IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. retail sales rose in July in a hopeful sign for the economy, but the gains were concentrated in auto and gasoline station sales, suggesting underlying momentum in consumer spending remains tame.

Gold retreated from the one-month high it hit in earlier trade as the dollar, European equities and U.S. stock futures all lifted from lows after U.S. retail sales and inflation data. It remained supported by overall jitters over the outlook for the global economy, however, as investors spooked by disappointing U.S. economic data turned to the metal as a safe store of value. Spot gold was bid at $1,213.10 an ounce at 9:06 a.m. EDT, against $1,211.20 late in New York on Thursday. Earlier it rose...

J.C. Penney Co Inc reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings on Friday on tighter cost controls but the department store chain gave a profit outlook that fell short of Wall Street forecasts. Shares fell 1.4 percent in premarket trading.

Blockbuster Inc posted a wider quarterly loss but said it had extended a debt-payment deadline to the end of September to give it time for recapitalization talks with debtors and strategic parties.

The euro fell on Friday after lackluster results in an Italian bond auction renewed worries about the euro zone peripheral economies and offset strong German growth data. The U.S. dollar headed for its best weekly performance since early 2009 against a basket of currencies after concerns about the U.S. and global economic outlook prompted investors to dump riskier assets and seek safety in the greenback.

The dollar may bounce from a 15-year trough against the yen in the near term due to technical factors and overstretched speculative positioning, but the options market shows potential for a grind toward fresh lows.

Access to market funding got tougher for Spanish banks in July, Bank of Spain data showed, though conditions were said to have improved after health checks on the country's lenders were published on July 23.

Caribbean Petroleum Corp filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court late on Thursday, nearly ten months after a massive explosion at its major Puerto Rican fuel storage depot virtually shut down the company's operations.

Wall Street was headed for a lower open on Friday after retail sales data suggested momentum in consumer spending remained limp, heightening concerns about the fragile economic recovery.

U.S. retail sales rebounded in July but showed hints of lingering economic softness underscored by separate figures indicating underlying inflation pressures stuck at their lowest level since the 1960s.

Nationalized German lender Hypo Real Estate , which failed a pan-European stress test in July, expects to complete the planned move of around $270 billion of toxic assets into a bad bank during the fourth quarter.

Considering the fact that gold prices have gone up so fast in the recent past that almost all investors in gold and gold mining companies' stocks must be thinking that the gold diggers are making huge profits.

ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management Co, the Chinese fund venture of Swiss bank Credit Suisse , said on Friday it raised more than 14 billion yuan ($2 billion) in China's biggest bond fund ever, as investors sidestep a weak stock market.

Demand for oil will continue to grow slowly in 2011, when world economic expansion is projected to be slightly lower than this year's, OPEC said on Friday.

Retail sales rose in July in a hopeful sign for the economy, but the gains were concentrated in auto and gasoline station sales, suggesting underlying momentum in consumer spending remains tame.

Agricultural Bank of China's <1288.HK><601288.SS> initial public offering hit a record $22.1 billion on Friday, after it exercised an over-allotment option in full, two banking sources said.

Euro zone gross domestic product grew at its fastest pace in more than three years in the second quarter, boosted by a strong performance by Germany and France, but concerns remain that the rebound could falter.

Research In Motion is optimistic that it will be able to resolve the Indian government's security concerns, a senior company official said on Friday.

Stock index futures fell on Friday as investors awaited consumer sentiment and retail sales data to get a better reading on the state of the fragile economic recovery.

Recent amendments from the Basel Committee on banking regulation do not appear to meet the concern of practitioners of trade finance that proposed new rules could make the vital loans scarcer and more expensive.

The European Commission welcomed data on Friday showing strong economic growth in the euro zone in the second quarter of the year but said the recovery in the currency area remained fragile. Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said that while the figures -- which showed the economy expanded 1.0 percent quarter-on-quarter -- were encouraging, euro zone economies still needed to focus on fiscal consolidation and structural reforms, which could have an impact longer-term.

Onset of festival season failed to give a boost to gold demand in India this week with almost all jewelers and gold dealers reporting below average sales across all bullion markets in India. Global bullion market has been expecting a huge demand from India this week for the yellow metals as the country celebrates Raksha Bandhan on August 24, an occasion for Indians to buy gold. Moreover, delaers are expected to refurbish their stocks during this week in anticipation of increased sales during th...

Agricultural Bank of China <1288.HK><601288.SS> has fully exercised an over-allotment option for the Shanghai portion of its initial public offering, taking the total proceeds from the offer to $22.1 billion, making the IPO the world's biggest.

U.S. stock index futures signaled losses on Friday as investors awaited consumer sentiment and retail sales data to get a better reading on the economy.

India will go after any company, including Google, after cracking down on BlackBerry in its bid to keep the world's fastest growing mobile phone market safe from militants and cyber spying, a government source said on Friday.

Corrects after stats office said GDP gain was biggest since reunification instead of biggest gain in 23 years.

Corrects after stats office said GDP gain was biggest since reunification instead of biggest gain in 23 years.

Germany's economy grew at the fastest rate since reunification in the second quarter as companies stepped up investment and exports surged, providing fresh evidence that the recovery has shifted up a gear.

The government plans to release student loan repayment rates for for-profit schools on Friday, identifying institutions by name, as part of efforts to tighten scrutiny of federal student aid.