NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. said in a filing late Thursday it'll book third-quarter after-tax earnings of $1.6 billion on the sale of interests in a natural gas transport business in northern Germany. The transaction, completed Tuesday, won't affect the exploration, production and natural gas sale and storage activities conducted by ExxonMobil affiliates in Germany, the Irving, Texas company said.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The Irish Central Statistics Office said Friday that its seasonally adjusted live register showed the standardised unemployment rate rose to 5.7% in June. The number on the register increased 10,100 to hit 217,400 at the end of June. This compares with a rate of 4.6% at the end of 2007. Rossa White, economist at Davy Stockbrokers noted that the rise represented the biggest jump in claimants in any half-year since 1975. "Unemployment claimants have spiked in the last six months, driven by housing-related layoffs - both direct and indirect," he said. However, White also noted that the true unemployment rate is probably lower because data on how fast labour force growth is slowing isn't yet available.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures turned lower Friday after Iran signaled it would soon respond to an international proposal on its nuclear program. Nymex crude oil futures for August delivery were down $1.18 to $144.11 in electronic trading. The contract closed Thursday at $145.29 a barrel -- the loftiest closing level ever for the exchange -- after hitting a record, intra-day high of $145.85. Iranian state radio said the country's top nuclear negotiator told European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana by phone that Iran would present its response Friday, the Associated Press reported. The EU has offered Iran incentives to stop uranium enrichment.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Goldman Sachs said Friday that European banks could need to raise around 60 billion euros ($94 billion) in additional capital, or withhold dividend payments for a year, if recent moves by several banks to strengthen their balance sheets set a new benchmark for capital levels. The broker added that figure could rise to over 90 billion euros if a turn in the European credit cycle triggered losses in line with those seen in the early 1990s. The broker made several rating changes, including downgrading Swedbank , Carnegie and Bankinter to sell from neutral, cutting Banco Santander to neutral from buy on valuation grounds and upgrading Handelsbanken to neutral from sell. Goldman said it's cut earnings estimates through 2010 for over 40 banks and its forecasts now stand, on average, 12% below consensus.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Air France is mulling a joint venture that could see it offer high-speed rail travel, the BBC reported on its Web site on Friday. The airline is studying a possible tie-up with Veolia , a French utility that also runs several rail services. Under the plans, the BBC reported, Veolia would run trains from Air France's hub airport in Paris to other destinations.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Shares in British supermarket group J Sainsbury rose 1.7% in London on Friday after Qatar Holding upped its stake in the firm to 26%. Qatar Holding increased its shareholding by 12.37 million shares to 454.5 million shares.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Merrill Lynch is in talks to sell its stake in financial news service Bloomberg to a blind trust run by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to a report in The New York Post, citing unnamed sources. The sale is part of a broader plan by cash-strapped Merrill to raise approximately $50 billion through an array of asset sales, the newspaper reported, citing bankers who have looked at marketing materials. The two sides are in active negotiations, sources said. Merrill also is working on selling its 49% stake in BlackRock and looking at ways to shore up its balance sheet.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Ryanair Holdings , Europe's largest low-cost airline, on Friday said it carried 5.17 million passengers in June, up 19% from the year-ago period. Load factor, a measure of how full an airline's planes are, slipped to 84% from 85% in June 2007.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- FL Group said that it will take a 39% stake in Baugur Group and change its name to Stodir. The transaction was conducted by means of a share swap and issuance of new shares in Stodir. Prior to this transaction, Baugur divested all its Icelandic assets and will now solely focus on retail investments in the U.K., Scandinavia and the U.S. Baugur's core operations will be managed out of London. Its retail investments include in the U.K. include frozen food store operator Iceland, department store chain House of Fraser, toy store Hamley's, fashion retailer Whistles and jewelery store operator Goldsmiths. It also holds investments in Danish department stores Magasin du Nord and Illum and U.S. department store Saks.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Sales at privately-owned British retail chain John Lewis fell 1.9% to 130.14 million pounds in the week ended June 28, compared to the same point a year ago. "There is no doubt that trade in our shops proved challenging when compared to exceptional results last year," said Phil Hullah, commercial director. Sales for the John Lewis department store part of the business fell 8.3% to 53.01 million pounds, while sales at the firm's Waitrose food business advanced 3% to 77.13 million pound, in part due to better weather.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- ITV was cut to sell from hold by ABN Amro, as the broker sees further downside risk facing a deteriorating U.K. ad market, a potential dividend cut and further analyst downgrades. "Our recent channel checks with major U.K. media buyers have indicated the TV ad market is starting to deteriorate, with the UK market seen down 2.5% to September 2008, from 1% previously," the broker said.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Marks & Spencer was downgraded to sell from buy at Citigroup after the U.K. retailer's warning on Wednesday. "At this early point in the current U.K. consumer down cycle, with growing input cost pressures across both the general merchandise and food businesses, the M&S profit and loss outlook still remains opaque and earnings forecast confidence low," the broker said.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Nomura Securities Co., the securities unit of Nomura Holdings Inc. , will place more emphasis upon ethical standards when hiring new staff, strengthen training, and make other improvements to its information systems, as part of improvements to its business practices in the wake of an insider-trading scandal in April. Nomura Securities will submit the plan today, almost a week ahead of Thursday's deadline set by the financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency, the Nikkei newspaper reported Friday.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares held in a tight range on Friday with trading likely to be subdued with the U.S. closed for a holiday. Still, banks extended the previous session's gains after UBS unveiled a better-than-expected likely second-quarter result and said it won't need to raise new capital. UBS shares jumped 7% in Swiss trading. The U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 0.4% to 5,457.00, the German DAX 30 index traded flat at 6,355.00 and the French CAC-40 index inched down 0.2% at 4,337.08.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- India's inflation reportedly soared to 11.63% in the week to June 21 from the same period a year-ago, strengthening chances of more policy measures by the country's central bank to control prices. The wholesale price index-based inflation measure stood at 11.42% in the preceding week. The latest WPI reading is more than double the Reserve Bank of India's stated comfort level of 5.5%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- J.P. Morgan is expected to cut up to 10% of its European investment banking staff by the end of the third quarter, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Staff reductions have been taking place in mergers and acquisitions and equity and debt capital markets businesses, especially at vice-president level, the paper reported, citing people familiar with the process. The jobs cuts started several months ago, the paper said.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Stricken U.K. mortgage bank Bradford & Bingley said late Thursday that private equity group TPG Capital has withdrawn from a deal to inject cash, but that major shareholders will still back a 400 million pound ($793 million) capital raising. The bank said TPG withdrew after rating agency Moody's downgraded the group's long-term debt ratings to Baa1 from A3. The private equity firm had been planning to inject 179 million pounds in return for a 23% stake, with a rights issue bringing the total cash injection to 400 million pounds. But Bradford & Bingley said the cash shortfall will be covered through an enlarged rights issue, which is supported by a number of its largest shareholders, including M&G Investment Managers, Legal & General Investment Management and Standard Life. The price of the rights issue will be unchanged at 55 pence a share.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Swiss investment bank UBS said Friday that second-quarter results to be released on Aug. 12 are likely to be at or slightly below break-even. At the end of the quarter, UBS expects its Tier 1 capital ratio to be approximately 11.5% and has no need to raise new equity. UBS said that positive contributions from global wealth management and business banking and from global asset management were offset by a loss in its investment bank operations. Further market deterioration led to writedowns and losses on previously disclosed risk positions, in particular credit valuation adjustments on monoline insurance exposures. Group net new money was negative for the period, UBS added.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Origin Energy Ltd. [s; au:org], Australia's largest coal seam gas producer, said Friday it board will recommend shareholders reject BG Group's A$13.8 billion takeover bid ($13.3 billion), saying the offer does not adequately reflect the company's assets and business prospects. In June Britain's BG brought forward an A$15.50-per share hostile takeover bid, the same price it had offered in friendly talks held in May. Origin's board rejected that earlier offer May 30 and invited proposals on how to develop the company's coal seam gas reserves. Origin said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange Friday its gas reserves estimates have risen significantly, crude oil prices have jumped 10% and higher valuations have been assigned to liquid-natural-gas projects since the original BG offer.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian markets were mixed early Friday, with Japanese indexes wavering between positive and negative territories as gains in energy producers such as Inpex Holdings Inc. were countered by losses in shipping and airline stocks. The Nikkei 225 Average slipped 0.1% to 13,254.26, after dropping in the previous 11 sessions. The broader Topix index rose 0.2% to 1,300.58, after flirting with losses earlier. Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.5% to 1,599.27 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8% to 5,032.50, while New Zealand's NZX 50 index gained 0.9% to 3,121.83.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- August crude closed at $145.29 a barrel Thursday in New York, up $1.72 for the session. It's up 3.6% from Friday's closing level as traders continued to show concern over global production. Crude is "finding support here as it pushes higher towards $150," said Zachary Oxman, a senior trader at Wisdom Financial. "Watch for higher lows as crude moves up towards $150 within the next week."

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Northwest Airlines Corp. said Thursday its total June traffic rose 4.4% to 7.26 billion revenue passenger miles from a year ago. A revenue passenger mile equals one passenger flown one mile. June capacity rose to 8.37 billion available seat miles from last year. Load factor, or the percentage of available seats filled with passengers, dropped to 86.8% from 88% a year ago.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Marshall & Ilsley Corp. said Thursday it expects to take a higher-than-expected provision for loan and lease losses in the second quarter because of the poor housing market. The financial services firm said it expects to take a provision of at least $900 million in the second quarter, up from a previously expected second-quarter charge of $415 million. Marshall & Ilsley said it expects a second-quarter loss of $1.50 to $1.60 a share, but expects a profit in the third quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimated a second-quarter profit of 37 cents a share.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Soleil Equity Research on Thursday upgraded its rating on shares of aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. to hold from a sell rating the broker placed on the stock at the end of May. Alcoa's shares have fallen more than 20% to $32.78 in the past five weeks against close-to-9% drop in S&P 500, and "the new, lower price justifies a hold rating, not a sell," Soleil said in a note to clients. The researcher's target price for Alcoa shares remains at $40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average component is slated to report second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Soleil expects earnings per share of 65 cents. On Thursday, Alcoa shares closed a short trading session on the NYSE up 2.1%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- VeriSign Inc. said Thursday its board named founder Jim Bidzos executive chairman, president and chief executive on an interim basis. The move comes as William Roper resigned from the company on June 30. VeriSign also said it expects second-quarter revenue to meet or exceed current consensus estimates of $231.4 million as reported by Thomson Reuters.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- August gold closed at $933.60 an ounce in New York Thursday. The contract lost $12.90 for the session, but gained 0.3% from Friday's closing level as traders eyed the latest move in the U.S. dollar, which strengthened Thursday against most major currencies.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Thursday placed XL Capital Group's ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications. "The action was taken because of our concern that earnings, capitalization, and financial flexibility might be adversely affected by the uncertainty surrounding XL's outstanding reinsurance agreements and guarantee of business underwritten by the operating subsidiaries of bond insurer Security Capital Assurance, or SCA, prior to the SCA IPO by XL in August 2006. The continued uncertainty of this exposure and the potential for material impairments in the investment portfolio support the rating action," said Steven Ader, a credit analyst at S&P. The ratings agency believes that without a replenishment of capital, a charge exceeding $500 million would likely result in a lowering of the rating. S&P noted that one notch cut may be possible at the operating company level and up to two notches at the holding company. XL Capital Ltd. has a long-term rating of A- with a stable outlook.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- All Nippon Airways Co. plans to buy five A380 superjumbo jets from Airbus, the commercial arm of EADS , The Nikkei learned on Thursday. The purchase would be the first time that a Japanese airline buys large aircraft from the European firm, according to The Nikkei.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Thursday ended a holiday-shortened session and week mostly higher on the day but down on the week after the government said employment declined only a bit more than expected in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 73.03 points, or 0.7%, to end at 11,288.54, giving it a weekly loss of 0.5%. The S&P 500 climbed 1.38 points, or 0.1%, to 1,262.90, translating to a decline of 1.2% from last Friday. The Nasdaq Composite fell 6.08 points, or 0.3%, to 2,245.38, with the technology-heavy index losing 3% of its value on the week.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Kenya's economic growth will likely slow down to 4% in 2008 after the economy was disrupted by post-election violence earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund said late Wednesday. The forecast marks a sharp deceleration from the 7% GDP growth Kenya posted last year. While the economy is regaining its footing, a full recovery in some sectors, including tourism, will take time, the IMF said.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.