NEWS

The euro hit a one-month high on Monday, heading toward $1.50 ahead of a European Central Bank policy meeting later this week, an upward march that could bring commodity prices and emerging market currencies along with it.

Sara Lee Corp's opening of a high-tech Kansas City meat manufacturing facility sets the stage for broad growth in its key brands and is part of a series of moves in preparation for splitting in two, company officials said on Friday.

Ukraine's government has damaged its credibility among investors by setting unrealistic growth targets and needs to resume talks with the IMF, the central bank said in a memo that exposed deep divisions between policymakers.

Asian stocks slid on Thursday, with a steady stream of weak U.S. data putting a damper on risk taking ahead of Friday's payrolls report, though valuations will probably in the near term limit a big decline in global share prices.

The economy remained sluggish early in the second quarter as high gasoline prices crimped consumer spending and bad weather helped push pending home sales to a seven-month low in April.

Samsung SDI said on Friday it would invest 2.2 trillion won ($2 billion) in the solar battery business by 2015 to generate 3.5 trillion won in revenue from a new business it is acquiring from its affiliate Samsung Electronics.

Buoyant commodities demand from emerging economies is straining tight supplies and putting more pressure on producers to ramp up output, Glencore's chief executive said on Wednesday.

China's yuan will one day play a major role as a global reserve currency, although the U.S. dollar will remain an important currency, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said on Wednesday.

Big hedge funds and speculators cut their bullish bets on commodity markets by $17 billion in the week through Tuesday, the biggest bear turn since at least 2009, regulatory data showed on Friday.

Americans squeezed by high gasoline prices and rising costs for food and other essentials are resorting to simple but effective steps to stretch their paychecks a bit further.

Starbucks has stopped buying coffee for the moment as it waits for coffee prices to pull back from a 34-year high, John Culver, president of Starbucks Coffee International, was quoted on Friday as saying.

Starbucks expects coffee prices to pull back from a 34-year high, John Culver, president of Starbucks Coffee International, was quoted on Friday as saying.

Japan's biggest earthquake on record hit Toyota Motor's quarterly profits harder than expected, prompting renewed calls for the government to do more to support Toyota's pledge to keep building large numbers of cars in Japan.

China on Tuesday pledged easier access for U.S. companies to key sectors of its economy by removing barriers to its huge market in government contracts and offering a foothold to U.S. mutual funds.

Asian shares firmed on Wednesday as rising global commodity prices boosted energy and resource stocks, while investors largely shrugged off data from China suggesting growth there is starting to slow.

U.S. meat producer Tyson Foods Inc's second-quarter revenue rose more than expected on higher prices and the company forecast full year sales that would top Wall Street expectations.

When commodities melt down as abruptly as they did on Thursday, the first assumption is that big investors dumped massive long positions.

A record-setting rout in commodity prices overnight showed signs of fizzling out on Friday, led by a small pullback in silver, while Asian equities consolidated near the day's lows as market players squared positions before U.S. payrolls data.

Domino's Pizza Inc posted higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday as its reworked U.S. pizza recipe drove sales, and costs for cheese and meats rose less than feared.

Domino's Pizza Inc posted a big quarterly profit beat on Thursday, as sales at restaurants open at least a year were stronger than expected and costs for commodities like cheese and meats rose less than feared.

Faltering economic growth and edginess about the impact of costly oil fueled a fourth day of aggressive selling across commodities as Brent crude headed to its biggest weekly fall in a year while silver extended an historic slide.

U.S. agricultural processor Archer Daniels Midland Co reported higher third quarter earnings on Tuesday on strong results from its corn and oilseed processing segments.

U.S. agricultural processor Archer Daniels Midland Co reported higher third quarter earnings on Tuesday on strong results from its corn and oilseed processing segments.

Finance ministers of China, Japan and South Korea are mindful of the challenges from inflation, rising commodity prices and the increasing volatility of capital flows to the region, a draft statement seen on Tuesday ahead of a trilateral meeting showed.

The United States should focus less on China's currency practices and more on the threat to U.S. companies posed by Beijing's support for state-owned enterprises, a business group said on Monday.

Gold surged to a record high on Friday for the third straight day, as investors kept up a buying frenzy fueled by the outlook for low U.S. interest rates that has propelled bullion to its seventh consecutive weekly rise, its longest winning streak since 2007.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co reported a profit that was more than four times what Wall Street expected, with strength in its home North American market pushing quarterly sales to an all-time high, and its shares jumped more than 10 percent.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co showed a net profit of 42 cents per share on the highest sales of any quarter in company history, on strength in its home North American market.

Gold steadied on Friday, just shy of fresh record highs and set for its seventh successive weekly gain, driven largely by the decline in the dollar to its lowest in nearly three years.