Standard & Poor's

The US Congress on Thursday suspended the country's debt ceiling until May, giving lawmakers three months for high-stakes budget negotiations and averting a potentially catastrophic default.

India said on Wednesday it planned to sell a 10 percent stake in state-run refinery Oil India this week for at least $465 million as part of plans to reduce its budget deficit.

Fitch cut Cyprus' government bond rating by two notches on Friday to 'B' with a negative outlook, saying the cost of bailing out banks is likely to be higher than previously thought.

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to suspend the US debt ceiling until May, averting a potential default crisis and buying time for high-stakes budget negotiations.

The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to suspend the US debt ceiling until May, averting a potential default crisis and buying time for high-stakes budget negotiations.

Portugal and Ireland have received the support of eurozone finance ministers to extend the life of bailout loans to help them to borrow normally, Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said on Tuesday.

Earnings released in recent days by leading banks and other large financial institutions might be thought of as the good, the bad and the ugly.

US markets turned in their third straight week of gains Friday with the S&P 500 and the Dow clawing up to their best closing levels in five years.

The S&P 500 and the Dow hit their best levels since late 2007 on Friday, helped by news that Republicans might agree to raise the debt ceiling, but poor earnings from Intel pulled the Nasdaq lower.

Japan's two biggest airlines Wednesday took half the global 787 Dreamliner fleet out of service on safety grounds after an emergency landing by an ANA flight brought new trouble for Boeing's cutting-edge plane.

Fitch ratings agency issued a strong warning to the United States on Tuesday to deal with its recurrent debt-ceiling dramas in a way which strengthens the economy in the long term, saying that its top "AAA" credit rating was at stake.

Standard & Poor's said Monday it had upgraded the outlook on Finland's top AAA credit rating from negative to stable, saying the impact from the eurozone crisis was contained.

France, struggling to reform its economy and deal with a huge debt and big public deficit, is borrowing money at record low rates, even though the country was hit with two humiliating credit downgrades last year.

The Detroit Three carmakers return triumphantly to their hometown auto show Monday flush with profits from popular vehicles and the rewards of successful -- though painful -- restructuring.

US regulators announced Friday an in-depth safety review of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner after a recent spate of incidents involving the new high-tech aircraft.

The top Republican in the US Senate warned President Barack Obama on Sunday that he is willing to use the debt ceiling as "leverage" to end the administration's "massive spending addiction."

London shares closed slightly higher on Thursday as enthusiasm for the deal to avert the US "fiscal cliff" of tax rises and spending cuts waned.

US President Barack Obama signed the "fiscal cliff" deal into law, averting a financial crisis with global repercussions, but the IMF, rating agencies and analysts warned that the critical problem of deficits and debt still hang over the US economy.

France borrowed about 8 billion euros ($10.6 billion) at record low rates on Thursday, the country's debt agency said, in its first long term bond auction of 2013 in a sign that investors are still looking past a fragile French economy and recent downgrades by credit agencies.

The US Treasury said the country would hit its debt ceiling Monday as expected, forcing it to take measures to keep funding the government while political leaders battle over the deficit.