BUSINESS

In the busy Naples square where she works, 18-year-old Arianna is a familiar sight as she darts back and forth from a cafe bearing trays with espresso and pastries.

Consumer sentiment held up in late November as some of the gloom over the economic outlook ebbed, a survey released on Wednesday showed.

The European Commission proposed on Wednesday new, intrusive laws to make sure budgets of euro zone countries do not break EU rules and that their borrowing falls, which could lead to joint debt issuance in the future.

Consumer sentiment held up in late November as some of the gloom over the economic outlook ebbed, a survey released on Wednesday showed.

Stocks fell about 1 percent on Wednesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for a sixth straight losing session as the euro zone crisis and weak Chinese data weighed on sentiment.

U.S. online spending should increase 15 percent this holiday season, outpacing even last year's torrid growth, as shoppers are enticed by more retailers offering free or low-cost shipping, analytics firm comScore said.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wednesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for a sixth straight losing day as the euro zone crisis and weak Chinese data weighed on investor sentiment.

New claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week but held below 400,000 for the third straight week, suggesting the labor market was gaining traction.

Purchase applications for home mortgages rebounded last week, but demand for refinancing sagged for a second week in a row, an industry group said on Wednesday.

Purchase applications for home mortgages rebounded last week, but demand for refinancing sagged for a second week in a row, an industry group said on Wednesday.

Deere & Co , reported a 46 percent increase in fiscal fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday due to continued strong demand for farm equipment, and the company said it expects substantial growth in 2012.

Germany and France clashed on Wednesday over whether the ECB should take bolder steps to stem the euro zone debt crisis, with Chancellor Angela Merkel issuing one of her starkest warnings yet against fiddling with the central bank's strict inflation-fighting mandate.

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 down 0.5 to 0.8 percent.

China's factory sector shrank the most in 32 months in November on signs of domestic economic weakness, a preliminary PMI survey showed, reviving worries that China may be slipping toward a hard landing and fuelling fears of a global recession.

Asian shares dropped more than 2 percent and U.S. index futures and oil also fell on Wednesday after a private survey showed China's factory sector shrank the most in 32 months and U.S. growth data was revised downwards, stoking fears about the faltering global economy.

Singapore Press Holdings , which has a near monopoly of newspaper publishing in the city-state, said on Wednesday it filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Yahoo Inc, alleging the internet giant reproduced news from its newspapers without permission.

Former customers of MF Global Holdings Ltd drew new hope for a quicker return of frozen funds on Tuesday, as the bankruptcy trustee secured more assets from a Chicago bank and the CME Group Inc expanded a financial guarantee.

U.S. S&P stock futures extended losses to more than 1 percent early on Wednesday after a key gauge of Chinese manufacturing activity slumped to its weakest level in nearly three years.

Jon Corzine, who has been publicly silent since resigning as MF Global Holdings Ltd's chief executive on November 4, was asked to appear before Congress next month to explain how his futures brokerage collapsed into bankruptcy so fast.

Netflix Inc's shares dropped as much as 7 percent on Tuesday after it warned of a loss for 2012, a move the prompted several Wall Street analysts to cut their price targets for the online video and DVD rental company.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) has reached a settlement with former Countrywide Financial Corp institutional investors who decided not to join a $624 million class-action case that won court approval in February.

Activist investor Carl Icahn reported in a regulatory filing that he sold 2.9 million shares of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc for $114 million.

A judge approved the appointment of a bankruptcy trustee for MF Global Holdings Ltd , wresting control of the remains of the futures brokerage once run by Jon Corzine from its current management.

States are crafting a scaled-back mortgage abuses settlement with top U.S. banks that would exclude California, one of the states hardest hit by foreclosures and falling home prices.

The sacked chief executive of Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp says he has accepted an invitation to attend the company's board meeting this week, which could be a hopeful sign for investors who want him to return and lead a clean-up of the firm.

The Federal Reserve appears to be edging closer to providing financial markets with more detail to gauge the likely path of monetary policy as a way to buttress a weak recovery.

The U.S. Federal Reserve held a wide-ranging debate on communications strategy at its most recent meeting, suggesting a shift in the way it frames policy may be its next step to buttress a weak recovery.

The U.S. economy grew more slowly than previously estimated in the third quarter, but a drawing down of stocks held by companies and firm consumer spending suggested output would pick up in late 2011.

Chinese solar companies including Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd, JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd and LDK Solar Co Ltd posted larger-than-expected quarterly losses and warned that the sector's bleak outlook would continue well into next year.