U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday a strong dollar was important for global stability and Asia was leading the global economic recovery.

Morgan Stanley's brokerage unit is getting more aggressive in trying to lure financial advisers as the wider retail brokerage job market heats up.

Rising unemployment is the biggest threat to free trade and could spark greater protectionist policies around the globe, the head of the World Trade Organization said.

Australian employment rose 24,500 in October, a second month of surprisingly strong growth, signaling greater likelihood of an interest rate hike next month.

So far, much of the effort in Washington has focused on loosening credit conditions to make borrowing easier. But the bigger problem may be that credit-worthy companies simply do not want to borrow.

The Dow rose for a sixth straight session Wednesday as the dollar hit a new 15-month low after Fed comments and strong Chinese economic data. Financial, material and IT stocks were the biggest gainers.

Stocks opened higher Wednesday as the dollar fell to its lowest level in 15 months and economic data out of China was strong.

Motivated at age 15 by the tears in his father's eyes when the former farmer was forced to accept a factory job, Brunello Cucinelli is anything but an orthodox capitalist.

Stock index futures pointed to another higher open on Wall Street Wednesday as the dollar hit a new 15-month low after Federal Reserve officials reinforced the view that rates will remain low for some time.

Stubbornly high joblessness threatens to trigger loan defaults and drag on consumption next year, hobbling a U.S. economy struggling to rebound from recession, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Wednesday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday he believes strongly in the need to maintain a strong dollar and said the United States was determined to get its budget deficit down.

High unemployment and reluctant consumers will likely make a choppy U.S. economic recovery, top Federal Reserve officials said in a string of speeches across the country.

The United States is in a "good place" with inflation, but it is too soon to say when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, a top Fed official said on Tuesday.

U.S. workers were reluctant to quit their jobs in September as businesses showed no signs of increased hiring, a government report showed Tuesday.

The Dow eked out a gain Tuesday in light, choppy trading following Monday's rally.  Health-care, utilities and materials were the best-performing sectors.