United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams, whose union indirectly controls the largest single block of General Motors Co (GM.N) shares, told Reuters an investor group’s proposal that GM buy back $8 billion of its stock is premature, and the amount too high for the company’s long-term health.

After a holiday-shortened trading week that pinned stocks in a tight trading range, equities are poised for a bout of renewed volatility as investors watch the economy and the Federal Reserve for signs of policy changes and economic strength.

Airbus Helicopters said on Friday it is in talks with Indian companies including Mahindra and Mahindra (MAHM.NS), Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) and Tata Group to jointly make military helicopters, to comply with rules aimed at helping the local defense industry.

Verbal missteps by the U.S. Federal Reserve have increased the risk of a volatile market reaction when the time comes to raise interest rates, the outgoing president of the Philadelphia Fed said in an interview on Friday.

A year and a half ago, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) had applied for just eight patents related to auto batteries. Recently, it has hired a bevy of engineers, just one of whom had already filed for 17 in his former career, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis.

Euro zone finance ministers agreed in principle on Friday to extend Greece's financial rescue by four months, averting a potential cash crunch in March that could have forced the country out of the currency area.

The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in February at its fastest rate since November, after notching its lowest reading in a year in the prior month, an industry report showed on Friday.

Crude prices ended mixed on Friday as the number of U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell far less than expected this week, while heating oil jumped 6 percent after severe winter cold crimped output at three refineries.

The Dow and S&P 500 ended at record highs on Friday while the Nasdaq notched an eighth straight day of gains after Greek and euro zone finance ministers reached a deal to extend heavily indebted Greece's financial rescue by four months.

China's top cotton producer, a quasi-military body formed 60 years ago to settle the far west Xinjiang area, is resisting a government policy that could force it to cut output in an industry employing hundreds of thousands in the restive region.

Sri Lanka is reconsidering the outright transfer of a parcel of land to China under a $1.5 billion port city deal signed by a previous government, the energy minister said, amid concerns it could be used for Chinese naval activity.

Germany's EU Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said on Friday he thinks Greece and its creditors should be able to reach a deal but may need another meeting of euro zone leaders next week.

U.S. consumers are shifting away from weight-management foods, forcing companies ranging from Kellogg Co to Nestle SA to change ingredients and focus their marketing on different health benefits as sales slip.

India may slash its food and fuel subsidy bill by about $8 billion in next week's budget, two sources said, but despite the impressive headline, the cut is not as radical as free market champions had hoped for in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first full budget.

As the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index closes in on the all-time high it reached in March 2000, investors are facing a market that barely resembles the go-go era of 15 years ago.

Brent crude oil fell below $60 a barrel on Friday as oversupply, supported by record-high U.S. crude stocks, weighed on the market.

World stocks eased off five-month highs on Friday and the euro fell before a European finance ministers' meeting that could potentially cut Greece adrift and set it on the path to exiting the euro zone.

Santander Bank, N.A. has agreed to change the way it screens applicants for checking and savings accounts, becoming the third bank to reach such a pact with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Oil markets edged up on Friday to halt a two-day drop, helped by expectations that data later in the day would show a continuing decline in the U.S. oil rig count, a clear sign of the pressure the tumble in crude has put on oil producers.

Japanese stocks rose to a fresh 15-year high on Friday with the dollar boosted by upbeat U.S. data, but continuing uncertainty over the Greek debt negotiations weighed on the euro.

The mediator in the case brought by investors who rejected Argentina's 2005 and 2010 debt restructurings said on Thursday that the "holdout" investors offered to reopen talks with Buenos Aires, but the government had not responded.

Swiss lawmakers plan to question the country's financial watchdog about HSBC's Swiss bank to determine whether parliament needs to take a more active role in investigation of a trove of details on alleged tax evasion by some of the bank's wealthy clients.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, offering fresh evidence that the labor market was gathering steam.

The Dow and S&P 500 eased on Thursday following declines in energy shares and a disappointing outlook from Wal-Mart, while the Nasdaq hit another 15-year high as Priceline shares jumped.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said it would raise entry-level wages to $9 an hour, a 24 percent increase from the U.S. minimum wage that some employees now earn, succumbing to longstanding pressure to pay its workforce more.

Oil prices tumbled on Thursday as U.S. inventories were expected to hit record highs, while a possible rise in Saudi output could stoke oversupply built up in the past few months.

The dollar was on the defensive against the yen and euro on Thursday, paring gains after minutes of January's Federal Reserve policy meeting showed officials were concerned about hiking interest rates too soon.

The U.S. labor secretary joined congressional leaders, three governors and a big-city mayor on Wednesday in pushing shipping lines and the dockworkers' union to settle a contract dispute that has led to months of turmoil and cargo backups at 29 West Coast ports.

An explosion and fire ripped through a gasoline processing unit at an Exxon Mobil Corp refinery near Los Angeles on Wednesday, leaving California with the threat of higher gasoline prices.

The U.S. dollar was nursing losses in Asia on Thursday while bonds held hefty gains as investors scaled back expectations on how fast, and how far, the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates in coming months and years.