UNITED STATES

French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen on Friday signed a deal to set up a 50-50 manufacturing venture with China Changan Automotive Group as it moves to ramp up capacity in the world's largest auto market.

Toyota Motor Corp President Akio Toyoda said on Friday higher wages among Chinese factory workers would create a new class of consumers, and that the trend therefore had both good and bad elements.

Alcoa Inc (AA.N), facing a sharp drop in aluminum prices, is losing favor on Wall Street as analysts lower their expectations for the company's earnings. Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, is expected to turn a second-quarter profit after a year-ago loss, but analysts have recently been cutting their forecasts, and one sees the possibility of a return to red ink later this year.

Boeing Co submitted its formal proposal to begin building a new U.S. Air Force aerial tanker fleet in a contest worth up to $50 billion that pits it once more against archrival Airbus.

Gold rose 1.5 percent to above $1,210 an ounce on Friday, alongside other commodities such as copper and oil, while underlying cautiousness in the market continued to boost its safe-haven appeal. Traders said some short-covering and momentum buying after bullion broke above the key $1,200 an ounce mark have accelerated gains, but added that they did not expect further hefty gains.

A rally that pushed the euro to its highest level in more than two months stalled on Friday and the currency fell due largely to technical factors as investors took profits before the weekend. The euro rose 1.3 percent this week and touched $1.2723 earlier in the session, its highest level since early May, supported by strong German factory data, a positive U.S. jobs report and more clarity on European bank stress tests.

Oil topped $76 a barrel on Friday and was heading for a weekly gain of more than 4 percent following bullish economic and crude inventory data this week. U.S. shares seesawed on Friday after three positive sessions in a pre-earnings pause before U.S. corporations kick off earnings season next week.

Gold rose back above $1,210 an ounce on Friday as a stock market rally showed signs of running out of steam, pointing to persistent jitters among investors, with buyers also attracted by the metal's dip to six-week lows.

The Dow and S&P were little changed on Friday, following three days of gains as investors looked ahead to the start of earnings season while Google helped keep the Nasdaq in modestly positive territory.

Mid- and small-capitalization stocks often serve as a leading indicator for the direction of the U.S. economy. So what does it say that they are down roughly 15 to 20 percent?

Canada's economy created far more jobs than expected in June in a surprising sign of strength after a raft of discouraging data, fueling expectations the central bank will hike interest rates again this month.

U.S. 30-year mortgage rates dropped to a new record low in the past week, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac FMCC.OB, as concerns mounted about the economic recovery.

Wholesales sales fell unexpectedly for the first time in more than a year, lifting inventories to their highest level in 11 months, a government report showed on Friday.

Stocks rose slightly on Friday as Wall Street looked for a fourth straight session of gains ahead of the start of earnings season next week.

Oil edged up toward $76 a barrel on Friday and was heading for a weekly gain of more than 4 percent, after a drop in U.S. inventories and positive economic indicators lifted sentiment across markets. European shares drifted higher on Friday for a fourth straight session, supported by soothing U.S. jobless and retail sales numbers. Wall Street rose in early trade, while the euro slipped off two-month highs against the dollar.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat open in what could be a volatile session on Friday after Wall Street recorded three straight winning days and as investors braced for the start of earnings season next week.

European finance ministers will shift their focus next week onto a possible need for their banks to raise more capital and on who will cover any shortfalls exposed by stress tests -- a sum which Credit Suisse reckons could total 90 billion euros ($114 billion).

BC Partners and Silver Lake are set to buy U.S. healthcare services firm MultiPlan, the private equity firms said on Friday, in the year's largest secondary buyout worth about $3.1 billion.

Stock index futures edged higher on Friday after recording three straight winning sessions and as investors braced for the start of earnings season next week.

Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt rejected any notion that Apple Inc or Facebook presented a threat to the web search leader's business.

Oil rose toward $76 a barrel on Friday, heading for its biggest weekly gain since May, after a drop in U.S. inventories and positive economic indicators lifted risk appetite and sentiment across markets. European stocks were up following a rally in Asia, and the euro held near a two-month high, following a fall in U.S. jobless claims and an upbeat view of the euro zone's recovery from the European Central Bank.