NEW YORK – Cosmetics seller Estee Lauder Cos. said Thursday that its fiscal first quarter net income jumped 46 percent on strong global sales, as consumers continue to buy little luxuries like lipstick despite the weak economy. Results beat expectations and the company raised its annual guidance and dividend. Shares jumped 9 percent in premarket [...]

U.S. consumer sentiment improved in October for the second month in a row as consumers felt more upbeat about the economy’s prospects, a survey released on Friday showed. University of Michigan’s final reading on consumer sentiment overcame the weakness reported in the preliminary survey at the beginning of the month, though consumers’ personal finance expectations [...]

Despite protests where one person was killed, Greek lawmakers voted to pass a new budget-cutting law. The result was 154 in favour to 144 against. The new law would bring in tax hikes and wage cuts. The law, unpopular with the public, aims to reduce Greece’s enormous national debt, which currently stands at 162% of the country’s [...]

Wall Street advanced to its highest levels since early August on Friday on optimism ahead of this weekend’s summit of European leaders to tackle the region’s debt crisis and as strong earnings from blue chips lifted investor sentiment. The S&P 500 was on track for its third straight week of gains, the longest streak for [...]

SYDNEY  – A double-notch downgrade to Spain’s credit ratings has piled more pressure on European leaders to make rapid progress on solving the region’s debt crisis or face unbearable borrowing costs. The fresh blow from Moody’s Investors Service came just a day after the agency warned France its triple-A rating could be at risk and [...]

NEW YORK – A series of encouraging economic reports sparked oil prices Friday, pushing the benchmark to the highest level in nearly a month. Investors shrugged off declining oil demand forecasts that came out earlier this week and focused instead on growing U.S. consumer spending, a rise in bank lending in China and a meeting [...]

BEIJING – China’s trade surplus narrowed for a second straight month in September to $14.5 billion, with both imports and exports lower than expected, reflecting global economic weakness and domestic cooling that will deepen policy quandaries facing Beijing. The trade data issued on Thursday laid bare trends at the heart of Beijing’s debate about how [...]

ROME/ATHENS  – Italy braced for a confidence vote in Silvio Berlusconi’s government and Slovak leaders scrambled to secure approval for a stronger euro zone rescue fund on Wednesday, highlighting the political hurdles to resolving the bloc’s debt crisis. The European Union’s top economic official said in Dublin that the currency bloc was in a “very [...]

Charlotte, North Carolina  – Bank of America (BAC.N) is set to lose nearly all the mortgage market share it gained by buying Countrywide Financial Corp in 2008, in the latest sign of how painful the acquisition has been for the bank. The Charlotte, North Carolina bank said this month it is no longer buying mortgages [...]

BRUSSELS/BERLIN – European Union moves to shore up ailing banks moved into higher gear on Thursday and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned that the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis posed “significant risk” to global economic recovery. The EU’s executive arm said it would present a plan for member states to coordinate a recapitalization of [...]