Obama to announce financial system overhaul, extension of federal benefits to gay partners

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will unveil his proposal to overhaul regulations covering major financial institutions.

Stocks signal flat open ahead of data on home construction, inflation, industrial production

NEW YORK — Investors remain cautious as they await reports on housing and inflation a day after a stock market slide.

Key Democrat might push administration on corporate pay strategies

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration struck a delicate balance on executive pay Thursday, blaming flawed compensation packages for encouraging disastrous risk-taking but insisting it doesn’t want to dictate how corporations reward their top people.

Economy sheds 345,000 jobs in May, a big improvement; jobless past shoots well past 9 percent

WASHINGTON — Employers throttled back on layoffs in May and cut the fewest jobs in any month since the financial crisis erupted last fall — raising the brightest hope yet that an economic recovery will take hold later this year.

Stocks finish mixed after job cuts slow in May, but unemployment rate rises to 9.4 percent

NEW YORK — With unemployment still rising, investors are questioning if stocks should be, too.

Dollar gains as ECB, BoE keep interest rates unchanged; fewer Americans filing for jobless aid

NEW YORK — The dollar traded mixed Thursday after three major central banks left interest rates unchanged, as expected, and a report on U.S. jobs showed fewer workers filing for unemployment last week.

How the Dow Jones industrials and other major stock indexes fared in Wednesday’s trading

Investors waiting for earnings reports to start rolling in held to modest moves after a two-day spike in stocks. Stocks ended narrowly mixed Wednesday as financial and energy stocks rose, while industrial, material and technology stocks fell. With little economic news to shape sentiment, investors are looking to earnings reports from the July-September quarter for clues about the economy. Aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. was the first of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones industrial average to report results after the end of trading. The company’s revenue and earnings topped expectations.

AP News in Brief

Iran test fires missiles amid global flap over its nuclear ambitions

US stocks slide amid rising borrowing costs

NEW YORK - US stocks fell sharply Wednesday amid a spike in long-term government bond prices, which could drive up the cost of borrowing in the wider US economy.

Jobless claims rise more than expected on increased auto layoffs, producer prices also higher

WASHINGTON — Fresh reminders that the recession likely has passed its peak, but hasn’t ended, emerged Thursday in reports that first-time claims for jobless aid and wholesale prices rose more than expected.

Paulson told 9 bank CEOs they were required to take TARP money, gov’t documents confirm

NEW YORK — The chief executives of the country’s nine largest banks had no choice but to accept capital infusions from the Treasury Department in October, government documents released Wednesday have confirmed.

Goldman Sachs director Friedman defends role at New York Fed at company’s annual meeting

NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs director Stephen Friedman, who resigned Thursday as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s board, defended his conduct Friday in serving in both posts.

Results show 10 big banks need $75 billion in new capital; hope rises for economy’s recovery

WASHINGTON — Government exams of the nation’s biggest banks have helped lift a cloud of uncertainty that has hung over the economy.

Banks, investment firms borrow less over past week from Fed’s emergency lending program

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve says banks and investment firms borrowed far less over the past week from its emergency lending program, a hopeful sign some credit stresses are easing.

New jobless claims unexpectedly plunge to 601,000; lowest level since January

WASHINGTON — New applications for jobless benefits plunged to the lowest level in 14 weeks, a possible sign that the massive wave of layoffs has peaked. Still, the number of unemployed workers getting benefits climbed to a new record.

Markets continue to be sluggish late morning

MUMBAI - Indian equities were trading on a dull note shortly before noon Friday with a key index still ruling around its last closing figure.

Wall Street falls as investors take profits after big jump; ‘Stress test’ results loom

NEW YORK — Caution returned to Wall Street Tuesday ahead of results of the government’s stress tests of banks.

Business Highlights

Retailers see sales begin to recover in September

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s stores saw their first sales gain in 14 months in September, a sign of life from shoppers that fuels some hope for the holiday shopping season.

Consumer spending and incomes both drop by larger-than-expected amounts in March

WASHINGTON — Consumer spending fell for the first time in three months while income growth slipped for a second straight month, indicating that the economy is still struggling to emerge from the recession.

At least six big US banks need capital: Report

NEW YORK - At least six of the 19 largest US banks need more capital to remain healthy through the recession, according to leaked information from the two-month stress test carried out by the nation’s bank regulators, media reports said Wednesday.

Economy shrinks at worse-than-expected 6.1 percent pace in first quarter

WASHINGTON — The economy shrank at a worse-than-expected 6.1 percent pace at the start of this year as sharp cutbacks by businesses and the biggest drop in U.S. exports in 40 years overwhelmed a rebound in consumer spending.

Treasury prices fall as consumer confidence rises, 5-year note auction sees lukewarm demand

NEW YORK — Treasurys retreated Tuesday, pushing yields higher, after a report showed consumer confidence is on the rebound.

Banking industry could be roiled as government details methodology of ’stress tests’

WASHINGTON — Regulators trying to stabilize the financial system could unwittingly roil it when they explain their methods Friday for stress-testing the largest banks.

IMF, World Bank chiefs pledge new resources, say more must be done to battle global downturn

WASHINGTON — The heads of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Thursday pledged new resources to fight the worst global downturn since the Great Depression, while warning that the crisis is far from over.

World Bank boosts aid for infrastructure projects as finance officials battle global downturn

WASHINGTON — The World Bank, seeking to bolster efforts to fight the worst global economic downturn since the Great Depression, said Thursday it would provide $45 billion over the next three years to support road building and other infrastructure projects in poor nations.

US stocks fall on concern about central bank’s actions

NEW YORK - US stocks fell for the first time in three days Thursday as investors had second thoughts about Federal Reserve actions to shore up the US financial sector.

US stimulus could end recession this year : Bernanke

WASHINGTON - If massive government action to revive the US economy is successful, the recession affecting the world’s largest economy could begin to turn around this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday.