Wall Street finished a quiet session modestly higher today as Wall Street awaited the government’s September employment report, hoping it will strike a balance between steady growth and more room for interest rate cuts.

The head of the British Embassy’s economic section in Moscow was one of four diplomats told to leave Russia in the tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions that have followed the poisoning of Kremlin foe Alexander Litvinenko in London.

Iran has discovered a new onshore oil field with an estimated reserve of 2 billion barrels, state-run television reported today.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said today that members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) agree on keeping oil at $50 per barrel.

An oil spill has occurred in one of Russia’s largest export pipelines, causing a potential “environmental catastrophe”, Russian officials said today.

The head of Russian natural gas giant OAO Gazprom’s export division yesterday accused the head of the International Energy Agency of attempting to “destroy” the company by organising European governments to thwart Gazprom’s interests, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The four bosses of Airbus parent EADS met for closed-door talks today, days after the European defence group was hit by costly new delays to the A380 superjumbo and questions about stock sales beforehand.

India’s central bank have raised two key interest rates by a quarter percentage point each, in a move that surprised many as it came faster than expected.

Russia’s state-controlled gas giant Gazprom has raised the threat of another gas crisis with Ukraine, warning that the ex-Soviet nation was building up its winter gas supplies too slowly, possibly endangering smooth deliveries to Europe.

Economists expect the European Central Bank to raise interest rates soon as Europe’s economy picks up – just not at today’s monthly rate-setting meeting of the bank’s governing council.

OPEC has no obvious reason to cut its oil output, the group’s president said today, even though Iran and Venezuela have cited excess supply in pushing for a reduction.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson warned China today that it must crack down on businesses that may be exporting their goods to Europe below the cost of production.

London-based GlaxoSmithKline said today it was seeking preliminary approval in Europe to market a vaccine against pandemic influenza, which experts fear may be triggered by bird flu.

Crude-oil prices slipped below $65 a barrel yesterday as traders took profits amid signs that petroleum supplies were recovering and the recent price surge had deflated demand.

FORMER Bank of Ireland chief executive Michael Soden has been linked with a deal to buy assets belonging to troubled British energy group Regal Petroleum.

Major Chinese car maker Shanghai Automotive Industry Group (Corp) is still in takeover talks with Britain’s MG Rover Group, a senior official at China’s national planning agency said today.

Stocks managed to squeeze out modest gains in a volatile session Monday as crude oil futures, which briefly topped $US58 per barrel in early trading, settled lower.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned today that his nation, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, would cut off oil supplies to the United States if the US tries to “hurt” his country, news reports said.

British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline said today it was giving up a Chinese patent for a component of its popular diabetes drug Avandia following a challenge by three Chinese competitors.

Wall Street closed out a difficult week with a small gain today, even as many investors, concerned over yet another spike in oil prices and a drop in consumer confidence, stayed on the sidelines.

Australia’s Qantas Airways says it could further increase the fuel surcharge that it has added to ticket prices to compensate for “significant” rises in operating costs because of high oil prices.

Insurgents blasted an oil pipeline, setting off a huge blaze and slashing Iraq’s daily oil exports by around 25%.

Suicide boat bombings targeting Iraq’s key oil industry in the Gulf forced the closure of two major terminals in the Gulf for several hours, but the facilities resumed work loading tankers today, Iraq’s top oil marketing official said.

Wall Street nudged higher to fresh 19-month highs today as a trio of economic reports – one on gross domestic product, the others on consumer sentiment and spending – provided investors with additional evidence of an improving economy.

Russian oil companies Yukos and Sibneft have agreed to reverse their planned merger, effectively restoring the status quo that existed before they announced the deal to create the world’s fourth largest oil producer in April.

European and Asian nations today welcomed the US decision to scrap tariffs on steel imports, praising the move as staving off the danger of growing protectionism among key trading partners.

More than a dozen rockets fired from donkey carts slammed into Iraq’s Oil Ministry and two hotels today – in brazen coordinated strikes at Baghdad’s most heavily protected civilian sites.

New fears of terrorism sent stock markets tumbling around the world today and extended Wall Street’s sell-off into a second week.

Wall Street sank today as investors sifted through a series of downbeat economic reports.

Wall Street extended its retreat today after downbeat forecasts from companies such as eBay prompted investor worries that the market had risen too far. The three main indexes finished mixed for the week.

Two of America’s largest banks, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, have agreed to pay nearly $300m (€260m) to settle charges that they helped collapsed energy giant Enron manipulate its financial statements and mislead investors.

A burst of optimism about second-quarter earnings propelled stocks sharply higher today, lifting the Dow Jones industrials more than 140 points.

Wall Street ended a stunning second quarter quietly today as fund managers spent the day repositioning their holdings, but the narrow losses didn’t stop the Standard & Poor’s 500 index from achieving its best quarterly gain since the final three months of 1998.

Wall Street shot higher today after a report on New York manufacturing bolstered investors’ expectations of a resurgent economy.

The stock market stalled today, held back by a reported investigation of Boeing and profit-taking from Wall Street’s recent rally. Shares closed mixed in light trading.

Stocks tumbled today, pulling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 170 points, after France said it was prepared to vote against the UN resolution on Iraq.

The European Union today issued a stern warning to a gathering of top financial officials, saying uncertainty over war in Iraq has damaged the world economy.

Irish web services provider Cape Clear Software has signed up CRM company Salesforce.com as a new integration partner.

The confrontation between Venezuela's government and workers at one of the world's largest oil companies is beginning to affect exports of crude oil and refined products.

Sellers resurfaced on Wall Street late today, unloading stocks following the previous sessions’ buying binge.

With attention focused on the launch of euro cash, the European Central Bank is today expected to avoid further excitement and leave key interest rates unchanged for the 12 countries using the new currency, economists say.