(Reuters) - Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp ironed out its crooked accounts on Wednesday after a 13-year fraud, with a $1.1 billion dent in its balance sheet triggering speculation it will need to merge, sell assets or raise capital to repair its finances. The 92-year-old maker of cameras and medical equipment filed five years' worth of corrected statements, plus overdue first-half results, just hours before a Tokyo Stock Exchange deadline that could have seen it automatically delisted.

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(Reuters) - OPEC oil producers on Wednesday sealed their first new output agreement in three years in a deal that settles a 6-month-old argument over supply policy firmly in Saudi Arabia's favor. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed a target of 30 million barrels daily, ratifying current production near 3-year highs. It did not discuss individual national quotas.

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(Reuters) - The sovereign debt crisis crippling the euro zone still threatens other developed economies, leaving Britain and Japan teetering on the edge of recession but with the United States seen several paces away from a slump, a Reuters poll found. Reuters polls of over 250 economists taken over the past week found hatchets taken to 2012 forecasts for the euro zone, Britain and Japan as ultra-loose monetary policies have failed to stimulate enough growth.

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(Reuters) - A bankruptcy judge approved on Wednesday a deal to allow collapsed broker MF Global Holdings Ltd (MFGLQ.PK) to finance the rest of its bankruptcy with about $21 million in cash pledged as collateral to JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), one of its primary lenders. Judge Martin Glenn green-lighted the deal at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, but was also receptive to an objection from customers who worried that the cash could be part of an estimated $1.2 billion in funds missing from their accounts at MF Global's brokerage.

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(Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 rising nearly 1 percent as a jump in crude oil prices pushed energy shares higher. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 117.31 points, or 0.98 percent, to 12,138.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 12.47 points, or 1.01 percent, to 1,248.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC climbed 24.19 points, or 0.93 percent, to 2,636.45.

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(Reuters) - Retail sales grew less than forecast in November, tempering some of the expectations for a strong holiday season that had been raised by signs of bumper Thanksgiving weekend sales. Total retail sales increased 0.2 percent after rising by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in October, as less spending on food and beverages weighed against stronger auto sales, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.

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(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is likely to hold off offering the economy fresh stimulus at a meeting on Tuesday as it weighs encouraging signs on the recovery against risks coming from Europe. The Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee began its meeting at about 8:30 a.m. EST as expected, a central bank official said. A statement is due at around 2:15 p.m.

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(Reuters) - Up to 26 European Union countries will finalize a pact to enforce budget discipline more strictly in the euro zone by March, a top official said on Tuesday, as the bloc tries to move quickly to regain confidence but without Britain's backing. EU diplomats hope the first draft of a new fiscal treaty for the 17 nations that use the euro and nine other EU countries will be ready next week.

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(Reuters) - Lawmakers investigating the collapse of futures brokerage MF Global showed frustration with the firm's leaders about what happened to hundreds of millions of dollars in missing customer funds. The Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday holds the second congressional hearing to feature former MF Global chief Jon Corzine, who has said he does not know where the money is.

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(Reuters) - Stocks fell on Monday on lingering concerns over a deal for economic integration in Europe and after Intel cut its revenue outlook. Italian one-year borrowing costs stayed close to a record high at an auction in a sign that last week's European Union summit failed to reassure investors that the region's leaders were taking the urgent steps required to stem its sovereign debt crisis. An index of European equities .FTEU3 fell 1.5 percent.

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