BANGKOK Asian stock markets dropped Friday after Europe's finance ministers demanded more spending cuts from Greece before clearing a euro130 billion ($170 billion) bailout to stave off the country's bankruptcy.
TIMIKA, Indonesia Unidentified gunmen have attacked a group of workers near Freeport-McMoRan's gold and copper mine in eastern Indonesia, wounding several of them.
GENEVA Credit Suisse Group posted its first fourth-quarter net loss since 2008 as Switzerland's second-biggest bank continued its drive to reduce its exposure to potentially-risky investment banking at a time when Europe's economy is facing problems related to a raging debt crisis.
MADRID Leather seats are disappearing from cars. Precious jewels are vanishing from drawers. TVs are spirited out of homes in the dead of night.
FRANKFURT, Germany Strong sales of Mercedes luxury cars in China and the United States helped German automaker Daimler AG post a stronger than expected 57 percent increase in fourth quarter profits.
SHANGHAI The year of the dragon rolled in with a whimper instead of a roar for China's auto industry. Car sales in the world's biggest auto market fell 24 percent in January from a year earlier, industry figures show.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Etihad Airways, the fast-growing Gulf carrier, on Thursday posted its first annual profit since starting operations just over eight years ago.
BOSTON Workers stashed money away in their 401(k) retirement plans at a faster clip last year but didn't get an immediate reward for their savings strategy. Fidelity Investments, the nation's biggest 401(k) administrator, says the average account balance was essentially unchanged in 2011, compared with 2010.
BEIJING China's inflation rebounded in January as food prices soared, renewing pressure on Beijing to control living costs as it tries to boost slowing growth amid warnings of a looming global downturn.
SANTIAGO, Chile Repsol YPF on Wednesday raised the estimate for potentially recoverable oil and gas in its part of Argentina's "Vaca Muerta" (Dead Cow) basin to the equivalent of nearly 23 billion barrels, indicating a total shale deposit big enough to enable Argentina to challenge the United States in non-conventional petroleum production.
A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Wednesday:
SYDNEY Australia's largest telecommunications company, Telstra Corp., has reported a 23 percent first-half profit increase to $1.47 billion ($1.58 billion) over the same period a year earlier.
LOS ANGELES The U.S. housing market will begin to mount a turnaround this year, building toward a solid recovery in 2013, according to a forecast issued Wednesday by the chief economist of a homebuilding industry trade group.
NEW YORK Demand for Treasurys weakened after Greece moved closer to a deal that would prevent the country from defaulting on its debt.
SAN FRANCISCO Diamond Foods Inc. is replacing its CEO and chief financial officer after an internal investigation found that the company improperly accounted for payments to walnut growers and it needs to restate two years of financial results.
BRUSSELS _ Hours after Greece made the unpopular decision to slash government spending in an attempt to ease its debt crisis, Germany's finance minister questioned whether the deal goes far enough to earn a crucial euro130 billion bailout.
GREECE LIGHTENING: Greece still hasn't finalized a deal to cut what it owes bondholders, get a bailout and avoid defaulting on its debt next month. But investors seemed glad that an agreement appeared near.
NEW YORK Groupon investors were expecting a better deal than the surprise loss the company delivered on Wednesday.
NEW YORK Visa Inc. said Wednesday that its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 16 percent, as card use rose both in the U.S. and overseas.
LOS ANGELES Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said Wednesday that net income grew by nearly two-thirds in the final quarter of 2011, despite expenses related to ongoing phone hacking investigations of its U.K. newspaper unit.
WASHINGTON Republicans are looking to deny child tax credits to illegal immigrants - refund checks averaging $1,800 a family - in an effort that has roused anger among Hispanics and some Democratic lawmakers.
WASHINGTON A new passenger screening program to make check-in more convenient for certain travelers is being expanded to 28 more major U.S. airports, the government said Wednesday. There will be no cost to eligible passengers, who would no longer have to remove their shoes and belts before they board flights.
WASHINGTON The Washington Post is launching another round of voluntary buyouts - its fifth in the last decade - in its shrinking newsroom.
WHEAT DROPS: Wheat fell after the government predicted global supplies would total a record 213.1 million metric tons at the end of June. The price has risen on speculation that inventories would tighten because of potential crop damage due to freezing weather in parts of Europe.
WASHINGTON The watchdog agency for the accounting industry said Wednesday that it has fined big firm Ernst & Young $2 million for alleged lapses in three audits of a pharmaceutical company.
TWICE AS NICE: Europe's two main central banks are preparing to redouble their emergency measures aimed at softening the downturn and blunting the effects of the government debt crisis.
NEW YORK Interest in U.S. energy companies spiked in 2011 as buyers clamored for more access to oil-rich layers of North American shale, a consulting and accounting firm said Wednesday.
The CEO of Boeing said the latest problem with its new 787 will not slow production.
CHICAGO Toyota says it will expand its factory in Princeton, Ind., and add 400 jobs so it can build more Highlander SUVs.
ROME A U.S. lawyer for compensation-seeking survivors of the Costa Concordia capsizing said Wednesday he will push for changes in maritime laws and technology to make the cruise ship industry safer.
