AFP - The stock market here rose by 0.50 percent when the market opened on Friday, and the FTSE 100 index stood at 4,293.69 points.

AFP - Munich Re, the second biggest reinsurance group in the world, has dropped its 2008 profit target following a plunge in third quarter results, it said on Friday.

AP - British Airways PLC on Friday reported a first-half loss of 49 million pounds ($77 million), as chief executive Willie Walsh said record high oil prices and a global economic slowdown meant the period would 'be remembered as one of the bleakest on record.'

AP - Lenovo Group, the world's fourth-biggest maker of personal computers, said Friday its quarterly profit dived 78 percent as the global economic slowdown battered sales.

AFP - European stock markets rallied a little on Friday but Tokyo ended sharply lower for a second day running as recession fears abounded and investors nervously awaited key US jobs data, traders said.

AP - Reinsurer Munich Re AG said Friday that it barely eked out a profit in the third quarter as its investments were hurt by falling stock markets, forcing the company to abandon its full-year earnings forecast for the second time this year.

AP - Chinese shares rebounded Friday, led by financial stocks and refiners, after news reports said the government might create a fund to support prices.

AP - Japanese stocks closed the week on a sour note Friday, dragged down by an overnight fall on Wall Street and rapidly shrinking profits at Toyota Motor Corp.

AP - British Airways PLC on Friday reported a first-half loss of 49 million pounds ($77 million), as chief executive Willie Walsh said record high oil prices and a global economic slowdown meant the period would 'be remembered as one of the bleakest on record.'

AP - Share prices on the London Stock Exchange were higher at midday Friday.

AP - Europe's stock markets opened slightly higher Friday after a resilient performance in Asia overnight but trading was cautious ahead of the closely-watched U.S. jobs report for Friday, which analysts warned could spark a renewed bout of selling.

AP - Hong Kong's main stock index recovered from steep early losses Friday to finish more than 3 percent higher after several commercial banks cut interest rates in a sign the territory's credit markets continue to thaw.

AP - Sprint Nextel says it swung to a third-quarter loss as it continued to hemorrhage customers.

AP - British Airways PLC on Friday reported a first-half net loss of 49 million pounds ($77 million), as record high oil prices and a global economic slowdown hit the airline's bottom line.

AP - Buyers are returning to the stock market after two days of heavy losses although the government has issued a worse-than-expected employment report.

AP - Europe's stock markets rose Friday but remained off earlier highs after the closely-watched U.S. jobs report for October showed unemployment at a 14-year high.

Reuters - Shares of American International Group advanced 9.6 percent to $2.05 in premarket trade after the Wall Street Journal said federal officials were considering a possible change in the terms of an $85 billion loan to the troubled insurer.

AP - Sprint Nextel said Friday it lost $326 million in the third quarter as it continued to hemorrhage customers and announced a change in its credit terms that restricts the payment of dividends.

AP - Reliant Energy Inc., which supplies electricity to nearly 2 million customers in Texas and the Mid-Atlantic region, said Friday it swung to a third-quarter loss due to unrealized losses of more than $1 billion from energy derivatives.

AP - Media company E.W.Scripps says it swung to a third-quarter loss and announced that it would cut 400 jobs as the local advertising market continued to deteriorate. It also suspended its dividend.

Reuters - Windstream Corp , which provides telecommunications services in rural U.S. areas, posted a 10 percent drop in quarterly profit and a revenue decline on Friday as it lost more traditional phone customers.

Investor's Business Daily - Online travel company Priceline proved to be a port in the storm, at least last quarter.

Reuters - Stocks cut gains on Friday after General Motors Corp posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and a report showed further deterioration in housing.

Bloomberg - Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama should act quickly to name a new leader for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency that has drawn fire for not doing enough to regulate markets and protect investors, lawmakers said.

AP - Wall Street and European stock markets rose Friday despite the news that unemployment in the U.S. is running at a 14-year high, as the monthly jobs report turned out better than many investors had feared.

AP - Luxury car maker Porsche SE said Friday its profits soared by 52 percent in its latest fiscal year — driven higher by gains in its stake in Volkswagen AG, Europe's biggest automaker.

AP - Media company E.W. Scripps Co. said Friday it is laying off around 400 employees at its newspapers in a restructuring expected to save about $15 million a year, as it swung to a third-quarter loss in a weak advertising market.

AP - Telecom Italia, Italy's largest telephone company, reported a 13 percent drop in third quarter profits on Friday but reaffirmed 2008 targets.

Reuters - Media company E.W. Scripps swung to a third-quarter loss, suspended dividend and said it would cut 400 jobs as the advertising market continued to deteriorate, sending shares down to their lowest level in almost a decade.

Reuters - The Nasdaq Stock Market has triumphed in a long battle with rival New York Stock Exchange, winning a regulatory ruling that a company can keep its stock symbol when it moves to a new exchange.

AP - Wall Street and European stock markets rose Friday after two days of losses as stocks seemed excessively beaten down to some and U.S. unemployment data turned out better than the market's worst fears.

AFP - London shares closed sharply higher Friday, getting a boost from gains on Wall Street as investors bet that a very weak US jobs report would prompt more interest rate cuts.

AP - In an Oct. 29 story about earnings for foodmakers Kellogg Co. and Kraft Foods Inc., The Associated Press erroneously reported the surname of a Frost & Sullivan research analyst. His name is Christopher Shanahan, not Sullivan.

AP - British Airways PLC on Friday reported a first-half net loss of 49 million pounds ($77 million), as record high oil prices and a global economic slowdown hit the airline's bottom line.

AP - Argentine stocks fell Wednesday after lawmakers approved a plan to nationalize pension funds. But other Latin American markets made modest gains despite continued concerns about the downturn in the global economy.

Reuters - A Securities and Exchange Commission judge found little evidence to support a report that the agency failed to enforce the law in a 2003 investigation into Bear Stearns pricing of debt, according to an administrative law judge decision released on Friday.

AP - U.S. and European stock markets rose Friday after two days of losses as stocks appeared excessively beaten down to some and U.S. unemployment data turned out better than the market's worst fears.

AP - The American auto industry is running on fumes.

AP - Insurer Allianz SE reported a 2 billion euro loss Friday after it said that the value of its investments declined and it wrote off the value of its Dresdner Bank unit before its planned sale to Commerzbank.

AP - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Friday reported a 77 percent drop in third-quarter earnings, hurt by declining insurance profits and a $1.05 billion investment loss.

AP - An administrative law judge at the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday rebuffed a request for disciplinary action against an SEC official in connection with an investigation of investment bank Bear Stearns.