IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. job creation is accelerating throughout the economy, giving President Barack Obama's reelection bid a boost and increasing the chances the jobless rate could improve faster than the Federal Reserve expects.

After a blockbuster January for both equities and bonds - rallies that caught many in the market by surprise - investors will be paying keen attention to the world's central banks in the coming week for signs of continued easy money.

The U.S. economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in January and the unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.3 percent, indicating last quarter's growth carried into early 2012.

British police said on Friday they were investigating reports that the activist hacker group Anonymous had hacked into a conference call between FBI agents and London detectives to discuss action they were taking against hacking.

It's the year's hottest initial public offering, but some wealth managers find themselves having a hard time recommending Facebook to their clients.

The U.S. economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in January and the unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.3 percent, indicating last quarter's growth carried into early 2012.

The U.S. economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in January and the unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.3 percent, indicating last quarter's growth carried into early 2012.

Stocks rallied more than 1 percent on Friday, extending a rally in equities, after a report showed U.S. job growth surged in January.

Aon Corp posted a higher quarterly profit that narrowly beat market estimates as the world's largest insurance broker continued to reap the benefits from its acquisition of Hewitt Associates.

The deal will give the new company a 22 percent share of the mobile telephone market with over 2.8 million customers and more than €700 million ($920 million) in combined revenue for 2011.

Sprint Nextel , like its bigger rivals, is expected to report a steep decline in fourth-quarter profit margins due to its launch of the costly Apple Inc iPhone.

Apple Inc stopped offering older models of its iPhone and 3G-based iPads at its German online store on Friday in a response to an injunction won by Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc in December.

Stock index futures pointed to a sharply higher open on Friday after the government reported the U.S. economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months, infusing optimism into markets.

Aon Corp., the world's largest insurance broker, posted a higher quarterly profit that narrowly beat market estimates on higher revenues from its human resources segment.

Aon Corp , the world's largest insurance broker, posted a higher quarterly profit that narrowly beat market estimates on higher revenues from its human resources segment.

The economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in January and the unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.3 percent, indicating last quarter's growth carried into early 2012.

Stock index futures edged higher on Friday as investors awaited the monthly payrolls report to see whether to make more large bets in risk assets after recent equity gains.

Stock index futures edged higher on Friday as investors awaited the monthly payrolls report to see whether to make more large bets in risk assets after recent equity gains.

Former UBS AG trader Kweku Adoboli, who is accused of unauthorized deals that cost the Swiss bank $2.3 billion, was refused bail by a London court on Friday less than an hour after regulators stepped up their probe into the scandal.

A group of European regulators has written to Google Inc calling on it to halt the introduction of its new privacy policy, saying it needs to investigate whether the proposals sufficiently protect users' personal data.

Hitachi Ltd said on Friday it would reorganize its operational structure in April by setting up five new groups as the Japanese conglomerate continues to overhaul its sprawling operations to boost profitability.

New Delhi's expected move to allow global airlines to own as much as 49 percent in Indian carriers has been welcomed by investors as a potential lifeline for an industry mired in $20 billion of debt and on course to rack up $3 billion in annual losses. But aviation-industry experts say any celebration is premature.

Just because foreign airlines may soon be allowed to invest in India's battered carriers doesn't mean they will.

Japan's Panasonic Corp warned of a record annual $10.2 billion net loss, joining beleaguered rivals Sony and Sharp in a sea of red ink as they struggle to fix their broken TV businesses and show they have not lost their way.

British and Swiss regulators Have stepped up their investigation into a $2.3 billion trading loss at UBS's London arm last September with the launch of a formal probe.

Hackers associated with the activist group Anonymous posted a protest against Greece's EU and IMF-inspired austerity policies on the website of the country's justice ministry Friday, a ministry spokeswoman said.

Caution ahead of U.S. jobs numbers kept a lid on gains for stock markets on Friday after an optimistic start to the year that has added more than 7 percent to global company values.

China's headline consumer price index is on track to fall on a month-to-month basis in the coming months and mark a year-on-year decline in the second half of 2012, a government economist said in comments published on Friday.

Lower regulatory charges, cost cuts and strong demand for a wide range of services enabled Britain's BT to post solid third-quarter core earnings on Friday and lift aspects of its forecasts.