(Reuters) - Stocks advanced on Friday after the leaders of France and Germany said they were united behind a new aid package for debt-burdened Greece, while U.S. economic data gave support to the gains. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said "there was no time to lose" on agreeing on a program for Greece, suggesting a deal needed to be reached in July at the latest. "We want to go as quickly as possible without fixing a date," Sarkozy said after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, adding that the pair had the same position on Greece.

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(Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for U.S. economic growth on Friday and warned Washington and debt-ridden European countries that they are "playing with fire" unless they take immediate steps to reduce their budget deficits. The IMF, in its regular assessment of global economic prospects, said bigger threats to growth had emerged since its previous report in April, citing the euro zone debt crisis and signs of overheating in emerging market economies.

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(Reuters) - Consumer sentiment worsened this month, although a gauge of future economic activity rose in May, presenting a picture of a wobbly recovery. The Friday reports are the latest data to suggest that the economy continued to spin its wheels in the second quarter, though there were some signs of optimism the recovery could regain momentum later in the year.

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(Reuters) - Shares of Research In Motion Ltd fell more than 15 percent in pre-market trade on Friday, a day after the Blackberry maker posted weak quarterly results and outlook, prompting two analysts to downgrade the stock and several others to cut their price targets. RIM on Thursday reported lower quarterly profit and its revenue missed its own limp forecast, forcing the company to slash its forecast. Facing intense pressure from Apple Inc and Google Inc in the smartphone market, RIM also warned that its latest models would not hit U.S. stores until well into the valuable back-to-school shopping season.

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(Reuters) - U.S. regulators could file civil fraud charges against some credit rating agencies, and settle with more Wall Street banks, for their role in developing mortgage-bond deals that helped trigger the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The inquiry into the rating agencies broadens the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) probe into the sales and marketing of mortgage-bond deals by several financial firms, the paper said. It said other firms being probed by the SEC include JP Morgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America's Merrill unit and UBS AG.

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(Reuters) - Capital One Financial Corp plans to buy ING Groep NV's U.S. online bank for $9 billion in cash and stock, freeing the Dutch bank to repay bailout funds and sever its state ties. ING is in the throes of a wrenching restructuring, forced on it as a condition of a 10-billion-euro state bailout during the 2008 financial crisis. The European Commission and ING agreed on a restructuring plan in late 2009, the most surprising part of which was a mandate that ING sell its U.S. online banking operations.

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(Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou sacrificed his finance minister on Friday and put his main socialist party rival into the job in a bid to force through an unpopular austerity plan and avert bankruptcy. In Berlin, the leaders of Germany and France, long at odds over how to involve private holders of Greek bonds in a new rescue package for Athens, said they had united behind a mild solution favored by Paris and the European Central Bank.

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(Reuters) - U.S. airlines, determined to keep their grip on recovery, will at best allow unions in contract negotiations to take back only part of what they gave up in concessions during restructuring. Interviews with chief executives, consultants and labor experts show airlines are healthier than they were 10 years ago, but are more vulnerable than ever to volatile fuel costs, a sluggish economy, and fickle shareholders.

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(Reuters) - Stocks rose on Thursday after a mixed batch of data found the market at oversold levels after worries about Greece's escalating debt crisis spurred a sell-off in the previous session. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 52.45 points, or 0.44 percent, to 11,949.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 5.06 points, or 0.40 percent, to 1,270.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC added 5.05 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,636.51.

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(Reuters) - The number of Americans signing up for jobless benefits fell last week, while housing starts and building permits rose in May, offering some hope the economy could be starting to pull out of its soft patch. Initial claims for state unemployment insurance slipped 16,000 to 414,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday, suggesting the jobs market was regaining some momentum after stumbling badly in May.

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