UNITED STATES

Oil jumped more than 2 percent on Monday to touch a six-week high on optimism about the pace of global economic recovery and as cold weather across the United States boosted fuel demand.

Tool maker Black & Decker Corp raised its profit outlook for the third-quarter, citing better-than-expected sales, operating margin and tax rate, suggesting an improvement in the company's end markets.

Oil rose by more than $1 a barrel to a six-week high above $73 on Monday, supported by optimism about the pace of global economic recovery and indications of stronger oil demand.

LG Electronics Inc said on Monday a U.S. International Trade Commission judge has ruled it has not infringed Whirlpool Corp's patent for ice storage bins placed in refrigerator doors.

Stocks rose on Monday as continued optimism over the economy lifted energy and other commodity prices, which were also helped by a weaker U.S. dollar.

A senior Iranian energy official said on Monday the value of a possible new liquefied natural gas development deal with France's Total had fallen to $7.5-8 billion, state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Germany could end up shouldering the entire burden of aid for Opel because Britain and Spain remain reluctant to support the planned sale of the carmaker to Canada's Magna, a Free Democrat (FDP) politician said.

The auto boom came fast to this harbor town on Lake Michigan where Ramblers first rolled off the line a century ago.

The dollar gained for the second straight session against the yen on Monday, rising to a more than two-week high, with traders covering short positions as they debated the timing of a tightening in U.S. monetary policy though some investors remained cautious.

Kenosha, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan has a long history in automotive history that will die if a Chrysler engine plant is shut as planned next year.

It could take years for the World Health Organization to downgrade the H1N1 flu from a pandemic to seasonal-like virus, the U.N. agency said on Friday.

A U.S. government media event to promote H1N1 school vaccinations on Friday included VIPs, cute kids and a phalanx of television cameras -- but only one in five children at the school had proper parental consent to get immunized.

A technology to bury underground the greenhouse gas emissions produced from burning coal must be ready for global deployment by 2017-2019, U.S. energy secretary Steven Chu said on Monday. Coal is the world's single biggest source of carbon emissions, at 40 percent. Other sources included burning oil and natural gas, and deforestation and the production of cement.

The World Health Organisation plans to start sending H1N1 flu vaccines to poorer countries as early as next month, the United Nations agency's head of vaccine research said on Monday.

Stock futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday as a softer dollar helped boost commodity prices and, potentially, earnings of export oriented U.S. companies.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Monday as a softer dollar helped boost commodity prices and, potentially, earnings of export oriented U.S. companies.

On the surface, a glimmer of confidence is returning to the battered U.S. housing market, after more than three years of gut-wrenching defaults, price slumps and foreclosures.

Funds advised by U.S. private equity group J.C. Flowers & Co LLC have taken legal action seeking to prevent the full nationalisation of German bank Hypo Real Estate (HRXG.DE), the investment group said.

Stock futures pointed to a higher open on Monday as a softer dollar helped boost commodity prices and, potentially, earnings of export oriented U.S. companies.

The swift downturn in California's economy and the ensuing wave of job losses cost Sue and Nabil Boctor their house.

U.S. President Barack Obama's top economic adviser said on Monday the United States is on the path toward economic recovery, conditions in financial markets are steadier and there have been initial signs of stabilization in the housing market.