Stocks soar on budget deal, but problems lurk

The "fiscal cliff" compromise, even with all its chaos, controversy and unresolved questions, was enough to ignite the stock market on Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year.The Dow Jones industrial average careened more than 300 points higher, its biggest gain since December 2011. It's now just 5 percent below its record high close reached in October 2007. The Russell 2000, an index that...

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Clothing retailer Gap to buy Intermix for $130 million - WSJ

 Gap Inc will buy women's fashion boutique Intermix Inc for $130 million (80 million pounds) to enter the luxury clothes market, the Wall Street Journal reported.The casual-clothes retailer plans to double Intermix's store count and look for opportunities to expand the chain overseas, the Journal said, quoting Art Peck, president in charge of new brands at Gap.Intermix, which does not produce...

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Gold slips from 2-week peak after U.S. budget deal

 Gold eased on Thursday from the prior session's two-week peak as the dollar strengthened and oil prices fell, with investors focusing on coming U.S. budget talks after euphoria over a vote to avert a fiscal crisis faded.A global stock market rally petered out on Thursday as investors began worrying about likely future U.S. political battles over spending cuts.Spot gold was at $1,681.1 by 1114...

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Sensex gains for third day; Q3 earnings key

 BSE Sensex edgedup on Thursday, marking a third consecutive session of gains that pushed indexes to their highest close in two years, as expectations for better-than-expected quarterly earnings lifted technology stocks such as Infosys. Shares have started 2013 on a strong note as investors bet the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will cutinterest rates later this month, and...

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Wall Street dips as profits booked after rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged lower on Thursday as investors locked in gains after a rally Wednesday, which was spurred by a deal by U.S. lawmakers to avert a "fiscal cliff" of austerity measures that had been due to kick in this year.Losses were limited, however, by better-than-expected data that showed U.S. private-sector employers added 215,000 jobs in December. That was well above economists'...

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Myanmar launches air-strikes on Kachin rebels

Heavy fighting between the Myanmar Army and the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA), is raising concern that a major escalation of violence is under way in the region, casting a shadow over Myanmar's much-touted reforms.The Myanmar Army offensive – which includes the use of helicopter gunships and fighter jets – comes after weeks of heavy fighting at outposts about 10 miles outside the KIA headquarters...

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Egypt's Brotherhood says UAE arrests unfounded

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said on Wednesday some of its members had been wrongfully arrested in United Arab Emirates (UAE) on allegations of helping to train local Islamists in subversion tactics."I know 11 people were detained. I know that some of them are from the Brotherhood," said Mahmoud Ghozlan, a Brotherhood spokesman in Cairo. "The claim that they are a cell seeking to destabilize...

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