U.S.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, setting up a second straight week of gains, as upbeat retail news reinforced hopes for strong sales in the key holiday season.

The dollar fell across the board on Friday after unexpectedly weak trade deficit and consumer sentiment figures stoked worries about the outlook for a U.S. economic recovery. Gains in the U.S. stock market also helped boost risk appetite, pressuring the safe-haven greenback and lifting the euro and higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

High unemployment and reluctant consumers will likely make an incipient U.S. economic recovery weak and erratic, top Federal Reserve officials said in a string of speeches across the country on Tuesday.

Pushing for tougher changes in U.S. financial regulations, the Senate's top banking legislator on Tuesday proposed a new super-cop to police banks, a systemic risk agency and strong consumer protections.

The number of U.S. homes listed for sale fell nearly 3 percent in October compared to September, according to real estate brokerage ZipRealty.

China Minsheng Banking Corp, which is raising up to $4 billion through a public offering of shares in Hong Kong, said on Tuesday that its failed investment in U.S. lender UCBH Holdings Inc will have a limited impact on its business.

Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz premium auto division expects year-on-year U.S. sales growth in the next few months and the potential to increase its U.S. market share next year, U.S. Chief Executive Ernst Lieb said on Monday.

Traffic for the top three U.S. airlines slumped in October, but load factors for most of the nine largest carriers rose and the decline in unit revenue showed signs of slowing down.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave final approval to AT&T Inc's $944 million bid to buy Centennial Communications Corp.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a nearly 1 percent drop at the open on Friday as U.S. unemployment reached a more than 26-year high and topped the psychologically important 10 percent level.

Canada's GLG Life Tech Corp said it filed for an IPO in the United States offering 3.6 million common shares.

U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on Friday as investors awaited monthly payrolls data and the unemployment rate, key indicators to determine the strength of the economic recovery.

U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher on Friday as investors awaited monthly payrolls data and the unemployment rate, key indicators to determine the strength of the economic recovery.

Wall Street was set for a higher open on Thursday as data showed a steep pickup in productivity and a decline in applications for jobless insurance.

Online job postings rose slightly in October, led by growth in health care and public companies, but the monthly employment gauge remained 20 percent below year-ago levels, a private research group said on Thursday.

Stock index futures rose on Thursday on upbeat results from Cisco Systems and ahead of an expected pickup in October same-store sales as well as jobless claims data.

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Thursday ahead of jobs and productivity data and same-store sales numbers from major U.S. retailers.

U.S. clean energy legislation could help create 850,000 manufacturing jobs around the country, a report from a group representing business and environmental interests said on Wednesday.

U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday on an upbeat forecast from carmaker Nissan and a rebound in European banks, ahead of jobs data and the Federal Reserve's statement on interest rates and the economy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to urge the United States to take bold action to combat global warming in a speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, a month before a U.N. climate summit.

Commercial Bank of Qatar COMB.QA, the Gulf state's third-biggest by market value, will gauge U.S. investor's appetite for a potential bond issue at a roadshow on Wednesday.