New orders for U.S. durable goods slipped 0.8 percent in March, far less than Wall Street expected, while their gain in February was revised downward, Commerce Department data showed on Friday.
Indian envoys flew into Sri Lanka on Friday to urge a truce in the closing chapter of a 25-year war in which U.N. data showed nearly 6,500 civilians have been killed in the last three months.
The World Health Organization (WHO) voiced concern on Friday at a confirmed outbreak of swine flu in the United States and what it called more than 800 human influenza-like cases in Mexico, including about 60 deaths.
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said on Thursday the call to develop offshore wind turbines in the Great Lakes by the New York Power Authority may help open up offshore wind development in the United States.
Following are security developments in Iraq at 1600 on Thursday.
In a second day of major bloodshed, two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests blew themselves up at the gates of a Shi'ite Muslim shrine in Baghdad on Friday, killing 60 people, Iraqi police said.
A Pakistani Taliban commander ordered his men to withdraw from Buner district on Friday, amid growing alarm in the United States over the Taliban creeping nearer to the capital of the nuclear-armed Muslim state.
Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Co reported a 48 percent drop in quarterly profit and cut its full-year earnings forecast, citing falling demand and its customers' efforts to cut inventory.
Ford Motor Co posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss and said it was on track to at least break even in 2011 and did not expect to seek U.S. government loans, sending its shares up more than 22 percent.
The United States hopes to take the reins of international efforts to battle global warming next week with a meeting of major economies aimed at facilitating a U.N. pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
U.S. and Russian negotiators held a productive initial round of talks in Rome aimed at securing a new treaty to curb nuclear weapons, they said on Friday, as part of a broader effort to improve relations.
Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday after Ford Motor Co reported better-than-expected results as investors awaited data on manufacturing and housing.
Ford Motor Co posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss on Friday amid the auto sector downturn and said it was on track to at least break even in 2011 and did not expect to seek U.S. government loans.
Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday after Ford Motor Co reported better-than-expected results as investors awaited data on manufacturing and housing.
California on Thursday adopted a first-ever rule to slash carbon emissions in automotive fuels, and spur the market for cleaner gasoline alternatives, after a last-ditch appeal to ethanol advocates who fought the plan.
The global economic downturn has shown signs of easing in recent weeks, although significant risks remain, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said before a meeting of G20 officials in Washington on Friday.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average share index fell 0.1 percent, for the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1 percent and for the S&P 500 index fell 0.2 percent, pointing to a mixed start on Wall Street.
U.S. regulators who are concluding stress tests on banks may remove Citigroup Inc chief executive Vikram Pandit, the New York Post reported, citing sources it did not identify further.
Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is expected to post a large first-quarter net loss amid the global economic downturn that has pressured results in the United States, Western Europe and other developed economies.
World stocks and the euro rose on Friday after a bigger-than-expected rise in Germany's key corporate sentiment survey, while better earnings from several regional U.S. banks also boosted investor morale.
Morgan Stanley , which posted a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss this week, is eyeing changes to its biggest proprietary-trading desk, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Earnings disappointments drove Asian stocks lower on Friday, helping to snap the region's longest streak of weekly gains in 18 months, while gold shot to a three-week high above $910 an ounce after China revealed it now has the world's fifth-largest stock pile.
