Wall Street secured its best week in four years today, rising modestly after a surprise jump in home sales eased concern that frailty in the housing market will hurt economic growth.

Wall Street secured its best week in four years today, rising modestly after a surprise jump in home sales eased concern that frailty in the housing market will hurt economic growth.

Fuel efficiency through new technology and hybrid vehicles will be a top theme at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.

GERMANY’S benchmark DAX Index climbed, paced by DaimlerChrysler after Citigroup recommended investors buy shares in the carmaker.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis has sold half his stake in the Formula One team to a company owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Dubai International Capital’s interest in a takeover at Liverpool can be attributed to the oil-rich emirate’s need to diversify in business, according to a football finance expert.

US stocks closed mixed today as sagging energy prices and a strong advance by Honeywell International Inc. sent the Dow Jones industrials higher, but downgrades of Apple Computer Inc. dragged the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lower.

In a scathing final report documenting massive corruption in the UN oil-for-food programme, investigators accused more than 2,200 companies and prominent politicians of colluding with Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Wall Street ended a volatile session mixed today as investors welcomed new government data showing a reinvigorated industrial sector but wrestled with a jump in oil prices that briefly sent crude futures above US$67 (€55.63) per barrel.

Stocks gained today, narrowing the week’s losses as the energy and basic materials sectors improved and Dow components Exxon Mobil Corp and Intel Corp climbed on upgrades.

THE 61st Frankfurt international auto show has got under way with more than 80 models on display for the first time.

Wall Street surged higher today, carrying the Russell 2000 to a record close as Wall Street welcomed encouraging economic data and a continuation of double-digit corporate earnings growth.

GERMANY’S benchmark DAX Index rose for a 12th day, its longest streak in more than eight years.

Investor confidence in the United States raced ahead today as the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite index both reached four-year highs.

German-American carmaker DaimlerChrysler AG has won Chinese government approval to make Mercedes-Benz saloon cars at a joint venture factory in Beijing, the company said today.

General Motors has denied an online report that the US car maker and Japanese giant Toyota are in talks about a possible technology-sharing pact that could result in a quicker, wider offering of petrol-electric hybrid vehicles.

A GROUP of three banks has wrested control over the companies controlling Formula One’s commercial rights from supremo Bernie Ecclestone, the German state bank BayernLB said.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors said today that it had settled with DaimlerChrysler on compensation for the costly defect cover-up and recall scandal at Mitsubishi Motors’ truck unit.

An employee of a Jeep production plant in Ohio shot three supervisors early today, killing one, before turning the gun on himself.

Ferrari have ruled themselves out of a breakaway series in 2008 and are now committed to Formula One until 2012.

Ferrari have ruled themselves out of a breakaway series in 2008 and are now committed to Formula One until 2012.

Formula One team bosses have been invited to a meeting before the start of the season on March 6 to hear about plans for a rival world championship.

A German court today lifted the jail sentence of a former DaimlerChrysler engineer convicted of causing the death of a woman and her daughter with his high-speed tailgating, ruling that “he is no Rambo of the road” and deserves only probation.

DaimlerChrysler AG employees at Mercedes factories in Germany agreed to smaller pay rises and increased hours after the carmaker threatened to shed 6,000 jobs, adding to pressure for a longer work week.

Thousands of DaimlerChrysler workers walked off their shifts today, extending protests against the automaker’s threats to cut jobs in Germany unless employees accept steps to cut labour costs.

Beleaguered Japanese car giant Mitsubishi Motors hid 26 defects in its cars from regulators to avoid issuing recalls for the vehicles, it admitted today.

Japanese vehicle maker Mitsubishi is to cut about 6,200 jobs from its global work force and receive €3.4bn in funding from the Mitsubishi group and other investors in a revival plan, the company said in Tokyo.

Car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler will keep its stake in Mitsubishi Motors despite its decision to stop pumping new money into its troubled Japanese partner, chief executive Juergen Schrempp said today.

Rolf Eckrodt resigned as chief executive and president of Mitsubishi Motors today after its US-German partner refused to help finance the struggling Japanese car manufacturer’s turnaround plan.

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart has described the latest prospect of a breakaway world championship as nothing more than “idle threats” and “a non-starter.”

Japanese car giant Mitsubishi suffered a major blow today when partner DaimlerChrysler ruled out pumping more cash into the company.

The chief executive of DaimlerChrysler, one of the world's biggest carmakers, has no intention of stepping down, despite the failure of an alliance with Mitsubishi Motors.

Japanese car giant Mitsubishi – burdened with multi-billion pound debts, plunging sales and a spate of recalls – suffered a major blow today when partner DaimlerChrysler ruled out pumping more cash into the company.

DaimlerChrysler AG, the world’s fifth biggest automaker, plans to take control of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., spending as much as 400 billion yen ($3.8 billion) to revive the Japanese car maker.

A German newspaper report quotes a Mitsubishi official as saying that Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC) needs at least €2bn fresh capital from shareholders DaimlerChrysler AG and the Mitsubishi group.

DaimlerChrysler AG is reducing Celine Dion's role in the advertising for its Chrysler unit.

German car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler failed to break even in its troubled United States Chrysler division in 2003.

Ford yesterday revealed three new models in an effort to halt four years of decline and retain its position as the world's second-largest carmaker against competition from Toyota.

Mercedes USA chairman Paul Halata said that DaimlerChrysler AG unit Mercedes-Benz will begin importing its Smart car range into the US from 2006.

Fears of a rival series to Formula One being set-up looked to be over today after a breakthrough in talks aimed at resolving the future of the sport.

DaimlerChrysler AG has denied a report in Focus Money magazine that it plans to save €1.5bn through an additional cost-cutting programme.

French car maker Renault say sales of new cars and light trucks fell 4.5% in the first half as demand decreased in a sliding European market.

Motor racing chief Max Mosley is confident that the threat of a breakaway series from Formula One will not materialise in 2008.