Vodafone's exit from France's SFR marks another step in the revamp of its portfolio and reflects how Europe's telecom giants are ditching weaker assets to achieve scale elsewhere ahead of a wave of big investments.
Stock index futures were little changed on Monday, with the S&P 500 facing a level where selling has clustered in recent sessions.
Fast-food chain McDonald's Corp said on Monday that it plans to hire as many as 50,000 U.S. additional employees later this month, citing improvements in its domestic business in recent months.
U.S. stocks advanced in early trade on Monday as investors looked to extend a two-week winning streak in the major indexes.
Deutsche Boerse won't make a decision on a higher bid for NYSE Euronext until the U.S. exchange's board reacts to last week's counter-offer from Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange, sources said.
Consumers are a lot more cautious about their spending than they were before the recession, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said on Monday.
Stocks were set to open slightly higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 facing a level where selling has clustered in recent sessions.
Fast-food chain McDonald's Corp said on Monday that it plans to hire as many as 50,000 U.S. additional employees later this month, citing improvements in its domestic business in recent months.
Vodafone emerged on top after it finally sold its stake in France's SFR to Vivendi which, like other recent buyers, paid a full price to secure control in a major realignment of the telecoms sector.
The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants, VIVUS, Orexigen Therapeutics, Star Scientific, and Optimer Pharmaceuticals. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: OmniVision Technologies, DepoMed, TD AMERITRADE Holding, Logitech International, and Check Point Software Technologies.
General Electric Co Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt defended the nuclear industry's safety record on Monday during a trip to Tokyo to show support to the operator of a stricken nuclear plant using reactors designed by the U.S. conglomerate.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) said on Monday it has received a Refusal-to-File letter from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for tafamidis, the company’s oral investigational compound for patients with Transthyretin Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP).
Brent crude rose over $119 a barrel and U.S. crude hit a 2-1/2-year high on Monday at more than $108 as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa triggered concern that supplies could be dented while economic growth bolsters demand.
Mylan Inc. (Nasdaq: MYL) said it has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Latanoprost Ophthalmic Solution, an eyedrop that lowers pressure in the eye.
U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday on strong jobs data. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 56.99 points, or 0.46 percent, to 12,376.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 advanced 6.58 points, or 0.50 percent, to 1,332.41. The Nasdaq Composite rose 8.53 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,789.60.
French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis completed its improved $20.1 billion offer for Genzyme, allowing it to begin merging the U.S. biotech firm into its business and add rare diseases to its growth areas.
The first major Republican counter to President Barack Obama's February proposal for the 2012 budget was previewed on Sunday, as deficit cutting will exceed the President's proposal by a factor of 4 over the next decade, including a way to slow the growth of federal health spending.
The Australian stock market closed higher on Friday on stronger international oil prices and as investors looked past overseas negatives to forthcoming economic data from the United States.
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Sunday condemned the burning of a Quran in the United States, days after demonstrators retaliated by killing workers for the United Nations and protests in cities around the country have escalated into violence.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said on Sunday it had not struck a deal with BP to allow the oil company to resume deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, refuting a press report.
Citigroup Inc and Capital One Financial Corp were part of a large data breach that exposed the names and e-mail addresses of many large companies' customers, including those at some of the nation's largest banks.
BP has struck a deal with U.S. regulators that will allow it to resume deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, a year after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, the Sunday Times reported.
