A natural gas crisis loomed over Europe on Tuesday, as a contract dispute between Russia and Ukraine shut off Russian gas supplies to six countries and reduced gas deliveries to several others.

After a year in which U.S. auto sales tumbled 18 percent and GM had its worst year in nearly a half-century amid slack demand fueled by a terrible economic outlook and growing job worries, automakers are reluctant to predict when a recovery might occur.

World stock markets rose strongly Tuesday ahead of expected gains on Wall Street and amid some relatively positive corporate news, particularly from the struggling British retailing sector.

Health care continued to take up a greater share of the economy in 2007, as spending on hospitals, doctors and other services increased 6.1 percent to $2.2 trillion.