Joseph Lazzaro

Consumer sentiment was little changed in April as Americans expected the economy to slowly improve, though they were less cheery about the state of their own finances, a survey released on Friday showed.

Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, posted a lower first-quarter profit on Thursday as its oil and natural gas production slumped more than 5 percent, pushing its shares down 1.1 percent premarket.

Natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp said on Thursday it would halt a controversial program that gave company founder and chief executive Aubrey McClendon an ownership stake in its wells.

Boeing Co turned in a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday as the company was able to ramp up production to meet rising demand.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday repeated its promise to leave interest rates on hold until at least late 2014 but offered few clues into whether it might offer additional stimulus later this year.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gave no indication on Wednesday that the ECB was poised to provide more support for banks or governments but also said the time was not right to consider rolling back its crisis-fighting measures.

A New York judge on Tuesday rejected an effort by AIG Inc (AIG.N) and other objectors to Bank of America Corp's (BAC.N) proposed $8.5 billion mortgage bond settlement to convert the case to a proceeding that may have widened its scope.

A former BP Plc engineer was arrested and charged on Tuesday with trying to destroy evidence related to how much oil was spilling from the company's broken well in the Gulf of Mexico in April of 2010, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Two Democratic lawmakers on Monday said they are launching an investigation into allegations of bribery at Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Mexican affiliate.

AstraZeneca has agreed to buy U.S. company Ardea Biosciences for $1.26 billion, giving it a new gout drug to bolster its weak pipeline in a deal that feeds a wave of M&A in the biotechnology sector.

China has provided some assistance to North Korea's missile program, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday, a week after the hermit state's failed rocket launch triggered international condemnation.

Major emerging powers stood ready on Friday to pledge money to bolster the International Monetary Fund's crisis-fighting war chest, though Brazil was holding out for promises that their voting power at the global lender would increase.

General Electric Co topped Wall Street's profit and revenue forecasts for the first quarter, helped by strong demand for energy equipment and railroad locomotives.

Apple Inc, Google Inc, Intel Corp and four other technology companies were ordered by a judge to face an antitrust lawsuit claiming they illegally conspired not to poach each other's employees.

President Barack Obama will renominate Republican Kristine Svinicki to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, defying opposition from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a White House official told Reuters on Thursday.

Human Genome Sciences Inc has rejected an unsolicited bid worth around $2.6 billion from long-time partner GlaxoSmithKline Plc, marking a new takeover battle in a drugs sector that has been swept by M&A recently.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week, according to a government report on Thursday that could dampen hopes of a pick-up in job creation in April after March's slowdown.

France and Spain sold all the bonds they wanted at auction on Thursday, though for Spain the cost was rising yields, indicating growing concerns the government will not be able to tame its deficit.

BP Plc (BP.L) said on Wednesday it reached definitive agreements with well over 100,000 private plaintiffs to resolve claims for economic, property and medical damages resulting from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Economic experts watching Spain don't know how much money will be needed or precisely when, but some are near certain that Madrid will eventually seek a multi-billion euro bailout for its banks, and perhaps even for the state itself.

One hundred years have passed and there have been larger maritime disasters, but for reasons unique to the ship, the tragedy of the RMS Titanic continues to be a part of the popular culture’s consciousness.

Industrial output was flat for a second straight month in March, held back by a drop in manufacturing, according to a Federal Reserve report on Tuesday that suggested a cooling in factory activity.

President Barack Obama will announce a plan on Tuesday to increase oversight and crack down on oil market manipulation, the White House said.

Citigroup's first-quarter earnings beat Wall Street estimates as expenses fell 7 percent from the 2011 fourth quarter.

Rupert Murdoch's Times of London is facing a claim for exemplary damages after admitting hacking into the email of an anonymous police blogger to expose his identity, lawyer Mark Lewis told Reuters on Friday.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in February as exports hit a record high, imports from China and other key suppliers declined and oil import volume fell to the lowest in 15 years, a government report showed on Thursday.

The disappointing performance of the U.S. labor market in March shows it is too early to conclude the economy is out of the woods, despite months of encouraging economic data, New York Federal Reserve Bank president William Dudley said on Thursday.

The monthly US budget deficit widened to $198.16 billion in March from $188.15 billion in the same month a year earlier, partly because some benefit payments normally made in April were shifted to March, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

The number of unemployed American workers for every job opening fell in February to its lowest since late 2008, pointing to ongoing healing in the still-weak labor market.