Wall Street extended its advance to a second session today in a late-surge of buying, despite disappointing economic news and profit-taking following the market's huge rally.

United Airlines's struggling parent company may file for bankruptcy this autumn unless it can cut costs.

The European Commission will require Deutsche Lufthansa AG to give up slots between Frankfurt and 4 US cities, as well as forcing proposed tie-up partners United Airlines, Lufthansa and Scandinavian Airlines System to open up their frequent flyer programme to competing new entrants, AFX News has learnt from sources close to the case who have read the EU's report.

Share prices posted slight gains on light volumes in early trade, with a lot of the buying interest concentrated in a few well-known names, with many market players absent ahead of the Christmas holidays, dealers said.

President George Bush has established a presidential emergency board to at least delay and possibly avoid, a strike by mechanics at UAL Corp's United Airlines.

The US Government is investigating trading in shares of 38 companies, including major airlines, cruise lines, General Motors and Raytheon, to determine if people used advance knowledge of the terror attacks to profit.