Most Asian stock markets edged higher on Tuesday, bolstered by another record day on Wall Street, while a resurgent yen helped knock the U.S. dollar index off an 11-year high. The Australian dollar jumped after the Reserve Bank of Australia held policy steady, confounding investors who had bet it would deliver a back-to-back interest rate cut instead of holding off for a few months to gauge how the economy digested last month's cut. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added about 0.1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock average erased early gains and slipped about 0.3 percent after the yen rebounded from a three-week low against the greenback touched earlier in the session. On Wall Street on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 both posted fresh record closing highs, while the Nasdaq Composite broke 5,000 for the first time in 15 years.

By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending fell for a second straight month in January as households continued to cut back on purchases, opting to save much of the massive windfall from cheaper gasoline.  Other data on Monday showed factory activity slowed in February and construction spending declined sharply in January, adding to signs that economic growth moderated early in the first quarter. All the gas savings are ending up at the bank rather than being spent," Thomas Costerg, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, slipped 0.2 percent after falling 0.3 percent in December. The January dip reflected lower gasoline prices, which weighed on sales receipts at service stations, as well as drop in purchases of big-ticket items.

By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude oil prices rose more than a dollar to above $60.50 a barrel on Tuesday, tracking firmer Asian markets, but analysts warned the market remained oversupplied. Most Asian stock markets edged up on Tuesday, bolstered by a record day on Wall Street, while a resurgent yen helped knock the U.S. dollar index off an 11-year high, making commodities priced in the greenback slightly cheaper for holders of other currencies. A drop in U.S. rig counts is also boosting oil prices, analysts said. "Brent crude prices (are) attempting to rally on rapid week-on-week reduction in U.S. ... rig count," Morgan Stanley said on in a note on Tuesday.

By Rodrigo Campos and Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - It may be by far the most valuable American company but Apple Inc still can’t get into at least one exclusive club – the 30-member Dow Jones Industrial Average. It is, though, hurting those who tie their investments to the performance of the venerable Dow, which was first calculated in 1896 and is still probably the best-known stock index in the world. Since Apple split its shares seven-for-one last June 6, it’s delivered investors a gain of more than 43 percent including dividend payments, and that has contributed almost one third of the Nasdaq 100’s return of 18.6 percent, according to ETF.com. By comparison, the Dow’s total return has been only 8.97 percent over that period, and it has also underperformed the S&P500 – which does include Apple – and has a 9.56 percent return.  Had Apple been substituted for 29 of the 30 Dow components last June, the index would have been higher.

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen's office said on Monday it has launched an investigation into Lenovo Group Ltd's sales of laptops pre-loaded with Superfish software, which the U.S. government last month warned made users vulnerable to cyber attacks. The office said that Jepsen last week sent letters to Lenovo, the world's biggest personal computer maker, and privately held software maker Superfish asking them to provide information, including contracts and emails that discuss their partnership. Reports that the pre-loaded software tracks users' web searching and browsing for advertising purposes are "alarming revelations" that suggest Lenovo may have "seriously undermined computer users' online security and privacy," Jepsen said in his Feb. 27 letter to Lenovo. A Lenovo spokesman said the company has seen Jepsen's letter "and will cooperate in responding to the query." Superfish has not yet received the letter but expects to cooperate fully with the investigation, according to an email from a spokeswoman.

(Reuters) - United Airlines has no immediate interest in purchasing 777X aircraft from Boeing Co but views the plane's predecessor, the 777-300ER, as a potentially good fit for its network, the carrier's Chief Financial Officer, John Rainey, told Reuters in an interview Monday. While Rainey has said the 777-300ER interests United, he noted Monday that the aircraft could be a quick fix in markets where United needs additional seats to satisfy demand so customers are not forced to book on United's competitors. United currently is considering whether to swap Boeing 787 Dreamliners it has on order for its first 777-300ER aircraft, which can fit more seats. The swap would be a victory for Boeing, which has long insisted it can sell the 100 777-300ERs it plans to produce annually before it shifts toward building the 777X, starting in 2017.

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - IBM Corp was sued on Monday by a shareholder that said it committed securities fraud by failing to write down a money-losing semiconductor unit before agreeing to pay another company $1.5 billion to take that unit off its hands. The lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court arose from IBM's announcement last Oct. 20 that it would sell the unit to GlobalFoundries Inc, and take a related $4.7 billion pre-tax charge. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc is among IBM's largest shareholders. According to the complaint, IBM inflated its stock price before selling the semiconductor unit by carrying the unit's property, plant and equipment assets on its books at $2.4 billion, when it should have known the assets were worthless.

A U.S. judge on Monday seemed satisfied with a proposed $415 million settlement that would end a lawsuit in which tech workers accused Apple Inc, Google Inc and two other Silicon Valley companies of conspiring to hold down salaries. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, had previously rejected an earlier $324 million deal as too low. During a hearing on Monday, Koh raised no objections about the size of the settlement as she had at an earlier court session. "We are pleased court indicated she was going to approve the settlement," Kelly Dermody, an attorney for the workers, said after the hearing.

By Sarah McBride and Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Onetime highflying tech executive Ray Lane testified on Monday during a sex discrimination trial involving his former employer, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, that he made a mistake in judgment involving the harassment of a female venture capitalist at the firm, and that he feared for the woman's safety. Lane, who previously served as executive chairman of Hewlett-Packard Co and president of Oracle Corp , told the court he erred in not immediately informing others that Trae Vassallo told him about unwanted advances by her colleague, Ajit Nazre, during a 2011 business trip.

(Reuters) - Standard Chartered bank will shrink its bonus pool for 2014 by about 9 percent to around 715 million pounds ($1.1 billion), Sky News reported late on Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

NEW YORK (AP) — A pair of better economic reports helped nudge the U.S. stock market up in early trading Thursday, even as global markets headed lower.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Services across Greece shut down Wednesday as unions staged a 24-hour general strike and held peaceful demonstrations to protest further austerity cuts in the cash-strapped country.

Stocks were on track to finish higher Thursday afternoon for the second day in a row as investors drew encouragement from reports on Chinese manufacturing, U.S. home sales and some positive earnings from Best Buy, Dollar Tree and other retailers.

Major stock indexes shifted higher in midday trading Thursday, getting a lift from an encouraging report on Chinese manufacturing and some positive earnings from Best Buy, Dollar Tree and other retailers. The market also got a boost from data showing modest improvement in sales of previously occupied homes.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are opening mixed as investors look over more earnings reports from big companies.

Technically Incorrect: The Stratos Card is a new so-called connected card that claims to be a fine solution to wallet overcrowding. But who will pay $95 for it?>

A proposal by the government to cut Australia's R&D tax offset rate by 1.5 percent has been defeated in the Senate, with the Labor opposition calling the move a win for innovation among local small and medium-sized enterprises.

Unapologetic about undercutting traditional telco revenues in SMS and voice with Facebook Messenger, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that Facebook can help mobile companies drive up revenue through increased data usage.

The Australian government is taking on all 39 recommendations made by the parliamentary committee reviewing its controversial data-retention Bill.

Major lottery sellers have stopped all online business in China, with company stock prices dropping by up to 40 percent, the Chinese media has reported.

On today's show, Ashley and Producer Logan discuss HTC's new VR headset, listen to a pianist play music with a fungus, and debate the merits of a 3D-printed snack that grows its own organic filling.>

Scientists have developed a trio of tunes specifically designed to appeal to feline ears, to inspire interest or calmness.>

EMC's Chad Sakac said that while there is a universal understanding that big data has its benefits, Australian companies are still working on how to take full advantage of it.

If MPs can't even be bothered to learn about the work tools they use every day, what hope is there for intelligent debate on mandatory data retention?

Judge Lucy Koh in August rejected the companies' initial $324.5 million offer to settle the case accusing four Silicon Valley giants of conspiring to stay away from each other's employees.>

Xiaomi launches the Yi Action Camera with a spec sheet to match GoPro's entry-level camera and two-digit price tag.>

Blizzard will introduce tokens to World of Warcraft that players can use to buy in-game gold with real money, and game time with in-game gold.>

Technically Incorrect: After persuading people to offer input on the agency's proposed rules -- which crashed the FCC website's comment system -- the comedian crows a little over last week's ruling.>

The guy who built the Millennium Falcon drone is back with another "Star Wars"-themed drone creation. If you see this TIE Interceptor drone coming your way, you'd better hope your hyperdrive is operational.>

The ACCC's focus on targeting misleading advertising has claimed another scalp, with iiNet joining Telstra in the consumer watchdog's bad books.

Yahoo's recalcitrant CEO Marissa Mayer grants an exclusive interview...