Indian shares ended flat Tuesday, with the key stock index managing to stay above the 19,000-mark, a day after the Sensex rose above the level for first time.

  The Group of Seven finance chiefs are likely to discuss government-controlled investment funds and the usual topics of currencies and the global economy at their meeting in Washington on Friday, Japan's finance minister said Tuesday.

  Shares traded down 28.18 points on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

  Higher prices for transport fuel, eating out and tobacco pushed inflation in the 13-country euro currency area up to 2.1 percent in September, the EU's statistical agency said Tuesday.

  The launch of a program to let mainland Chinese investors trade Hong Kong stocks is still some time away, the country's central bank governor said Tuesday, disappointing Hong Kong investors who have bid up shares in anticipation of a flood of money entering the market.

  A bank owned by the investment arm of China's cabinet is bidding for a stake in U.S. securities firm Bear Stearns, a Chinese regulator and an executive said Tuesday.

  The Bank of Cyprus on Tuesday denied claims by U.S. prosecutors that it had violated federal provisions against money laundering.

  Luxury goods retailer Burberry PLC reported a 15 percent increase in revenue Tuesday, saying new lines and cohesive marketing campaigns have proved popular with both retail and wholesale customers.

  The dollar edged higher against the yen Tuesday in Asia as short-term investors hunted bargains in the U.S. currency following its overnight decline in the wake of Wall Street's slump.

  China's new foreign investment agency will invest in all global markets including Taiwan and Hong Kong, a state news agency on Tuesday quoted its chairman as saying.

  The U.S. dollar was higher against most other major currencies in early European trading Tuesday. Gold traded higher.

  Bulgaria's current account deficit grew to ?160.7 million (US$228.2 million) in August, nearly double the ?86.8 million (US$123 million) in the same month last year, the country's central bank said Tuesday.

  Hong Kong shares tumbled in volatile trading Tuesday on signs that China's long-awaited individual overseas investment scheme may not be launched as soon as expected.

  Oil prices surged more than US$1 a barrel to new intraday highs Tuesday on fears Turkey will pursue Kurdish rebels into Iraq and disrupt oil supplies in the region.