MOSCOW | Fri Nov 9, 2012 8:04am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Telecoms operator Vimpelcom (VIP.N) said on Friday its annual shareholder meeting will be held on December 21 provided that a Russian court lifts injunctions before the end of November. The Moscow Arbitration Court in April imposed a ban on 2011 profit distribution by Vimpelcom's Russian unit, prompt...

By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK | Fri Nov 9, 2012 8:23am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures tumbled on Friday and were on track to post their worst weekly drop in five months as the euro zone crisis was seen hitting France and Germany and investors fretted over a looming U.S. "fiscal cliff." Growth in Germany, Europe's largest economy, is li...

By Phil Wahba Fri Nov 9, 2012 7:58am EST (Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) reported a sharper-than-expected decline in quarterly sales at stores open at least a year as shoppers continued to snub the retailer after it got rid of most coupons and sales earlier this year. The company, which is in the early stages of a multiyear turnaround, said on Frid...

LONDON | Fri Nov 9, 2012 7:05am EST LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, said on Friday it was investigating the alleged loss of data for clients in Jersey but had not been notified of any investigation by tax authorities. The Daily Telegraph has reported that British tax authorities were examining details of more than 4,000 UK clients of HSBC...

MOSCOW | Fri Nov 9, 2012 6:56am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's second largest crude producer LUKOIL (LKOH.MM) said on Friday it will study an offer from Exxon (XOM.N) to take over the West Qurna-1 oilfield in Iraq, Interfax news agency said. ExxonMobil has informed the Iraqi government it wants to pull out of the $50 billion oil project in southern Iraq...

By Annika Breidthardt and Rene Wagner BERLIN | Fri Nov 9, 2012 6:30am EST BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has asked a panel of advisers to look into reform proposals for France, concerned that weakness in the euro zone's second largest economy could come back to haunt Germany and the broader currency bloc. Two offici...

MOSCOW | Fri Nov 9, 2012 6:14am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court postponed on Friday hearing in an appeal against a decision to award more than $3 billion in damages against British oil major BP (BP.L) brought by minority shareholders in its Russian venture TNK-BP (TNBP.MM), a lawyer for BP said. The decision to postpone the hearings was made a day...

By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON | Thu Nov 8, 2012 8:55pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Staffers at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission failed to encrypt some of their computers containing highly sensitive information from stock exchanges, leaving the data vulnerable to cyber attacks, according to people familiar with the matter. While the compu...

Thu Nov 8, 2012 5:10pm EST (Reuters) - Online travel agency Priceline.com Inc (PCLN.O) said on Thursday it will buy Kayak Software Corp (KYAK.O) in a friendly deal that values the company at $1.8 billion. Priceline is offering $40 a share for Kayak, a 29 percent premium on the company's Thursday closing price of $31.04.Kayak shares jumped 27 percent to more than ...

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 8, 2012 5:23pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Media giant Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) posted higher quarterly profit on Thursday, lifted by an increase in attendance at theme parks and revenue gains at sports juggernaut ESPN. Disney reported diluted earnings per shar...

By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK | Thu Nov 8, 2012 5:23pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Thursday and could be in line for more weakness as worries about Washington's ability to find a timely solution to the "fiscal cliff" dominate investor thinking in coming weeks. The S&P 500 dropped for a second day and closed below its 200-day m...

By Dena Aubin NEW YORK | Thu Nov 8, 2012 3:45pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have completed their first observations of official auditor inspections in China and expect to meet soon with Chinese officials, said the head of the U.S. watchdog that oversees corporate auditors on Thursday. The upcoming meetings will focus on access to au...

By Nick Brown NEW YORK | Thu Nov 8, 2012 3:20pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund Marathon Asset Management has withdrawn a request for an independent investigator to examine the books of American Airlines, a unit of bankrupt AMR Corp, lawyers for the companies said at a hearing on Thursday. The move came after AMR agreed to preserve potential ...

By Deepa Seetharaman WAYNE, Michigan | Thu Nov 8, 2012 2:33pm EST WAYNE, Michigan (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) has been able to lower its manufacturing costs this year by hiring more entry-level workers and boosting its capacity utilization in North America to 114 percent. So far this year, the second-largest U.S. automaker has hired 4,800 ent...

By Eva Kuehnen FRANKFURT | Thu Nov 8, 2012 2:18pm EST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The euro zone economy shows little sign of recovering before the year-end despite easing financial market conditions, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday, leaving open the possibility of an interest rate cut in the months ahead. But after keeping...

By Jason Lange WASHINGTON | Thu Nov 8, 2012 1:50pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in September as exports rose sharply, suggesting global demand for U.S. goods was holding up despite a debt crisis in Europe. Other data on Thursday showed a drop in new claims for jobless benefits last week, although a severe sto...

Thu Nov 8, 2012 12:16pm EST (Reuters) - United Continental Holdings, the world's largest air carrier, said disruptions to operations including the cancellation of nearly 5,300 flights because of superstorm Sandy, reduced revenue and profit in October. United, which operates a major hub at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, said in a statement lat...

The auditing arm of the Environment Ministry says commercial fishermen have received $112 million in subsidized fuel for their boats in seven years -- and have used it for fishing in protected areas and other illegal activities. The auditors called for elimination of the subsidy, although their boss, Environment Minister Rene Castro, was not prepared to go that far. But he harshly criticized IN...

Thu Nov 8, 2012 9:34am EST (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co has reached an agreement in principle with the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve two previously disclosed investigations related to mortgage-backed securities, the company disclosed in a quarterly filing on Thursday. The company did not say how much the settlements could ...

FRANKFURT | Thu Nov 8, 2012 9:06am EST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank expects the euro zone economy to remain poor, ECB President Mario Draghi said after the bank left interest rates unchanged on Thursday. "Economic activity in the euro area is expected to remain weak," Draghi told his regular monthly news conference after the ECB held i...

Thu Nov 8, 2012 8:59am EST (Reuters) - Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc unveiled details of the long-awaited single-cup espresso machine it will launch with Italy's Luigi Lavazza SpA, marking its entry into the espresso, cappuccino and latte brewer category. The machine, to be called Keurig Rivo Cappuccino and Latte System, will have a suggested retail price of...

Thu Nov 8, 2012 8:56am EST (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co said U.S. regulators have approved a plan for the bank to use its capital to buy back as much as $3 billion of its stock in the first quarter of 2013. JPMorgan had suspended buybacks in May and submitted a new capital plan to the Federal Reserve in August after containing its "London Whale" derivative...

WASHINGTON | Thu Nov 8, 2012 9:13am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in September as exports increased, suggesting the economy expanded more than previously believed in the third quarter. The seasonally adjusted monthly trade gap fell to $41.55 billion, the smallest deficit since December 2010, the Commerce Department said on Th...

WASHINGTON | Thu Nov 8, 2012 8:33am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, a sign the labor market's slow recovery was gaining traction although a severe storm distorted the data. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 355,000, the Labor...

Thu Nov 8, 2012 8:25am EST (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) on Thursday reported a 1.8 percent drop in October sales at established restaurants around the world, its first monthly sales fall since March 2003, hurt by stiff competition in a weak economy. Analysts, on average, expected a 1.07 percent decline in sales at restaurants open at least 13 months, accor...

By Ernest Scheyder Thu Nov 8, 2012 8:23am EST (Reuters) - Duke Energy Corp (DUK.N), the largest power company in the United States, posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday due to benefits from its summer acquisition of rival Progress Energy. For the third quarter, the company posted net income of $594 million, up from $472 million a yea...

By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK | Thu Nov 8, 2012 9:09am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to rise slightly at the open on Thursday after stronger-than-expected U.S. job market data and a rise in exports a day after stock indexes posted the largest drops in months. Data showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in September as exports increase...

Thu Nov 8, 2012 8:19am EST (Reuters) - Kellogg Co (K.N) said on Thursday it expects reported net sales growth to be about 7 percent and earnings per share growth to be between 5 and 7 percent for 2013. The world's largest cereal maker also said it was sticking with its expectations for 2012. The maker of Corn Flakes, Eggo waffles and Keebler cookies said it conti...

By Tim Hepher and Cyril Altmeyer PARIS | Thu Nov 8, 2012 8:11am EST PARIS (Reuters) - EADS (EAD.PA) blamed a funding row with Germany for contributing to a 3 billion euro cash outflow so far this year, which put a blot on the Airbus parent's stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday and hit its shares. Finance Director Harald Wilhelm ...

By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK | Wed Nov 7, 2012 12:55pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell more than 2 percent on Wednesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its biggest drop since June, as investors shifted their focus to a looming fiscal showdown in Congress after President Barack Obama's re-election. Energy, healthcare and the bankin...

The new Minister of Public Works has acknowledged decades of delays in maintaining the country’s bridges, and has announced a tender for repairs and maintenance. Minister Castro enlisted the help of the National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models of the University of Costa Rica (LANAMME), to ensure the technical validity of the tender to be convened for the repair of bridges on roa...

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Costa Rica is negotiating a $400 million loan from the World Bank to pay back a debt with the country's social security institute, President Laura Chinchilla said on Tuesday. Chinchilla made the announcement at a meeting with World Bank officials to sign a smaller loan of $200 million to support four public universities. "Education and health have become top financing and d...

ImportGenius.com, a U.S. company that specializes in providing enormous datasets to companies in the international trade industry, today announced that they have added a 10th country to their growing Latin American datasets: Costa Rica! ImportGenius.com’s new database of shipping manifests for Costa Rica reveals the trading activities of the country’s importers and exporters. By revealing shipp...

LOS ANGELES | Tue Nov 6, 2012 6:08pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp on Tuesday reported quarterly profit that beat analyst expectations thanks to growth at the company's cable television networks. Shares jumped 2.4 percent after hours.The media giant that owns Fox Broadcasting and The Wall Street Journal said adjusted earnings per...

By Suzanne Barlyn Tue Nov 6, 2012 6:06pm EST (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley is trying to halt a securities arbitration case filed by a Facebook investor who blames the firm and other companies for losses she suffered in the social media giant's botched initial public offering and is seeking $1.9 million in damages. Morgan Stanley, a lead underwriter for the I...

By Lauren Tara LaCapra Tue Nov 6, 2012 5:53pm EST (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) is aiming to win market share in bond trading, but it is not big enough to compete against rivals like Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), and should instead focus on shrinking that business, JPMorgan analyst Kian Abouhossein analyst said. Even as Morgan Stanley tries to win m...

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS | Tue Nov 6, 2012 5:49pm EST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union regulators are to end an antitrust probe into e-book prices by accepting an offer by Apple and four publishers to ease price restrictions on Amazon, two sources said on Tuesday. That decision would hand online retailer Amazon a victory in its attempt to sell...

By John McCrank NEW YORK | Tue Nov 6, 2012 5:16pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ.O), which runs the No. 2 U.S. equities exchange, plans to offer discounts on retail orders in early 2013, the company said in a notice to traders on Tuesday. Nasdaq said its retail price improvement program would be similar to one launched by Big Boa...

By Atossa Araxia Abrahamian NEW YORK | Tue Nov 6, 2012 4:51pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks climbed on Tuesday, the last day of trading before the election results came to a close, as investors looked forward to a resolution to the drawn-out race for the White House. The rally defied a string of weaker-than expected results from U.S. companies ...

By Eddie Allen DETROIT | Tue Nov 6, 2012 4:14pm EST DETROIT (Reuters) - A former General Motors Co engineer and her husband, charged with conspiring to steal the automaker's trade secrets, were seen throwing out bags of shredded documents in a shopping plaza in 2006, FBI agents said on Tuesday. Shanshan Du, 53, the former GM employee, and her hus...