The Obama administration on Monday seized the wheel of the failing U.S. auto industry, forcing the ouster of General Motors Corp's chief executive, pushing Chrysler LLC toward a merger and threatening bankruptcy for both. The steps, outlined by the White House autos panel headed by former investment banker Steve Rattner, marked a stunning reversal for

U.S. stocks are set to run into some turbulence this week as investors pause to gauge if profit expectations and economic prospects will justify the market's further advance from the 12-year lows touched earlier this month. Since hitting those significant lows, the market has rallied strongly, lifting the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX more than 20

Asian shares slumped and were headed for their biggest daily fall in four weeks, while U.S. Treasuries gained after a U.S. task force rejected turnaround plans for automakers GM and Chrysler. S&P stock futures dropped and European shares opened lower, with investors also spooked by news on Sunday that Spain would bail out regional savings

Britain's financial services industry is cutting jobs at the fastest rate for 16 years as it cuts costs to soften the blow of a steep fall in profitability, a survey showed on Monday. The CBI/PWC financial services survey, covering the three months to early March, found 9 percent of companies reporting a rise in business

House prices in England and Wales are a record 10.3 percent lower than a year ago, even though the prices fell at their slowest pace for 10 months in March, property data company Hometrack said on Monday. March's annual fall was the biggest yet in Hometrack's monthly survey of estate agents and surveyors, which started

President Barack Obama said in an interview published on Sunday that leaders of the G20 major global economies would send a "strong message of unity" this week on confronting the world economic crisis. "With respect to the stimulus, there is going to be an accord that G20 countries will do what is necessary to promote