Reuters - Consumer confidence recovered more than expected in August as fears over inflation eased, while financial markets combed through housing data for reasons to hope the worst is over for the moribund sector.

Reuters - Federal Reserve policy makers at their August 5 meeting saw a weakening economic outlook, exacerbated by stress in financial markets, as outweighing persistent concerns about inflation expectations becoming unmoored, minutes of their meeting showed.

Reuters - Global miner Rio Tinto posted a better-than-expected 55 percent jump in first-half profit, boosted by its 2007 takeover of Alcan and strong Chinese demand, and raised its dividend on Tuesday.

Reuters - U.S. stocks fell sharply on Monday as credit concerns hounded financial stocks while global growth worries hurt big technology and industrial companies.

Reuters - Singapore wealth fund Temasek warned of further contagion from the global credit crisis after it doubled its full-year profit by selling billions of dollars of assets.

Reuters - Hewlett-Packard Co. expects to close its $13.25 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corp. Tuesday but did not give any details on possible job cuts, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Reuters - General Motors Corp (GM) has received interest from two separate investors from the Gulf Arab region to buy its Hummer brand, the company's Middle East chief told Reuters on Tuesday.

Reuters - Ailing mortgage finance company Freddie Mac easily sold $2 billion of short-term debt on Monday, reassuring investors that it and rival Fannie Mae can fund operations without a government takeover.

Reuters - The International Monetary Fund has trimmed its forecasts for 2008 and 2009 world economic growth, largely due to a marked worsening in the outlook for the euro zone, a G20 finance official told Reuters on Monday.

Reuters - Stocks fell sharply on Monday as credit concerns hounded financial stocks and global growth worries hurt big technology and industrial companies.

Reuters - Sales of previously owned U.S. homes ticked higher in July thanks to lower prices, but record inventory suggested the battered housing market is unlikely to recover soon, a trade group report showed on Monday.

Reuters - Boeing Co. offered its largest workers' union wage increases and other incentives for a new labor contract, but the union called the proposals "insulting" and stepped up its threat to go on strike in early September.