Joseph Boris

Futures on the S&P 500 edged lower in light volume Friday but were still on track to close their ninth straight week of gains, the longest such run since January 2004. Investors will focus on oil prices as U.S. crude hovers near $107 a barrel a day after hitting a 10-month high above $110 on supply concerns in the Middle East.

Producer prices in the euro zone rose by a greater-than-expected 0.7 percent in January, a result that could add to concerns that overall inflation won’t drop rapidly to the European Central Bank's target, giving the ECB less leeway to intervene to boost the region's economy.

A Red Cross aid convoy prepared to enter the shattered Baba Amro district of the city of Homs, Syria, on Friday after a government official declared the area cleansed and the opposition spoke of a massacre by President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Rebels withdrew Thursday in a key moment in the year-old uprising.

Bloc leaders on Friday signed a new pact to allow for faster transfer of capital to the EU's planned permanent €500 billion ($660 billion) bailout fund and to set strict rules on member states' debt.

Euro zone unemployment rose to 10.7 percent in January from a revised 10.6 percent in December, while the annual inflation rate edged up to 2.7 in February from 2.6 percent in January, the European Union's official statistics agency, Eurostat, reported Thursday.

Two NATO soldiers -- both Americans -- were shot dead Thursday by two Afghans in Kandahar, including a man believed to be a soldier, news reports said. A local official said the two assailants were killed in retaliation by members of the NATO force in Afghanistan.

An official with the Martin County, Fla., medical examiner's office confirmed that Davy Jones died Wednesday. A representative of the Monkees singer said the cause of death was a heart attack.

Rupert Murdoch's younger son, James, is resigning as executive chairman of U.K.-based newspaper publisher News International, its parent, New York-based News Corp. announced Wednesday.

The European Central Bank on Wednesday said it distributed €530 billion in cheap, three-year loans to 800 lenders, in the central bank's latest bid to stem the euro zone financial crisis. The new loans are in addition €489 billion in similar lending that the ECB disbursed to more than 500 banks in December.

Mitt Romney scored victories in both of Tuesday's Republican primarie in Michigan -- his native state -- and Arizona. The wins reposition the former Massachusetts governor as his party's front-runner and could prompt a rethink of rival Rick Santorum's candidacy

Germany's Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday that a parliamentary panel formed to approve urgent action by the euro zone bailout fund is in large part unconstitutional. The decision could hamper efforts to tackle the European debt crisis.

Authorities in Ukraine arrested three men suspected in an assassination plot targeting Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, according to Russian state-owned Channel One television.

A suicide car bomber killed at least nine people in an attack on a military airport in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan on Monday in the latest act of violence and protests since copies of the Quran were burned at a NATO base last week. While there was no official indication Monday's bombing was linked to the protests and riots, the Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack as revenge for the Quran-burning.

Amid UN nuclear inspectors' findings that Iran has accelerated its enrichment of uranium, the U.S. intelligence community maintains that no hard evidence exists that Tehran has decided to build a nuclear weapon, according to current and former American officials interviewed by the New York Times.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open for equities on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent.

Western and Arab countries on Friday will demand that Syria allow aid to be delivered to desperate civilians, despite the lack of international resolve to intervene to end a crackdown on foes of President Bashar al Assad's regime. Violence during the uprising has claimed thousands of Syrians' lives.

Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) posted a fourth-quarter loss Thursday and said it will spin off its Hometown, outlet and hardware-store businesses as part of an effort to increase liquidity.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, on Tuesday reported a 1.5 percent increase in fourth-quarter sales at its U.S. stores open at least a year.

Stock index futures pointed to a rise in U.S. equities on Tuesday after the market opens following Monday's Presidents Day holiday, with futures for the S**9**P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks on the disputed nuclear program of Iran, a day after the Islamic country responded defiantly to tightened EU sanctions by halting oil sales to British and French companies.

Newt Gingrich says any TV station that airs an ad from rival Republican Mitt Romney's super PAC claiming the ex-House speaker backed China's controversial one child policy will be sued, according to Politico.