Mark Brooks

The 27-country EU said such an agreement, first announced in Tuesday's State of the Union address by President Barack Obama, would be the biggest bilateral trade deal ever negotiated.

Lew joined Citi in 2006 and became chief operating officer for its alternative investments unit in January 2008.

The central bank says inflation in the U.K. may rise to 3 percent by summer, above its target, but it will look past higher prices to help the country's flagging economy.

Crude supplies increased by 600,000 barrels, or 0.2 percent, to 696 million barrels, which is 9.8 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.

Platinum for April rose $21.10 to settle at $1,717.20 an ounce. Palladium for March rose $12.80 to $771.40 an ounce.

The recovery has been agonizingly slow.

Draghi delivered the upbeat assessment to Spanish politicians behind closed doors in Parliament, later telling reporters that "Spain is on the right track."

Pump prices should average $3.55 a gallon in 2013, according to the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department.

Erik Huggers, general manager of Intel Media, says the company plans to sell a box that will offer "a vastly superior experience," to today's cable boxes.

Benchmark oil gained 47 cents to $97.50 in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Finance officials from the G-7 countries, which include the U.S. and Japan, said their economic policies should be "oriented towards meeting domestic objectives and not towards setting specific exchange rates."

Investor David Einhorn sued Apple last week, saying a proposal slated for a vote at the company's annual meeting in two weeks would make it more difficult to enact his plan to reward shareholders by distributing a new class of shares.

Top House Republicans have embarked on a PR campaign reminding the public that the idea for the across-the-board cuts originated in Obama's White House.

Even though private creditors were forced to take losses as part of a deal to bail out Greece, Olli Rehn noted that the Commission had said at the time that such a step would not be repeated -- and that, he said, remains the Commission's position.

Most metals are lower, with April gold losing $17.80 to $1649.10 an ounce. Silver, copper and platinum dropped as well.

The Fed has said it would hold its benchmark rate near zero as long as unemployment is above 6.5 percent and long-run inflation forecasts are below 2.5 percent. Unemployment is currently 7.9 percent.

Pump prices fell slightly in New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut while holding steady in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that negotiators were still considering the makeup of the combined company's board and an exact role for the CEO of American parent AMR.

The dollar rose to 93.45 against the yen, from 92.83 late on Friday.

The Federal Trade Commission study also says 5 percent of the consumers identified errors in their reports that could lead to them paying more for mortgages, auto loans, or other financial products.