UNITED STATES

U.S. consumer spending rose in March as households stretched to cover higher costs for food and gasoline, with inflation posting its biggest year-on-year rise in 10 months.

The dollar hit new 2011 lows against the euro and the British pound yesterday, while the Dollar Index (USDX) is currently trading at around 73 - close to record lows.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co showed a net profit of 42 cents per share on the highest sales of any quarter in company history, on strength in its home North American market.

U.S. stocks advanced in early trade on Friday, following stronger-than-expected earnings from major companies including Caterpillar and Merck.

The U.S. embassy in Cairo has resumed normal operations on Friday, citing improvement just over three months after massive protests developed into a revolution which toppled President Hosni Mubarak and left nearly 850 people dead.

Chevron Corp , the second-largest U.S. oil company, reported a 36 percent jump in quarterly earnings as oil prices surged and refining profits improved along with the global economy.

Gold continued its explosive rise, when measured in the falling US dollar currency, on Friday trading for $1,540 per ounce, marking a new record high yet again and set for its seventh successive weekly gain.

Merck & Co reported higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings, fueled by cost cutting and strong sales of its drugs for diabetes, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.

Donald Trump appeared at a rally in Las Vegas where he was treated like royalty and delivered a profanity-laden speech that decried politicians, particularly President Barack Obama.

Oil prices hovered near 31-month highs as a weak dollar and violence in North Africa and the Middle East outweighed concerns about slowing growth in top consumer the United States.

Caterpillar Inc recorded a fivefold surge in profit and raised its forecast for the rest of the year, citing rising demand for its bulldozers, excavators and other heavy equipment.

Rising gasoline and food prices lifted consumer spending in March and the increase in overall inflation from a year-ago was the largest in 10 months, government data showed on Friday.

President Barack Obama - who will tour an area in Alabama devastated by fierce and deadly storms on Friday - signed a major disaster declaration for Alabama on Thursday, a move which authorizes federal funds for the state to deal with the aftermath of deadly storms that have killed 305 people.

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Friday as a bullish stock market was set to enter the seasonally weak month of May with the Dow and the Nasdaq about to post their best month since December.

Caterpillar Inc recorded a fivefold surge in quarterly profit and raised its forecast for the rest of the year, citing rising demand for its bulldozers, excavators and other heavy equipment.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat to lower open for Wall Street on Friday, reversing gains from the previous session on the last trading session of the month.

Gold steadied on Friday, just shy of fresh record highs and set for its seventh successive weekly gain, driven largely by the decline in the dollar to its lowest in nearly three years.

Nasdaq OMX and IntercontinentalExchange are poised to go hostile in their bid for NYSE Euronext after shareholders ratcheted up pressure on the Big Board parent to get a better deal.

College education in the U.S. is a rip-off, it is no longer a safe investment for the future, and its quality has been so watered down that it doesn't any longer help you get the dream job. Moreover, costly higher education will rather cripple the rest of your life by burdening you with a veritable student loan debt trap!

Silver and gold were within sight of historic highs on Friday and could resume an uptrend as the U.S. dollar held near three-year lows against a basket of currencies on hopes U.S. monetary policy would stay ultra-loose, keeping inflationary price pressures high.

Blackstone Group LP plans to buy the top floors of the former New York Times building in Manhattan for $160 million, according to a report in the New York Times.