IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Caterpillar beats estimates

US machinery maker Caterpillar Inc posted stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings yesterday and raised its full-year forecast, saying it was seeing "encouraging signs that indicate a recovery may be under way".

The world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment and a closely watched component of the Dow Jones industrial average reported a third-quarter net profit of $404 million, or 64 cents a share, compared with $868 million, or $1.39 a share, a year ago. Analysts, on average, had expected the Peoria, Illinois-based company to report a profit of 6 cents a share on sales of $7.47 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.