The U.S. Justice Department has begun looking at big telecom companies such as AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications to try to determine if they have abused their market power, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Monday.

Asian markets were in a holding pattern Tuesday, mostly eking out modest gains as investors looked to quarterly earnings as a possible antidote to growing pessimism about a quick economic recovery.

The Philippines’ inflation rate dropped to 1.5 percent in June — the lowest in 22 years — as prices of commodities, particularly fuel and utilities, continued to fall, the government said Tuesday.

Asian stocks edged up slightly on Tuesday but struggled after a slide the previous day, while the yen held gains against higher-yielding currencies as investors doubt the speed of the global economy’s recovery.

Oil edged up above $64 a barrel on Tuesday, after four consecutive days of falls on worries about the economy that have brought the stock market rally to a halt and pushed the dollar higher.

Nearly five months after President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , a still-worsening economy has many wondering if stimulus is a bunch of baloney.

Oil prices hovered above $64 a barrel Tuesday in Asia after falling 12 percent in a week on investor doubts about a global economic recovery.

Investors are fearing they may have bet too soon on an economic comeback. Stocks ended mostly lower Monday as drops in prices for oil and other commodities had investors worrying again that demand for basic materials may remain slack.

A bankruptcy judge has ruled that General Motors Corp. can sell the bulk of its assets to a new company, potentially clearing the way for the automaker to quickly emerge from bankruptcy protection.

Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Monday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE: