IBT Staff Reporter

Banks will likely be reluctant to make new business loans if tight credit conditions persist, hampering capital spending and the economy in the coming months, according to Goldman Sachs.

The dollar rose on Tuesday from record lows as investors trimmed bets of further declines in the U.S. currency ahead of key economic data later this week.

Warm weather in parts of the United States in recent weeks could hurt September same-store sales, as consumers put off purchases of fall items like fuzzy sweaters and outerwear.

Oil fell below $80 a barrel on Tuesday, retreating for a third day as a strengthening dollar and concerns about the world economy prompted investors to take profits.

Major League Baseball said on Tuesday it will use a service provided by a joint venture of Medialink Worldwide Inc and the Netherlands' Philips Electronics to track the use of its game broadcast footage more effectively.

The world's top cellphone maker Nokia has signed partnership deals with seven companies including CNN and Sony Pictures to bring video content to its top-of-the-range multimedia phones.

Taiwan's second-largest telecoms carrier, Far Eastone Communications Co Ltd, said on Tuesday it plans to launch its own-branded GPS device by the end of this year and hopes to sell three million units next year.

Pepsi Bottling Group Inc reported better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday due to higher prices and continued cost savings, and raised its full-year outlook, sending its shares up more than 4 percent to an all-time high.

Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd said it would launch new Blu-ray optical disc recorders in November that allow more hours of full high-definition recording on a single disc than any others available.

Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has sold 17 large warehouses in Japan to the local unit of real estate developer ProLogis for about 85 billion yen ($735 million).

U.S. security contractor Blackwater defended its role in Iraq on Tuesday but skeptical lawmakers took aim at the company over a series of incidents, including a September 16 shooting that killed 11 Iraqis.In a testy, partisan hearing, Democrats denounced the contractor for aggressive behavior. The State

HSBC has applied for a review of its $6.3 billion purchase of a stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) to South Korea's Fair Trade Commission, the anti-trust body said on Tuesday.

Home builder stocks rallied for a second consecutive day on Tuesday as investors gambled that the struggling U.S. housing market, with a chance of further interest-rate cuts, may have bottomed out and now is the time to buy, investors said.

China, which makes 70 percent of the world's lightbulbs, has agreed to phase out incandescent bulbs in favor of more energy-efficient ones, part of a push by a leading world environmental funding agency.

Global warming will produce stay-at-home tourists over the next few decades, radically altering travel patterns and threatening jobs and businesses in tourism-dependent countries, according to a stark assessment by U.N experts.

Stocks edged lower on Tuesday as a drop below $80 a barrel in oil hurt energy shares, offsetting optimism about further interest rate cuts fueled by the latest disappointing news on housing.

Gold fell 2.7 percent on Tuesday as a rising dollar prompted investors to take profits from the metal's 28-year highs, but analysts said the upward trend remained intact.

The Qatar Investment Authority filed for regulatory approval to take a bigger stake in OMX on Tuesday, raising the prospect of a bidding war for the Nordic firm with rival Dubai and its ally Nasdaq.

Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank will buy Commerce Bancorp Inc in a cash-and-stock deal worth $8.5 billion which will expand its footprint in the United States, the banks said on Tuesday.

Citigroup said it would buy out minority shareholders in scandal-hit Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial Corp for $4.6 billion, as part of the financial giant's push into the world's second-largest economy.

Pending sales of previously owned homes fell by a larger-than-expected 6.5 percent in August as more borrowers seeking home loans were turned away by cautious lenders, a real estate trade group said on Tuesday.

Want to walk for a good cause but find yourself strapped for time or physically incapable? Welcome to the virtual walk where you can raise money for charity without ever stepping out the front door.

Global stocks hit a record high on Tuesday, lifted by financial companies after subprime losses detailed by big banks, including Citigroup Inc, raised hopes that the worst of the credit squeeze may be over.

South Korea's president arrived in the capital of hermit North Korea on Tuesday to cheering crowds and an unsmiling leader Kim Jong-Il for only the second summit between Cold War-era foes who remain technically at war.

U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari met Myanmar junta boss Than Shwe on Tuesday in a bid to end a bloody crackdown on the biggest democracy protests in 20 years, a diplomat said.

Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1.2 percent on Tuesday, clearing the 17,000 level for the first time in nearly eight weeks as gains on Wall Street and a softer yen pushed up exporters such as Sony Corp.

Oil prices fell sharply toward $80 a barrel on Monday as investors took profits from the near-record highs of last week and weighed the threat of a deeper economic slowdown in the United States.

Spot platinum hit an intraday high of $1,391 an ounce and reached closer to last November's record high of $1,395. It was quoted at $1,390.70/1,397.70, versus New York's previous finish of $1,385/1,390.

Gold closed higher on Monday despite a strengthening dollar on speculation a slowing economy may force the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates further.