IBT Staff Reporter

Gold futures rallied near 3 percent on Tuesday, gaining the most in almost seven weeks on speculation of a weaker dollar while platinum surged more than 4 percent to another record high of $2,174 on persisting stockpile concerns from South Africa, the metals top producer.

Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday above $100 a barrel to set a new record before falling slightly on speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may diminish oil output next month and after an explosion shut off operations in a U.S. refinery.

The end of the format battle is finally here. Toshiba said overnight that it would withdraw from the HD DVD business causing U.S.-listed shares of Sony Corp rallied to a 3-week high on Tuesday on optimism about sales of its PlayStation 3 video game consoles and Blu-ray DVD players.

Oil prices surged more than 4 percent on Tuesday to hit a record over $100 a barrel on expectations OPEC will keep production levels steady when it meets next month. News Nigerian oil delta rebel leader Henry Okah had died raised worries about supplies from the OPEC country, but a spokesman for the government later said he was alive and in custody.

The dollar is weaker against the euro and Aussie as the US market returns from holiday, falling to its lowest level in 3-months versus the Aussie at 0.9236 and a 2-week low against the euro at 1.4756.

The release of software from a firm run by a notorious Norwegian hacker, DVD Jon, is likely to leave the music and film download world in a frenzy. The music sharing startup, doubleTwist, released a self-titled program which allows consumers to move music files, images and video from their computers onto other devices, like Sony's PSP and a handful of cell phones.

Platinum soared to its 14th consecutive record high on Tuesday as investors continue to purchase the precious metal on persisting stockpile concerns from South Africa, the metals top producer.

The dollar fell on Tuesday amid continuing speculation that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, and minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia indicating that it had wanted to raise its interest higher than it did earlier this month.

U.S. stocks gained on Tuesday for the first time in three days after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. released higher-than-expected fourth quarter results and energy stocks climbed led by oil which surpassed $98 a barrel.

Credit Suisse has written $2.85 billion off the value of its asset-backed investments and found mismarking and pricing errors on its books, it revealed on Tuesday, sending its shares plummeting. The bank said the write-downs would wipe $1 billion from its first-quarter net income, after taking into account tax credits and cancelling some staff bonuses, but it still expected to stay in profit in the quarter, despite the charge.

High-yielding currencies, led by the Australian dollar, rose on Tuesday as investors added to risky trades amid strong gains in commodity prices and expectations of further interest rate increases in Australia.

European shares cut Tuesday's losses and rose as a turnaround in shares of Barclays boosted UK banks and U.S. stock futures extended gains.

Platinum set a lifetime high for the 14th straight day on Tuesday on strong speculative buying on the back of severe output problems in top producer South Africa.

The promise of a solid open on Wall Street after Wal-Mart signaled the U.S. consumer is still keen to spend helped set aside worries about hefty bank writedowns on Tuesday while oil and metal prices rose unabated.

Wal-Mart Stores posted better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday as penny-pinching U.S. shoppers scoured its discount stores for low prices on necessities like food to offset tough economic conditions. We know that the economy remains a critical factor in this new fiscal year, said Lee Scott, CEO of the world's largest retailer, in a statement. Customers were more cautious in their spending in January.

Canadian electronic publisher Thomson Corp won conditional permission from the European Commission on Tuesday to buy Reuters, a deal that will create the world's leading provider of news and data for professional markets.

NiSource Inc said electricity and gas utility Unitil Corp agreed to buy two of its units for $160 million in a deal expected to strengthen Unitil's gas utility operations and expand the company's customer base by 40 percent.

Actor Jude Law will appear as Heath Ledger's character, along with Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell, in the unfinished film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Law's spokeswoman said on Monday.

For weeks, Britons Daniel Day-Lewis and Julie Christie have looked like sure bets to win the coveted best actor and actress Academy Awards, but in the days ahead of Sunday's gala ceremony, momentum has shifted.

Plans for sweeping government bailouts and wholesale rewriting of mortgage terms are gaining traction as other efforts fall short.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's opponents won a big election victory on Tuesday after voters rejected his former ruling party, raising questions about the future of the U.S. ally who has ruled since 1999. Counting was continuing with results still awaited in less than 20 seats, but no party was expected to win a majority in the 342-seat National Assembly.

This stuffing was hot, but not in the roasted turkey sense. Police have arrested a 32-year-old man they accuse of stealing 217 cases of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix.

A U.K based firm is planning to unveil a $195 laptop targeted at students at the end of the month, making it the least expensive laptop offering yet.

Copper jumped to a four month high today as stockpiles on the London Metal Exchange had their biggest drop since October 17 and a report showed higher demand in China.

In the wake of Research in Motion's recent outage that left millions of users without access to their data and email, Vodaphone UK has announced that it will use a third-party solution to guarantee Blackberry service.

Apple iPhones are being smuggled into China through word-of-mouth networks, helping to deal a blow to Apple's efforts to create official distribution channels for its popular devices, according to a report.

Europe's major powers and the United States said on Monday they recognized Kosovo's new independence, as Serbs reacted with anger and some states warned that its secession from Serbia set a dangerous precedent.

Microsoft Corp does not expect sales of its Xbox 360 game console to suffer if Toshiba Corp discontinues HD DVD technology, Microsoft said in a statement on Monday.

The Walt Disney Co, the second-largest U.S. media company, said on Monday it will pay $203 million to raise its stake in India's UTV Software Communications Ltd from 14.9 percent to 32.1 percent.