PRAGUE, July 1 (Reuters) - Manufacturing in the European Union's biggest eastern nations crept closer to recovery in June, but PMI data still reflected overall declines due to a continuing lack of demand from their main market, ...

Investors start the third quarter with key economic reports on manufacturing, auto sales and employment. By CNNMoney.com staff How will the economy fare in the second half of 2009?

US cities that for years lost residents to the suburbs are holding onto their populations with a mix of people trapped in homes they can't sell and those who prefer urban digs over more distant McMansions, according to Census data ...

Share prices of Iowa's manufacturers bounced back better during the first half of this year than other Iowa stocks or most major stock indexes.

(Adds background on vehicle sales in China , comment from executive on reasons for strong sales.) BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- General Motors Corp.

US home prices eased their slide in April, but rising unemployment and shaky consumer confidence are weighing on prospects for a recovery in the housing market and broader economy.

By matthew.yeomans - The Big Money Wal-Mart, the former poster child for corporate villainy, once again has surprised both its critics and its corporate peers by backing President Barack Obama's plans to force employers to provide health insurance to ...

The return of the British summer, its 125th anniversary celebrations and the first indications that consumers are willing to spend just a little bit extra for quality food and clothing have helped Marks & Spencer's sales beat City expectations.

Glum shareholders of the American International Group got apologies but little else at the insurer's annual meeting on Tuesday, a day after the company disclosed that more material losses could still be coming from the derivatives portfolio that caused ...

July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Charles E. Haldeman Jr. is the leading candidate for chief executive officer of Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance company seized by US regulators, according to a person familiar with the matter.

DETROIT -- US light-vehicle sales in June may rise to an annual rate of 10 million units for the first time this year, a sign that a two-year decline may have hit bottom.

NEW YORK/TOKYO, July 1 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and its biggest shareholder, Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.

Business confidence in Japan has improved for the first time in two-and-a-half years, according to the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey.

July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks dropped for the second time this week on concern share sales will dilute the holdings of equity investors and as falling commodities prices drove resource producers lower.

July 1 (Bloomberg) -- US officials pursuing their investigation of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme are focusing on close associates of the convicted con man who insist they didn't know of any wrongdoing, a person familiar with the ...

July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Shinsei Bank Ltd., backed by investor Christopher Flowers, and Aozora Bank Ltd. agreed to merge in October 2010 to form Japan's sixth-biggest bank by assets after their finances were hit by ...

SINGAPORE (AP) - Oil prices rose to near $71 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as a drop in US crude inventories suggested demand may be picking up.

By Bloomberg News July 1 (Bloomberg) -- China's manufacturing expanded for a fourth month as a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus plan and record bank lending revive the world's third-largest economy.