IBT Staff Reporter

St Gobain, the world's biggest building materials group, said on Tuesday it would buy clay and mortar company Maxit Group from Germany's HeidelbergCement in a deal worth around $3 billion.

Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered beat expectations with a 30 percent rise in half-year underlying profit on Tuesday, although the bank said its costs grew faster than income.

British cable operator Virgin Media on Tuesday postponed the sale of the company after it became apparent buyers would not have access to the debt needed to do a deal right away.

Chrysler LLC, the struggling No. 3 U.S. automaker purchased by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, is expected to return to profit within three years, Cerberus chairman John Snow said.

Miner Xstrata Plc announced a $1 billion offer for South Africa's Eland Platinum Holdings Ltd and met forecasts with a 47 percent rise in first-half net profit on Tuesday.

Tyco International Ltd. reported higher quarterly operating earnings on Tuesday, helped by sharply higher profit at its flow control division, which serves booming energy markets. In June, the company completed the spinoff of Tyco Electronics and the health care business, now called Covidien.

Wynn Resorts Ltd posted a profit on Monday that topped Wall Street targets on strong results out of Las Vegas and China's gambling haven of Macau, and the company's shares jumped more than 10 percent in extended trading.

Asian stock markets steadied on Tuesday and the dollar held on to gains versus the yen following a rally on Wall Street, but lingering concerns about a global credit squeeze kept many investors sidelined.

He's made a fortune picking through the bones of failed steelmakers, textile mills and coal miners.

Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the world's wealthiest man with riches of $59 billion, Fortune magazine said on Monday.

Countrywide Financial Corp said on Monday it had access to $186.5 billion of cash as of June 30, as the largest U.S. mortgage lender attempts to assure nervous investors it expects to survive a credit crunch that has claimed dozens of smaller rivals.

Major U.S. airlines are on track for their worst annual record for on-time performance ever with nearly a third of all flights delayed in June, government figures showed on Monday.

Toyota Motor Corp has told its parts makers that it is planning global output of over 10 million vehicles in 2008, up more than 6 percent from its plans this year, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

A U.S. judge on Monday threw out a record $1.5 billion verdict against Microsoft Corp, ruling the world's largest software had not infringed on audio technology patents held by France's Alcatel-Lucent.

Banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and HSBC might be interested in buying Bear Stearns Cos at the right price, but there would be real obstacles to a deal happening anytime soon, analysts said.

By picking a tough-minded outsider to head Chrysler, the struggling automaker's new owners have put company employees, suppliers and dealers on notice that things will be changing.

UniSource Energy Inc, the parent of Tucson Electric Power, said on Monday second-quarter profit rose 18 percent, helped by a growing customer base and increased wholesale revenues.

American Express Co. agreed to pay $65 million for failing to detect drug-related money transactions laundered through a subsidiary over several years, U.S. authorities said on Monday.

Pfizer Inc said on Monday that U.S. regulators approved its AIDS drug, Selzentry, the first in a new class of oral HIV medicines.

Luminent Mortgage Capital Inc on Monday said it suspended its 32 cents per share quarterly dividend and is exploring options to boost liquidity, becoming the latest casualty of the U.S. housing downturn.

Brazil is implementing the first of several infrastructure projects worth $265 billion that will make the country a huge construction site, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday.

Half of American homeowners do not expect their house to gain in value in the coming year although those who said the value of their property was declining appeared stable, according to a survey.

Argentina's July inflation came in at a lower-than-expected 0.5 percent, the government said on Monday, as official consumer price data again aroused analysts' suspicion of tampering.

Stocks rallied on Monday as investors snapped up beaten-down shares of financial companies after a sharp drop at the end of last week on mounting concerns about the stability of the credit markets.

Shares of subprime lenders and companies with a stake in the risky end of the real estate business plunged in midday trading on Monday as analysts downgraded them and negative news continued to worry the market.

Gold slipped in afternoon trade in New York on Monday after hitting one-week highs on a weaker dollar, as oil prices plummeted and concerns about credit markets resurfaced.

The average price for land in Japan rose 8.6 percent to 126,000 yen ($1,050) per square meter at the start of 2007 compared to the previous year, The National Tax Agency said on Wednesday.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is giving a boost to its information services business, announcing it has agreed to acquire privately held data management company Princeton Softech for an undisclosed amount.

The yen fell broadly on Monday as the U.S. stock market extended gains and benchmark Treasury yields rose.