Reuters - Oil rose more than $1 to $117 a barrel on Friday, as energy companies prepared for Tropical Storm Gustav to deliver what could be the hardest hit to the heart of U.S. offshore production since the devastating 2005 hurricane season.

Reuters - Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS), South Korea's top automaker, said on Friday they had decided to hold brief work stoppages twice next week over a wage dispute and working conditions.

Reuters - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is looking at cutting some 1,200 jobs in its latest round of cost cutting, a person familiar with the matter said, as weak financial markets spur layoffs across Wall Street.

Reuters - Dell Inc , the world's No. 2 personal computer maker, said on Friday its Asia Pacific business was holding up even as corporations turned cautious about spending on technology because of slowing global growth.

Reuters - Chances of bankrupt U.S. auto parts maker Delphi Corp being liquidated are increasing, with some U.S. plants being taken over by its former parent General Motors Corp , the Wall Street Journal said, citing people involved in the bankruptcy process.

Reuters - Toyota Motor Corp cut its 2009 vehicle sales forecast by nearly 7 percent as high fuel prices hammer demand for large cars and pickup trucks, and said it will speed up the rollout of hybrid and electric cars as their popularity grows.

Reuters - Stocks rallied on Thursday, led by major industrial and financial companies, as oil prices eased and data showed the economy grew more quickly than expected in the second quarter.

Reuters - Fannie Mae's capital and reserves positions are better than market expectations, and the biggest U.S. mortgage finance company may not need any more externally raised capital, according to an analyst at Lehman Brothers.

Reuters - Strong exports and consumer spending supported by government stimulus checks pushed the U.S. economy ahead at a solid 3.3 percent annual rate in the second quarter, much stronger than first thought, but growth is expected to flag as those factors fade.

Reuters - Shares in Esprit Holdings, the world's No. 5 fashion retailer, plunged nearly a fifth on Thursday to their lowest in two years after the firm missed earnings forecasts and warned investors of tougher times ahead.

Reuters - Caterpillar Inc expects weakness in rich-country economies to persist into 2009 but its sales in China will remain strong, Jim Owens, chairman and chief executive of the U.S. construction and mining equipment firm, said on Thursday.

Reuters - Oil rose for a fourth straight day to above $119 a barrel on Thursday, on fears Tropical Storm Gustav may hit the Gulf of Mexico after it morphs into a major hurricane, crippling the heart of U.S. offshore production.

Reuters - General Motors Corp said on Thursday it would invest more than $200 million in a powertrain plant in India, as the troubled U.S. carmaker aims to double its share of a fast-growing but increasingly competitive market.

Reuters - Top executives at Starbucks Corp including Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Schultz will not be getting raises anytime soon, after the coffee chain's first-ever quarterly loss as a public company.