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By David Gregorio NEW YORK (Reuters) - When a gas explosion levelled a Manhattan building after the doctor who lived there reportedly warned his ex-wife he would never sell the place to pay a divorce settlement, most New Yorkers were stunned. Even author Warren Adler, whose novel "The War of the Roses" chronicles a divorce battle that spins out of control, was surprised by the incident, which oc ...

The technology sector looked to close the week on an upbeat note as many bellwether stocks headed north in early trading following a group of solid earnings reports. Gains came from sector leaders Dell Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Apple Computer Inc. and Oracle Corp. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose almost 16 points to 2,070, and the Philade ...

By Matt Falloon LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 index closed higher on Friday, notching its biggest weekly gain since March 2003, as U.S. interest rate fears dimmed and gains for miner Xstrata helped offset disappointment over insurer Prudential's results. Analysts say the FTSE appears to have recovered from May's steep sell-off and looks primed to challenge five-year highs touched in April foll ...

European stock markets finished higher on Friday as expectations of future U.S. interest-rate hikes diminished. The U.K's FTSE 100 indexadded 0.8% to 5,974, while the German DAX Xetra 30 indexgained 0.8% to 5,705 and the French CAC-40 indexrose 0.6% to 5,028. U.S. stock markets opened higher on Friday after data revealed the economy grew more slowly than expected in the second quarter, fueli ...

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said Friday it didn't want to wait for Germany's economy to recover, agreeing to sell all 85 of its hypermarkets in the country to Metro AG. Wal-Mart (WMT) said it will record a $1 billion charge before taxes during the second quarter on the deal. Neither Wal-Mart nor Metrodisclosed deal terms, but because Metro's record ...

HONG KONG (Dow Jones) -- A Sony executive said Friday that the company's struggling game division is likely to see losses widen in the current quarter, while its TV business is expected to turn profitable in the second half of the fiscal year, according to reports. Takao Yuhara, senior vice president of Sony Corp. (SNE) , held a press conference in Tokyo a day after the company announced better ...

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Inco Ltd. on Friday said it's given up on its attempt to buy fellow Canadian nickel miner Falconbridge Ltd. after competition from Switzerland's Xstrata, with Inco now turning its focus to securing its acquisition by Phelps Dodge Corp. Inco (N) said it failed to win the minimum 50.01% of Falconbridge (FAL.T) shares as of midnight, and thus has decided to terminate the offer  ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Pearson is expected to report an 8.2 percent rise in first-half revenue on Monday, but the focus will be on prospects for the second half when it generates most of its sales and profit. The median forecast for revenue in the six months to June 30, is 1.74 billion pounds, and profit before tax is 14 million, according to a Reuters poll of 10 analysts. Pearson (PSON.L: Quote, Profile, Research) , the world's biggest educational publisher, typically generates about 60 percent o ...

By Mike Collett-White LONDON (Reuters) - Music television is the endangered species of the pop world, and is learning the hard way that it must adapt to the Internet age, or die. The "Top of the Pops", the world's longest running weekly music show, will be declared extinct on Sunday when it is broadcast for the last time on BBC. Two days later MTV, one reason for the demise of Top of the Pops a ...

By Ana Nicolaci da Costa LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 traded flat in choppy trade on Friday with Prudential taking the biggest hit as investors decided their results were lacklustre, but gains for miner Xstrata arrested the fall. Xstrata (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) soared as much as 6.6 percent as it looked set to win its long-running battle to take over nickel and copper producer Falconbridge after rival bidder Canadian miner Inco (N.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) walked away. Anal ...