf's largest diary company by market value, said on Sunday it will begin production on a 650 million riyal ($173.3 million) infant formula plant as well as a baked goods factory before the end of next year.

Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc could rise to between $175 and $200 in the next year if the investment banking firm can continue to report quarterly profits of $4 to $5 a share, Barron's said, citing analyst predictions.

Roger Jenkins, the executive who secured billions of pounds in overseas funding to help Barclays remain free from direct government investment, is poised to leave the bank, the Sunday Telegragh reported.

Nomura Holdings Inc's U.S. brokerage unit said it has hired Ciaran O'Kelly from Bank of America Corp as a managing director and head of equities in the Americas.