UNITED STATES

Banks looked increasingly likely to face some limits on swap trading as a proposal to rein in risky business practices gained traction among lawmakers negotiating a landmark Wall Street reform bill.

Hershey Co plans to cut 500 to 600 jobs, or up to 5 percent of its workforce, as part of a restructuring aimed at upgrading and enlarging its facilities to compete globally and save some $60 million to $80 milllion in annual costs.

U.S. stocks ended little changed in a low-volume session on Monday after a downgrade of Greece's debt took the wind out of the market's sails.

Top competitors are expected to distance themselves from BP Plc on Tuesday as normally clubby oil industry executives gather for a Capitol Hill grilling on the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

U.S. stocks ended little changed in a low-volume session on Monday after a downgrade of Greece's debt took the wind out of the market's sails.

Microsoft Corp will begin selling its Kinect motion-sensing games system on November 4 ahead of the crucial holiday season, hoping to lure new and casual players to the Xbox and steal a march on rivals Nintendo Co Ltd and Sony Corp.

Microsoft Corp has struck a deal with Walt Disney Co's ESPN network to broadcast live sporting events -- for free -- into U.S. living rooms through the Xbox 360 games console, bypassing traditional cable providers.

A pilots' strike at Spirit Airlines prompted the carrier on Monday to extend flight cancellations through mid-week, with shares of rivals moving higher on prospects of more business.

Wall Street is making a last stand against regulatory reform in behind-the-scenes meetings in Congress, where lobbyists hope to use high-stakes horse trading to blunt provisions that could cost the industry billions of dollars.

Stocks rose on Monday as European industrial data eased concerns about a slowdown in global growth, but a debt downgrade of Greece limited gains.

The worst oil spill in U.S. history has created an unprecedented financial, legal, regulatory and environmental crisis for companies that operate in the Gulf of Mexico, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

President Barack Obama called on Republicans on Saturday to vote for a delay in cutting government Medicare insurance payments to doctors, taking aim at the opposition party in a renewed election-year push for his new healthcare law.

Senator Blanche Lincoln, who crafted the plan to get banks out of the swaps business, is trying to tweak her proposal in an attempt to keep it in a final regulation bill, according to a document obtained by Reuters on Monday.

U.S. stocks climbed on Monday as European industrial data eased concerns about a slowdown in global growth and rising oil prices lifted energy shares.

CVS Caremark said it had authorized a stock buyback of up to $2 billion, an indication of confidence in its growth prospects.

Spain said on Monday that foreign banks were refusing to lend to some of its banks in the latest twist to the euro zone debt crisis, but denied it was on the brink of seeking a Greek-style European financial rescue.

Oil prices rallied by 2 percent to above $75 a barrel on Monday as renewed optimism about global economic recovery boosted the fuel demand outlook and sent stock markets higher across the globe.

The U.S. labor market will hold the key to a recovery in the hard-hit housing sector, according to a Harvard University report released on Monday.

Stocks rose on Monday, building on last week's gains and tracking a rise in global equities, after strong European industrial data reassured investors the global economic rebound was on track.

A strong global economic recovery is under way, and is unlikely to be thrown off course by European debt woes or the improbable event of the bursting of an asset bubble in China, a top U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Monday.

The euro rose broadly on Monday as gains in global stock markets lifted risk appetite and prompted traders to pare back bets against the single euro-zone currency. The euro moved further away from a recent four-year low to trade above $1.2250 -- its highest in more than a week. Stronger-than-expected euro zone industrial output further boosted the currency.