Posted: Jul 30, 2012 1:26 AM
Updated: Jul 30, 2012 1:26 AM
WALL STREET
Stocks coming off positive week, Friday rally
NEW YORK (AP) A late surge made Wall Street's most recent week a positive one, lifting the Dow back above 13,000. Coming up this week, a Federal Reserve meeting and a jobs report will test investors' faith with the economy.
The key averages gained between 1.1 and 2 percent last week.
In Friday trading, the Dow added 188 points, or 1.5 percent, to close at 13,076. The S&P rose 26 points to 1,386.
The Nasdaq gained 65 points to 2,958.
WORLD MARKETS
Asia stocks rise on continued hopes for ECB action
BANGKOK (AP) Asian stock markets rose again today as expectations remained high for strong European Central Bank action to stem the continent's chronic debt crisis.
Sentiment was also helped by U.S. second quarter growth not slowing as much as feared. The world's No. 1 economy grew just 1.5 percent in the April-June quarter after 2 percent growth the previous quarter but some analysts had predicted a bigger slowdown.
Markets are pregnant with speculation that the ECB will resume buying government bonds to lower the borrowing costs of struggling countries such as Spain and take other major steps to support the region's economy.
Investors hope such moves would prevent Spain from being forced to seek a bailout that would be much more expensive than earlier rescues of Portugal, Greece and Ireland.
Benchmark crude oil rose to just below $91 a barrel. The dollar rose against the euro but fell against the yen.
ECONOMY-WEEK AHEAD
Fed meeting, jobs report
WASHINGTON (AP) On this week's economic calendar, the highlights include a two-day Federal Reserve meeting, beginning tomorrow. Then on Friday, the Labor Department releases the closely watched monthly unemployment report. Analysts look for the jobless rate to remain at 8.2 percent.
Also, reports on consumer confidence, home prices, manufacturing and employment costs are among those due.
GERMANY-FINANCIAL CRISIS
Juncker: Eurozone has no time to lose
BERLIN (AP) Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker (zhahn-KLOHD' YUN'-kur) is saying in a German newspaper interview that Europe is "at a decisive point" in its battle against the debt crisis and will decide in the coming days what measures to take.
Juncker's comments follow assurances from the head of the European Central Bank and political leaders that they'll do everything to save the euro.
Those comments have raised expectations that the ECB or the eurozone's rescue fund might step in to buy Spanish and perhaps Italian government bonds to lower the countries' borrowing costs.
Juncker was quoted as saying: "It still has to be decided what exactly we will do when. That depends on the developments of the coming days and how fast we have to react."
GREECE
Officials: Inspectors to help Greece find cuts
ATHENS, Greece (AP) Finance Ministry officials say international debt inspectors will help Greece prepare a package of spending cuts and other reforms so that it can keep getting billions in bailout funds crucial to its economy.
That means the inspectors won't be leaving at the end of July as originally expected.
The three officials requested anonymity Sunday because they were not authorized to speak on the record.
They told reporters that International Monetary Fund representative Poul Thomsen assured Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras on Friday that the inspectors would stay and that experts in their delegation would help Greece find places to cut spending and ways to boost revenue for a package worth $17.9 billion.
The inspectors are supposed to issue a report on Athens' progress in September.
APPLE SAMSUNG-TRIAL
Tech titans faceoff in court over iPhone, iPad
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Two tech titans are squaring off in federal court today in a closely watched trial over control of the U.S. smart phone and computer tablet markets.
Apple Inc. filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co. last year alleging the world's largest technology company's smart phones and computer tablets are illegal knockoffs of its popular iPhone and iPad products. Apple is demanding $2.5 billion in damages, which if awarded would dwarf the largest patent-related verdict to date.
Samsung counters that Apple is doing the stealing and some of the technology at issue such as the rounded rectangular designs of smart phones and tablets have been industry standards for years.
The U.S. trial is only the latest skirmish between the two over product designs.
FOOD AND FARM-STATE FAIRS
Drought may mean fewer, smaller animals at fairs
MILWAUKEE (AP) State and county fairs in the sweltering and drought-stricken Midwest may see smaller livestock and produce this year.
The dozen pigs Greg Marzahl and his 15-year-old daughter are bringing to the Wisconsin State Fair are about 15 pounds smaller than the normal 275 pounds.
Marzahl had three grand champion pigs last year. He says this year, the heat is affecting the pigs' virility and appetites.
The Wisconsin fair opens its 11-day run Thursday in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis. State fairs also are set to begin in the next two weeks in Indiana, Iowa and Illinois. Those states also have been hit by unusual heat and drought.
Marzahl still plans to bring his pigs to the fair, expecting his competition will be smaller too.
IRAN
Iran leader: Stop exporting oil, make new economy
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran's supreme leader has outlined a new approach to overcome Western sanctions stop selling oil and build knowledge-based industries instead.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's says what he calls a "resistant economy" can effectively counter the sanctions.
This month the European Union enforced a ban on oil imports from Iran, after the U.S. stepped up its banking sanctions.
The sanctions aim to force Iran to stop enriching uranium. The West suspects Iran is aiming to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies that.
Khamenei said Iran should stop selling raw materials, including oil, and instead promote "knowledge-based companies which can make a resistant economy more sustainable."
He gave no timetable or details of what would amount to a total overhaul of Iran's economy.
Khamenei's remarks were broadcast on state TV Sunday night.
BOLIVIA-JUNGLE HIGHWAY
Bolivia polls natives on jungle highway
OROMOMO, Bolivia (AP) Bolivian President Evo Morales is taking his campaign to build a highway through pristine Amazon jungle directly to the affected communities.
Officials and international observers came to Sunday's meeting in the jungle town of Oromomo. It's one of 69 communities in the TIPNIS reserve that are to decide by Aug. 20 whether they want the 200-mile (310-kilometer) highway that is funded by Brazil. Each community gets one vote.
Morales government says the project will develop the country. But Bolivia's main lowlands Indian federation says it will cause environmental damage. It urges a boycott of the consultation, saying the process allows voting by recently arrived ranchers, coca farmers and other settlers whose connection to the land is less intense.
BOEING-DREAMLINER
NTSB investigating Dreamliner engine issue
Boeing Co. says federal regulators are investigating after one of its 787 jets had an engine issue that sparked a fire in South Carolina, but the company remains confident in its safety.
The jet is one of Boeing's most critical products. The Chicago company delivered the first 787, known as the Dreamliner, last year following several years of design and production delays.
Boeing said Sunday that a 787 had an engine issue Saturday while undergoing preflight runway testing in North Charleston, S.C. The Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston reported that debris from the aircraft fell on the runway at Charleston International Airport and sparked a fire in the nearby grass, which closed the airport for more than an hour.