Standard & Poor's on Tuesday cast doubt on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ability to repair Japan's tattered finances less than two weeks away from a snap election, after Moody's downgraded the country's sovereign debt rating.
Sectors
Alibaba, Tencent chairmen invest in China's Ping An Insurance
The founders of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) were among a consortium of investors who purchased stakes in Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd (2318.HK) (601318.SS) in a HK$36.5 billion ($4.7 billion) deal on Sunday, in one of the largest Hong Kong share offerings of the year.
Japan's Otsuka to buy Avanir for $3.5 billion ahead of patent cliff
Japanese drugmaker Otsuka Holdings Co Ltd plans to buy U.S.-based Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc for about $3.5 billion to expand its neurologic drug portfolio ahead of an expiration of a key drug patent.
German car sales return to growth in 2014, grow further 2015: VDA
Germany's auto market will return to growth for the first time in three years in 2014 and may expand further next year, the VDA industry association said on Tuesday.
Cyber Monday sales start slow as early discounts hurt
U.S. online sales grew a smaller than expected 8 percent on Cyber Monday after web promotions before and during the Thanksgiving weekend robbed business from what has traditionally been the busiest day of the year for Internet shopping.
Latest News
The United Auto Workers union said on Monday it will press managers of the Daimler AG's (DAIGn.DE) Mercedes-Benz assembly plant in Alabama to respect the right of workers to discuss organizing a local union while on the factory floor.
Security researchers say they have uncovered a cyber espionage ring focused on stealing corporate secrets for the purpose of gaming the stock market, in an operation that has compromised sensitive data about dozens of publicly held companies.
A massive data collection system that Wall Street's industry-funded watchdog is pushing in order to ramp up oversight would cost clearing firms $680 million to build, plus other costs to the industry that far exceed the regulator's initial estimates, a major trade group said on Monday.
General Motors Co (GM.N) will recall 316,357 SUVs and sedans, mainly in North America, because the low-beam headlights can stop working, the company said on Monday.
The Federal Reserve is welcoming the sharp drop in global energy prices, with two influential policymakers on Monday cheering the boost it should provide American pocketbooks and shrugging off any pressure on already low inflation.
Russia on Monday scrapped the South Stream pipeline project to supply gas to southern Europe without crossing Ukraine, citing EU objections, and instead named Turkey as its preferred partner for an alternative pipeline, with a promise of hefty discounts.
Crude oil markets jumped as much as 5 percent on Monday, rebounding from five-year lows with their biggest daily gain since 2012, on fears that the high U.S. shale output blamed for the global oil glut may be shrinking.
Apple Inc (AAPL.O) shares tumbled in early trading on Monday, briefly suffering their largest price drop in at least three months on an unusual spike in volume.
Amazon.com Inc has installed more than 15,000 robots across 10 U.S. warehouses, a move that promises to cut operating costs by one-fifth and get packages out the door more quickly in the run-up to Christmas.
