(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve opened a two-day meeting on Tuesday that is expected to end with a signal that interest rates will be held near zero into 2014. Outside of words, however, the central bank appears unlikely to take any action to prop up the economy, although some officials have raised the prospect that more bond purchases will be needed.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Greece's private creditors pleaded on Tuesday with European officials who rejected their bond swap offer to hammer together a deal before Athens tumbles into a chaotic default. Athens' hopes for a swift deal with lenders were evaporating after euro zone ministers on Monday rejected creditors' demand for a 4 percent coupon, or interest rate, on new, longer-dated bonds in exchange for existing debt.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The euro zone debt crisis is escalating and could derail the global economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday as it called for urgent action to restore confidence. The IMF chopped its 2012 forecast for global growth to 3.3 percent from 4 percent just three months ago, saying the outlook had deteriorated in most regions. It projected world growth would strengthen to 3.9 percent in 2013.

• Read more

(Reuters) - DuPont's (DD.N) quarterly revenue missed Wall Street expectations as its customers bought fewer solar-panel materials and digital television parts, offsetting strong demand for chemicals used in agriculture. Fourth-quarter profit was slightly ahead of Wall Street's estimates, however, after DuPont raised prices by an average of 14 percent across its product lines. Without the price increase, revenue would have been roughly flat.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Stocks were little changed in early trading on Monday after equities posted their best week in a month as the euro zone debt crisis and the economy showed signs of stabilizing. Germany and France pressed for a rapid deal between Greece and its private creditors and said they remained committed to a new bailout that is needed by March to avert a default. Euro zone finance ministers were due to decide later Monday on what debt restructuring terms they would accept.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Germany and France pressed on Monday for a rapid deal between Greece and its private creditors that returns its soaring debt to sustainable levels and said they remained committed to a new bailout that is needed by March to avert a disastrous default. Euro zone finance ministers are due to decide later on Monday what terms of a Greek debt restructuring they are ready to accept as part of a second rescue for Athens.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The head of the IMF called on European governments to boost the size of their rescue fund and consider financial risk-sharing steps like common euro zone bonds as a way out of their sovereign debt crisis. In a speech at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin on Monday, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the world economy faced a "defining moment" that required quick, collective action.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Oil and gas producer Apache Corp (APA.N) will buy privately held Cordillera Energy Partners III in a cash-and-stock deal worth $2.85 billion, part of a plan to expand its holdings of energy-rich reserves in the Midwestern United States. The deal will double Apache's acreage in the energy-rich Anadarko basin, a shale formation in western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle in which the company has been drilling for more than 50 years.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Takeover talk swirled around Research In Motion on Monday as investors and analysts pondered whether new Chief Executive Thorsten Heins had been appointed to lead a turnaround of the struggling smartphone maker or prepare it for sale. Heins, who joined the company that makes the BlackBerry in 2007 and took over the top job on Saturday when co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie resigned, said he wants to do a better job in rolling out innovative new products to get ahead of the competition. But he argued the company doesn't need seismic change.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged lower on Friday after GE and Google results fell short of expectations, while investors awaited a resolution in the latest round of Greek debt talks. The Dow advanced, lifted by IBM, which offered a strong outlook late Thursday. Results from several big technology companies signaled corporate leaders were shaking off nervousness about economic growth and boosting technology spending.

• Read more