MARKETS / FINANCE

Sales at U.S. retailers rose slightly less than expected in December while underlying inflation remained calm, government reports showed on Friday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported a 47 percent increase in quarterly earnings, and said loan demand and trading profit could grow this year, boosting investor optimism that revenue for major banks will recover.

Sharply higher prices at the pump pushed overall consumer prices up at their fastest pace in a year and a half, though core prices, which strip out volatile food and energy costs, barely budged, a government report released on Friday showed.

A U.S. agency that manages federal use of the airwaves has warned that a wireless network proposed by hedge fund manager Philip Falcone could interfere with systems such as Defense Department communications.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday after retail sales rose less than expected and on a mixed reaction to JPMorgan Chase & Co's quarterly earnings, though the S&P was on track to notch a seventh straight week of gains.

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported fourth-quarter earnings jumped 47 percent compared to the year earlier quarter, helped by narrowing losses on bad loans.

Gold fell in Europe on Friday after China's central bank raised lenders' reserve requirements by 50 basis points, with softer haven demand for the metal after solid bond sales by Portugal and Spain also weighing on prices.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Friday after weak retail sales and a mixed reaction to JPMorgan Chase & Co's quarterly earnings.

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, helped by narrowing losses on bad loans that allowed it to release $2 billion of reserves.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday despite strong quarterly results from JPMorgan Chase & Co as the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 looked to close out a seventh week of gains.

U.S. stock index futures were lower on Friday despite strong quarterly results from JPMorgan Chase as the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 looked to close out a seventh week of gains.

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported fourth-quarter earnings jumped, helped by narrowing losses on bad loans.

Shares in semiconductor companies jumped on Friday in Europe and Japan after strong earnings report from sector bellwether Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, defied a slowdown in PC sales.

China's central bank raised lenders' required reserves on Friday for the fourth time in just over two months to make good on its vow that inflation fighting will be a top priority for the year.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat to lower open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.02 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.04 percent at 5:11 a.m. ET.

The euro was flat against the dollar on Friday, shedding early gains posted on ECB concerns about inflation as China again raised banks' reserve requirements to cool growth rates.

Some of the top bankers in the United States flocked to a midtown Manhattan law firm on Thursday to make a pitch for managing what could be one of the largest share sales in history -- a secondary offering of potentially $20 billion for bailed-out insurer AIG.

The euro paused on Friday but was still on track to post its best weekly performance against the dollar in 20 months, while Asian equity markets struggled to extend recent gains, with Japan's Nikkei retreating from an 8-month peak.

Morgan Stanley announced on Thursday a number of executive changes across its retail brokerage and fixed-income trading divisions, as Chief Executive James Gorman overhauls the bank's management ranks a year into his tenure.

The euro surged on Thursday, taking on renewed vigor after better-than-forecast debt auctions by Spain and Italy and a hawkish rate view from the ECB but weak U.S. jobless claims data weighed on U.S. stocks.

Intel Corp posted better-than expected revenue and margins for the fourth quarter and gave a rosy outlook for early 2011, defying worries about the chipmaker's minor role in the booming smartphone and tablet computer market.

Intel Corp beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter profit and sales estimates, and forecast higher-than-expected revenue in the current quarter.

Mattress maker Sealy Corp's quarterly profit edged past market expectations, helped by strong demand in its international markets and on lower costs.

Stocks edged lower on Thursday, hurt by a slide in drugmaker Merck and as falling commodities prices hit shares of natural resource companies.

Morgan Stanley announced on Thursday a number of executive changes across its global wealth management and fixed income divisions, as Chief Executive James Gorman pursues an overhaul of the bank roughly a year into his tenure.

A U.S. judge approved a $7.2 billion settlement on Thursday to pay former customers of the Madoff firm, the largest yet in the worldwide search for money lost in Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Intel Corp's revenue and margin forecasts beat expectations on healthy technology spending, defying worries about the chipmaker's minor role in the booming smartphone and tablet market.

Investors showed appetite for Spain's debt Thursday, pushing borrowing costs up less than expected at its debut debt auction for 2011 and alleviating some concerns about the euro zone's more vulnerable debtor nations.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said it will take longer than expected to win approval of its bankruptcy plan and projects paying out $60.1 billion as it tries to settle differences with creditors owed six times that amount.