NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures edged lower on Tuesday as investors paused after the market hit a 13-month high in the previous session on expectations for prolonged low interest rates.

  NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Commission has objected to Oracle Corp's acquisition of computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc, throwing the $7 billion deal into question.

  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top two banks, HSBC and Barclays, signaled bad debts may be past their peak, with HSBC declaring on Tuesday the first improvement for three years in losses on U.S. consumer credit.

  LONDON (Reuters) - Bailed-out British lender Lloyds Banking Group is to cut a further 5,000 jobs by the end of 2010 as it continues to overhaul its operations and integrate HBOS.

  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Beazer Homes USA Inc on Tuesday reported its first quarterly profit in more than a year, sending its shares up 8 percent in premarket trading.

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top forecasters are growing more confident the U.S. economy has embarked on a sustainable recovery, a survey released on Tuesday showed.

  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Industrial conglomerate Tyco International Ltd posted a 53 percent drop in quarterly net profit as soft economic conditions sapped demand for its construction and control products.

  (Reuters) - Investment bank Lazard's board may pick more than one person to lead the company following the death of Chief Executive Bruce Wasserstein, the New York Post said.

  LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell slightly on Tuesday but held above $79 a barrel as the dollar weakened, gold stayed strong and a late-season hurricane subsided in the Gulf of Mexico.

  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators launched an investigation on Tuesday into news and financial data publisher Thomson Reuters' use of its real-time market datafeed, saying it might block users moving to rival firms. The European Commission, which polices competition in the 27-country European Union, said the investigation was launched on its own initiative and that it did not imply it had proof of an infringement.