MARKETS / FINANCE

Senator Christopher Dodd, chief negotiator for the Democrats in talks on a bipartisan financial reform bill in the U.S. Senate, on Friday said lawmakers are not there yet on reaching an agreement but said he hopes one will be reached within days.

U.S. employers cut a smaller than expected 36,000 jobs in February, leaving the unemployment rate steady at 9.7 percent, bolstering views the labor market was on the brink of creating jobs.

U.S. employers cut a smaller than expected 36,000 jobs in February, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 9.7 percent, according to a government report on Friday which said it was unclear how severe weather had impacted payrolls.

Makers of six small Web browsers are urging the European Union to push Microsoft Corp to provide them more visibility in its browser choice website.

Stock index futures rose on Friday as investors appeared ready to welcome any sign of fewer job losses in impending payroll data as improvement in the economy and dismiss any weakness as temporary.

Crude climbed toward $81 a barrel on Friday, approaching a seven-week high, after signals China will maintain its economic stimulus measures boosted hopes strong growth will help drain excess oil supplies.

The chief executive of Europe's largest oil company by production, BP Plc, enjoyed a 41 percent rise in total pay in 2009, even though profits dropped 45 percent.

The number of people working in the United States likely fell in February as winter storms that pounded parts of the country kept some workers at home but a swift recovery is expected in March.

Stock index futures rose on Friday as investors awaited a key report on the employment picture for clues on the health of the economy.

Iceland's economy grew briskly in the latest quarter, its best performance since the country's financial system nearly collapsed in 2008 and a rare dose of positive news ahead of a referendum over foreign debts.

Stocks futures edged up on Friday, pointing to a slightly firmer start for Wall Street, as shares added to gains from the previous session ahead of a key labor market report.

World stocks pushed higher on Friday after better-than-forecast U.S. retail sales suggested the world's biggest economy was stabilizing while the dollar held broadly steady ahead of U.S. jobs data.

Icelanders are set to reject the terms for repaying Anglo-Dutch debts in a referendum on Saturday, forcing new negotiations with creditors and delaying financial aid the country needs to fix its shattered economy.

The number of people working in the United States likely fell in February as winter storms that pounded parts of the country kept some workers at home but a swift recovery is expected in March.

Crude edged up on Friday, capping two consecutive weeks of trading above $80, after China signaled it would maintain its economic stimulus, rekindling hopes for accelerating growth to drain excess oil supplies.

The elections in Iraq on March 7, 2010, are likely to serve as an important indicator of the prospects for a resolution of the long-running dispute over the administration of the ethnically mixed and resource-rich province of Kirkuk in the north of the country. The Iraqi Kurds have repeatedly called for Kirkuk to be transferred to the control of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which already administers three provinces in the predominantly Kurdish north of Iraq. The other...

A second senior Federal Reserve official on Thursday joined the ranks of those doubting whether the Fed should continue to commit to hold rates exceptionally low for an extended period, a sign pressures are building to drop the wording.

The number of U.S. workers filing for jobless benefits fell last week, but a surprise drop in pending home sales to a 10-month low in January underscored the uneven nature of the economic recovery.

Insurance-like guarantees that American International Group wrote on more than $100 billion in assets held by European banks could remain on the insurer's books longer than anticipated, according to a regulatory filing.

A tax question holding up American International Group Inc's sale of its foreign life insurance unit to MetLife Inc is expected to be resolved favorably, clearing the way for a roughly $15 billion deal, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Stocks rose on Thursday as better-than-expected monthly sales from retailers and a drop in the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits pointed to stabilization in the economy.

A much larger than forecast narrowing in Australia's trade deficit added some support to the Aussie dollar in local trade yesterday however resistance above 0.9050 saw it slide lower in afternoon exchange.

Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit on Thursday voiced support for key Obama administration financial reform goals, including a consumer protection authority, but government watchdogs questioned his earnestness.

Stocks rose on Thursday as better-than-expected monthly sales from retailers and a drop in the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits pointed to stabilization in the economy.

Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg believes the compensation paid to Wells Fargo & Co's chief executive for 2009 raises serious questions, he told CNBC on Thursday.

With the economy's recovery likely to be slow and hampered by tight credit and a cautious consumer, the Federal Reserve is still far from needing to tighten its extraordinarily loose monetary policy, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said Thursday.

Four top executives of Thornburg Mortgage improperly paid themselves handsome bonuses just before the mortgage lender filed for bankruptcy last year, and stole money and ideas from Thornburg to secretly launch a new firm, the bankruptcy trustee in charge of liquidating the lender alleged in a lawsuit.

After digesting several economic data releases in the morning session, the U.S. stock market rallied to close at a modest gain.

Stocks rose on Thursday as better-than-expected monthly sales from retailers and a fall in the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits pointed to stabilization in the economy.