| Wall St closes at highest since mid-2008 | | NEW YORK (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P index closed at its highest level since mid-2008 on Monday, extending gains for a third session as oil prices retreated after recent sharp gains and data showed further improvement in the U.S. housing market. | |  | | Consumer debt falls in Q4 on mortgage balances | | NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. households continued to shave debt in the fourth quarter as mortgage balances declined, while there were tentative signs Americans are increasingly willing to spend, according to a report released on Monday by the New York Federal Reserve. | | | |  | | | Pending home sales near 2-year high | | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes neared a two-year high in January, an industry group said on Monday, further evidence the housing market was slowly turning the corner. | | | |  | | | Merkel scrapes win on Greek bailout, rebels grow | | BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel scraped through a parliamentary vote endorsing a second bailout for Greece on Monday but faced a growing backbench revolt against pouring in more money in support of the euro zone. | | | | | Bloomberg gives market data service a facelift | | (Reuters) - Bloomberg LP revamped its market data service on Monday in an effort to make its flagship terminal more intuitive and simpler to use for financial clients who have seen their budgets slashed in recent years. | | | | | BofA $8.5 billion deal returned to NY state court | | (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's proposed $8.5 billion settlement with investors in mortgage-backed securities should be returned to New York state court for review, a U.S. appeals court ruled Monday. | | | |  | | | Volkswagen keeping options open on Porsche: source | | BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen made no decision at a supervisory board meeting on Monday on how to combine with Porsche , a high-ranking official said, as the carmaker seeks to avoid being hit by a billion-euro tax bill in the process. | | | |  | | | G20 to Europe: Show us the money | | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Leading economies told Europe it must put up extra money to fight its debt crisis if it wants more help from the rest of the world, piling pressure on Germany to drop its opposition to a bigger European bailout fund. | | | |  | | | GM in talks to buy small Peugeot stake: sources | | PARIS/NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Motors Co is in advanced discussions to buy a small stake in French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen as part of their proposed strategic alliance in Europe, sources familiar with the situation said on Monday. | | | |  |  | | | A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today | | |  | |  | | | The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today | | | | | | » MORE NEWSLETTERS | |
