U.S. stocks fell for a third day in a volatile session Tuesday, led by declines in consumer discretionary and technology shares, while another drop in the Russian rouble added to worries about the global economy.
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U.S. judge OKs Seattle artist's 'Angry Birds' lawsuit
A U.S. judge has allowed a Seattle artist's intellectual property lawsuit to go forward over her claims she was cheated out of possibly millions of dollars from the sale of "Angry Birds" pet toys she designed, her attorney said on Tuesday.
Apple wins digital music U.S. antitrust trial
Apple Inc (AAPL.O) won an antitrust trial on Tuesday when a U.S. jury decided the company did not act improperly when it restricted music purchases for iPod users to Apple's iTunes digital store.
No credible sign of plot on theaters over Sony movie: U.S. officials
Two U.S. security officials cast doubt on a threat against theaters planning to show Sony Corp's (6758.T) controversial movie about an assassination of the leader of North Korea, but police across the country vowed on Tuesday to take extra precautions.
Investors take cover amid Russia crisis, oil slide
An uneasy calm settled on Asian markets on Wednesday as a brewing financial crisis in Russia and the rout in oil prices sent investors scurrying for the cover of top-rated bonds.
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U.S. housing starts and permits fell in November, but remained at levels consistent with a gradually improving housing market. Groundbreaking declined 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.028 million units, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. October's starts were revised up to a pace of 1.045 million units.
Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd NV (DLL.AS) has agreed to sell its Belgian banking operations to China's privately-held Anbang Insurance Group for 219 million euros ($273 million).
Destined to form models of the Burj Khalifa and Tokyo Tower, 90 million toy bricks will be used in new Legoland Parks in Dubai, Japan and Korea by 2017, building blocks in British operator Merlin's (MERL.L) expanding empire.
The global economy is ending the year in a fragile state with factory activity shrinking in China, euro zone business growth remaining weak, and emerging market giant Russia in a spiraling currency crisis.
The ruble plunged more than 10 percent for the second day on Tuesday and recorded its worst fall since the Russian financial crisis in 1998 as confidence in the central bank evaporated after an ineffectual overnight rate hike.
Belgian biotech group Galapagos said on Tuesday that its research partner Janssen Pharmaceutica, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, had pulled out of a program to develop a new drug to treat bowel disease.
Oil fell to just above $59 a barrel for the first time since May 2009 on Tuesday, extending a six-month selloff as slowing Chinese factory activity and weakening emerging-market currencies added to concerns about demand.
Sliding oil prices and a downbeat China factory survey weighed on Asian shares on Tuesday, while the ruble jumped against the dollar after Russia sharply increased its benchmark interest rate in a bid to halt a collapse in its currency.
Activity in China's factory sector contracted in December for the first time in seven months, the latest in a string of weak economic indicators that will intensify calls for more stimulus measures to head off a hard landing.
