IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. consumer sentiment slipped this month as Americans worried about their personal finances and focused on paying down debts, though confidence in a national recovery remained high, a survey showed on Friday.

Argentina's October tax collections are seen rising 7.4 percent from a year ago, pushed up by social security inflows, analysts said.

U.S. government debt market prices advanced on Friday, as weaker stocks and data suggesting a sluggish economic rebound rekindled a safety bid for bonds.

Moody's Investors Service on Friday said it has downgraded $180 billion of U.S. collateralized loan obligations, or about 65 percent of deals it reviewed, as part of a broad appraisal of CLO ratings.

Consumer prices in the euro zone fell year-on-year for a fifth straight month in October, data showed, but they are expected to start growing in November as oil costs rise above year-earlier levels.

Social networking website Facebook was awarded $711.2 million in damages relating to an anti-spam case against Internet marketer Sanford Wallace, court documents show.

The global cellphone market is set to grow in the holiday sales-fueled October-to-December quarter, after four quarters of falls, raising fears of pricing battles, analysts said on Friday.

Troubled trucking giant YRC Worldwide (YRCW.O) Inc on Thursday posted a larger-than-expected loss for the third quarter but said it was making progress on a financial restructuring as shipping trends stabilized.

Jay-Z and Alicia Keys rocked the Yankee's stadium in New York Thursday evening when they performed for Game 2 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies.

European shares had drifted lower by midday of the last trading day of the month after surging in the prior session on U.S. GDP data, as falling energy stocks, hit by weaker crude prices, offset gains in financials.

U.S. consumer spending fell in September after four months of gains as a government program to boost auto purchases ended, adding to fears that economic growth could stumble without government support.

Chevron Corp posted a 51 percent drop in quarterly profit on Friday, the latest oil giant to be hit by the steep decline in oil and natural gas prices and the anemic margins for refineries.

Wall Street was looking at a weak open on Friday, a day after the market logged its best gain in three months, as investors await data that will shed light on consumer sentiment and Midwest business activity.

Wall Street was looking at a weak open on Friday, a day after the market logged its best gain in three months, as investors await data that will shed light on consumer sentiment and Midwest business activity.

U.S. consumer spending fell in September after four months of gains as a government program to boost auto purchases ended, adding to fears that economic growth could stumble without government support.

World stocks crept higher on Friday, marginally extending gains that followed the United States' emergence from recession while the dollar steadied off the previous session's losses ahead of data that will add more fuel to the recovery debate.

Employment costs in the United States rose 0.4 percent in the third quarter, in line with Wall Street expectations, as the longest recession in decades continued to eat away at worker pay and benefits, Labor Department data showed on Friday.

Billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros said on Friday China will be the biggest winner of the global financial crisis while the United States stands to lose the most.

Simon Property Group Inc (SPG.N) reported higher-than-expected third-quarter funds from operations, partly on lower operating costs, and the company raised the low end of its forecast for the year.

U.S. government debt prices added small gains briefly on Friday after data showed personal spending fell and income posted no growth in September, supporting the view of a sluggish economic rebound.

U.S. commercial real estate lender iStar Financial Inc (SFI.N) reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss and said it was in compliance with all of its bank and bond covenants.

Business activity in New York City expanded for the third straight month in October, its strongest recovery stretch in almost two years, according to an industry report released on Friday.

Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N) plans to trim the rescue loan it arranged for CIT Group Inc by $875 million to $2.125 billion, CIT said on Friday.

Apartment Investment and Management Co (AIV.N), one of the largest U.S. apartment landlords, said third-quarter funds from operations fell 69.5 percent on impairments and lower rents.

Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), Banco Santander Brasil (SANB11.SA) and government-owned Caixa Economica Federal are raising nearly 2.9 billion reais ($1.7 billion) through a structured fund to finance corporate loans in Brazil, Valor Economico newspaper reported on Friday.

Britain's top share index looked set to end the month crawling into positive territory by midday on Friday as U.S. data from the previous session helped lift banks, offsetting weak commodities.

U.S. consumer spending fell in September for the first time in five months as the boost from a government auto incentive faded, data showed on Friday, adding to fears that consumers may be pulling back as they head into the last quarter of the year.

A week after Microsoft launched Windows 7, users are familiarizing themselves with the more intuitive interface while some have faced problems installing the software. Despite these difficulties, analysts still predict PC sales will rise worldwide in the fourth quarter of this year.

In the midst of this year's once-in-a-lifetime rally in corporate bonds, some investors already see the specter that rising interest rates in the future could destroy much of their gains.