IBT Staff Reporter

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Sunday he did not believe Europe was facing recession and renewed his support for reforms and deficit cuts to boost confidence.

The result of tests designed to show that Europe's banks are able to cope with further economic and other shocks will be published on July 23, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said on Sunday.

Troubled oil giant BP could get a reprieve from Middle East financial institutions looking to make a strategic investment in the company, a UAE-based newspaper reported on Sunday, citing informed sources.

A supertanker adapted to scoop up oil from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico began tests on Saturday amid a report that some major investors expect the energy giant to replace its top executives.

An International Monetary Fund mission said on Saturday it had agreed to recommend a loan of $14.9 billion for Ukraine in a deal to help fill the country's budget gap and boost investor confidence.

BP's oil spill clean-up efforts in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were returning to normal on Saturday, amid a report that some major investors expected the British energy giant to replace its top executives.

EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois on Saturday slammed arch-rival Boeing's propaganda campaign over a World Trade Organization panel ruling and said it was a sign of fear ahead of a decision on a hotly contested U.S. aerial tanker contract.

Ukraine came closer on Saturday to winning a bailout from the International Monetary Fund as an IMF mission said it would recommend lending $14.9 billion in a deal to help fill Ukraine's budget gap and boost investor confidence.

European regulators oppose including a sovereign default scenario in stress tests they are conducting on banks, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

Washington was preparing a revised offshore oil drilling moratorium and cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico returned to normal on Friday after hurricane Alex passed through the region without doing major damage.

EADS will submit its bid for the hotly contested competition to build a new generation of aerial tankers for the U.S. military either on Thursday or Friday, Chief Executive Louis Gallois said on Saturday.

U.S. private payrolls rose only modestly in June and overall employment fell for the first time this year as thousands of temporary census jobs ended, indicating the economic recovery is failing to pick up steam.

Washington was preparing a revised offshore oil drilling moratorium and cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico returned to normal on Friday after hurricane Alex passed through the region without doing major damage.

General Motors Co plans to file its nearly $20 billion initial public offering in mid-August, a source familiar with the situation said Friday, later than some expected as bankers work to help sort out the automaker's finances post-bankruptcy.

Glam pop singer Lady Gaga is on the brink of becoming the first living person to have 10 million fans on a single social networking site, having already overtaken U.S. President Barack Obama on Facebook, a British group that measures online popularity said on Friday.

Investors in BP expect to see a change in its leadership, with a shake-up possible once the oil giant's leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico is capped, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing leading shareholders and people close to the group.

A Chicago federal judge has authorized American International Group Inc to pursue a lawsuit accusing rival insurers of illegally conspiring to cause it harm in the workers' compensation market.

Corrects first name of lawyer in paragraph 5.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Friday it would recall 270,000 of its luxury Lexus models and Toyota Crown sedans for the chance that faulty valve springs may cause engine stalling.

Bearish bets in the equity options market, coupled with an increasingly sour view from a technical perspective, suggest stocks will struggle to break from a vicious two-month downtrend next week.

Apple Inc came clean on Friday about an embarrassing software glitch that overstates network signal strength in its hot-selling iPhone, as complaints mounted about the phone's wraparound antenna.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday to close out their worst week in two months as disappointing jobs data joined other recent evidence pointing to a tepid economic recovery.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday and closed out their worst week in two months as disappointing jobs data was the latest in a series of economic reports showing a tepid recovery.

Stocks fell on Friday and were on track for their worst week in two months as disappointing jobs data joined other economic reports pointing to a slowing of the recovery.

Contracts for pending sales of previously owned homes plunged a record 30 percent in May, far more than expected, after a popular tax credit expired at the end of the prior month, a survey from the National Association of Realtors showed on Thursday.

Private payrolls rose only modestly in June and overall employment fell for the first time this year as thousands of temporary census jobs ended, showing the economic recovery failing to pick up steam.

Stocks fell on Friday and were on track to record their worst week in two months after jobs data underscored views the recovery is losing steam.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Friday nearly $800 million in loans and grants for the build-out of broadband networks to reach homes, schools and hospitals.

Mortgage rates slid to fresh record lows in the latest week amid tepid economic growth and tame inflation, home funding company Freddie Mac said on Thursday.