BERLIN (Reuters) - Europe's fiscal pact must not be renegotiated or softened but could be complemented by growth-enhancing measures, European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen said on Monday. Asmussen also stressed that the ECB's non-standard measures - introduced to fight the debt crisis - were of a temporary nature and could be withdrawn any time if inflation risks emerged. There is a growing push in the euro zone, led by newly elected French President Francois Hollande, to do more to stimulate growth and not just focus on reducing deficits. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street edged higher at the open on Monday, rebounding from its worst weekly decline for the year, on assurances that world powers want debt-laden Greece to remain in the euro zone. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 29.71 points, or 0.24 percent, to 12,399.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 2.73 points, or 0.21 percent, to 1,297.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 4.26 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,783.05. (Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

People in this central Greek city are rejecting the euro before it rejects them.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's antitrust chief on Monday ratcheted up the pressure on Google, giving it a matter of weeks to settle an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive behavior and avoid formal charges and a possible fine. Even if the world's most popular search engine offers concessions to resolve the issue, it will still be under the EU spotlight following fresh complaints over its Android mobile software, the top operating system for Internet-enabled smartphones. ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's antitrust chief on Monday ratcheted up the pressure on Google, giving it a matter of weeks to settle an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive behavior and avoid formal charges and a possible fine. Even if the world's most popular search engine offers concessions to resolve the issue, it will still be under the EU spotlight following fresh complaints over its Android mobile software, the top operating system for Internet-enabled smartphones. ...

Greece's newly installed caretaker prime minister began talks with party leaders Monday ahead of this week's European Union summit that's expected to focus on ways of kick starting economic growth across the continent.

Stock futures rose Monday with a new survey suggesting that economists are a bit more optimistic about housing and employment.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX Group Inc said on Monday it is changing its initial public offering trading procedures following glitches in Facebook Inc's market debut at the end of last week that prevented some traders from knowing for hours whether their orders for shares had been completed. The exchange operator said in a note to traders that modifications to its IPO and halt cross application would prevent the problems that occurred on Friday from recurring. (Reporting By John McCrank; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's shares slid below their $38 issue price in premarket trading on Monday as support from underwriters of the initial public offering dissipated after its Friday debut. The social networking company's debut was marred by a shaky opening on the Nasdaq that will be reviewed by the SEC and a falling share price, which forced lead underwriter Morgan Stanley to defend the $38 price level by purchasing shares on the open market. ...

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws restricting corporate campaign spending.

HTC on Sunday announced that some of its smartphones have already been inspected by United States Customs and have been released to carriers. The Taiwan-based vendor hit a roadblock last week when its devices were held up in Customs due to an ongoing legal dispute with Apple. “Each imported HTC model must be reviewed by Customs and will be released once Customs officials have completed the inspection,” the company wrote on its website. “Some models have gone through inspection and been released to our carriers customers. We don’t have the status of each specific device model at this time, but we are working closely with Customs. We remain confident that this issue will be resolved soon.” Earlier reports suggested that HTC

LONDON (Reuters) - British bank Barclays is selling its near-20 percent stake in U.S. asset manager BlackRock, worth $6.1 billion, as tougher global regulations have cut the attraction of such holdings. Barclays has held the stake for almost three years, a legacy of BlackRock's $13.5 billion purchase of Barclays Global Investors, but Basel III regulations mean banks have to hold more capital against minority stakes in asset managers and other firms, making it less profitable. ...

In 2010, the man who'd helped Boston win its first World Series in more than 80 years came to Rhode Island promising the job-starved state something even better: hundreds of good jobs, millions of dollars in tax revenue and a foothold in the booming business of video games.

Lowe's Cos.' first-quarter profit climbed 14 percent, as warmer weather helped boost sales. But the world's second-biggest home improvement company lowered its full-year earnings forecast on Monday, saying it is still cautious on the housing market and economic conditions.

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain said on Monday it would meet its deficit targets this year despite a new slippage in its regions' accounts and a further contraction of the economy in the second quarter. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said economic activity would likely slump by another 0.3 percent between April and June, further fuelling doubts about the country's ability to get a grip on in its finances and nurse an ailing banking sector back to health. ...

SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chinese Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma is buying back up to half of a 40 percent stake in his Alibaba Group from Yahoo Inc for $7.1 billion, in a deal that moves the Chinese e-commerce leader closer to a public listing. Under the agreement, Yahoo will sell half its stake in Alibaba for at least $6.3 billion in cash and up to $800 million in new Alibaba preferred stock. ...

SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chinese Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma is buying back up to half of a 40 percent stake in his Alibaba Group from Yahoo Inc for $7.1 billion, in a deal that moves the Chinese e-commerce leader closer to a public listing. Under the agreement, Yahoo will sell half its stake in Alibaba for at least $6.3 billion in cash and up to $800 million in new Alibaba preferred stock. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Barely a day went by at the insider-trading trial of multimillionaire hedge-fund founder Raj Rajaratnam a year ago without mention of Rajat Gupta, a boldface name in business and charity circles. On Monday in the same federal court in New York, it will be Gupta's turn to go on trial. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Procter & Gamble board member is accused of leaking stock secrets to Rajaratnam, his erstwhile friend and business associate who was convicted and is now in prison. ...

The United States Department of Justice approved Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility this past February, but the massive deal awaited the blessing of one more major regulatory body before it could go through. This past weekend, China’s Ministry of Commerce followed the DOJ’s lead and granted Google permission to acquire the struggling vendor. China’s MOC did have a condition Google must honor if it moves forward with the deal, however: Android must remain open-source and freely available. Google announced last August that it intended to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, and the deal is expected to close in the coming months.

Broadcast television networks are determined to make you laugh.

Broadcast television networks are determined to make you laugh.

A Chinese conglomerate announced Monday it will buy a major U.S. cinema chain, AMC Entertainment Holdings, for $2.6 billion in China's biggest takeover of an American company to date.

A Chinese conglomerate announced Monday it will buy a major U.S. cinema chain, AMC Entertainment Holdings, for $2.6 billion in China's biggest takeover of an American company to date.

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares and the euro steadied near their lows for the year on Monday as investor fears that Greece could leave the euro were partly countered by promises from China and the Group of Eight leaders at the weekend to support growth. The FTSE Eurofirst index of top European shares was around 0.4 percent higher at 974.03 points after losing 5.1 percent last week to reach its lowest level of the year. ...

Struggling Internet company Yahoo Inc. has secured a lifeline after agreeing to sell half of its prized stake in Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba for about $7.1 billion, with most of the cash going to shareholders.

Struggling Internet company Yahoo Inc. has secured a lifeline after agreeing to sell half of its prized stake in Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba for about $7.1 billion, with most of the cash going to shareholders.