MARKETS / FINANCE

Wall Street opened higher on Friday after the government reported fewer workers were laid off in July, providing fresh evidence of an economic recovery and the sustainability of a recent market run-up.

American International Group Inc , the insurer that received about $180 billion of federal bailouts, posted its first profit in seven quarters and shares rose 9 percent.

Wall Street opened higher on Friday after the government reported fewer workers were laid off in July, providing fresh evidence of an economic recovery and the sustainability of a recent market run-up.

Wall Street was set for a higher open on Friday after the government reported fewer workers were laid off in July, providing fresh evidence of an economic recovery and the sustainability of a recent market run-up.

American International Group Inc , the insurer that received $180 billion of federal bailouts, posted its first profit in seven quarters on Friday, helped by investment gains, sending its shares up 20 percent in premarket trade.

U.S. employers cut 247,000 jobs in July, far less than expected and the least in any month since last August, according to data on Friday that provided the clearest evidence yet that the economy was turning around.

On Thursday evening, the Microsoft Xbox Live service was unreachable, joining the likes of Twitter and Facebook which also went down this week, crippling millions of its users around the world.

U.S. stock index futures trimmed losses on Friday ahead of key monthly jobs data that could provide clues on the direction of the economy and the sustainability of a recent run-up.

Oil edged down on Friday from a six-week high as markets looked to U.S. July employment data for clues on whether the United States could be emerging from recession.

American International Group Inc , the insurer that received $180 billion of federal bailouts, posted its first profit in seven quarters on Friday, sending its shares up 9 percent in premarket trade.

U.S. stock index futures were lower on Friday as investors braced for key monthly jobs data for clues on the direction of the economy and the sustainability of a recent run-up.

Royal Bank of Scotland reported more losses on Friday as investment banking profits failed to offset bad debts and the state-owned lender warned of more poor results to come before its own and the economy's recovery.

Oil edged down on Friday from a six-week high as markets looked to upcoming U.S. July employment data for clues on whether the U.S. economy could be emerging from recession.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Friday, as investors braced for key monthly jobs data.

State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland posted a 1 billion-pound ($1.7 billion) net loss in the first-half on Thursday, as bad debts soared to 7.5 billion pounds, and warned of more poor results to come as its recovery would take time.

Asian stocks dipped on Friday as investors grew cautious before a key U.S. jobs report, while the Australian dollar got only a brief lift despite signals from the central bank that interest rates could rise over time.

Citigroup Inc may give control of its Phibro commodities business to Andrew Hall, the energy trader making headlines for demanding a $100 million payday under his contract, The New York Times said on Thursday, citing a person with knowledge of the negotiations.

Fannie Mae, the largest provider of U.S. home mortgage funding, on Thursday reported a $14.8 billion quarterly net loss that it said would force it to go to the U.S. Treasury trough a third time for money to stay in business.

Investors overlooked weak July sales results from some U.S. apparel chains and sent the shares of battered names such as Gap Inc , Limited Brands Inc and Zumiez Inc up on hopes of improvement later this year.

The number of U.S. workers submitting new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, fanning hopes the fragile labor market was on the mend and that the broader economy was stabilizing.

The U.S. Senate approved and sent to the White House on Thursday a $2 billion extension of the cash for clunkers autos sales incentive program.

The Nasdaq Stock Market and BATS Exchange said in separate statements on Thursday they will voluntarily stop offering so-called flash orders, a controversial service that gives certain firms an advance look at market-bound trading orders.

Advanced Micro Devices free OpenCL development tool for x86 CPU is now open for download as part of its ATI Stream SDK 2.0 beta version, according to the second largest chip maker.

A Sarah Palin signature Xbox 360 worth $1.1 million than the Xbox itself has been auction in EBay by a Canadian user, David Morrill.

The Obama administration will soon have another $2 billion to spend on consumer rebates for car purchases, but automakers are saying little about production increases and experts see only a short-term boost to the economy overall.

The federal government's cash-for-clunkers program is expected to generate more sales in the U.S. asset-backed securities market as consumer trade-ins of old gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient models generate new car loans.

American Express Co raised hopes for a battered credit card industry after estimating that bad loans were easing, but analysts cautioned that the sector is not out of the woods yet.

The first-time filings for state unemployment benefits declined by 38,000for the week ending August 1 to a seasonally adjusted 550,000, while the number of people who continued to collect regular benefits rose by 69,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.31 million the prior week according to a Labor Department report released Thursday.

Stocks fell on Thursday as investors turned cautious a day ahead of a crucial government report on July employment, and took profits after recent strong gains.