(Reuters) - Manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in six months in December, capping a late-year rally in the sector, while a rise in new orders suggested good momentum in 2012, an industry report showed on Tuesday. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity rose to 53.9, the best showing since June, from 52.7 in November. The reading topped expectations of a 53.2 reading, according to a Reuters poll of economists. An index reading above 50 indicates expansion.

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(Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O) named former Brookstone Inc chief executive Ron Boire as its chief merchandising officer as it tries to tackle criticism that it did not have enough executives with retail experience to turn around the struggling chain. The news came on Tuesday, a week after the operator of Sears department stores and the Kmart discount chain posted disappointing holiday sales numbers, and decided to close as many as 120 stores. In his new role, Boire, 50, will lead merchandising for both the Sears and Kmart brands.

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(Reuters) - BP (BP.L) has opened 2012 with a new legal move in its battle to force contractor Halliburton (HAL.C) to help pay the costs and expenses it incurred to clean up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which the oil major previously put at around $42 billion. Halliburton (HAL.C), the company that cemented the doomed well, had asked a court to force BP to recognize a contractual agreement that protected Halliburton against possible spill clean-up costs.

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Jan 3 (Reuters) - Devon Energy Corp (DVN.N) said on Tuesday China's Sinopec (0386.HK) will invest $2.2 billion for a third of the U.S. oil and natural gas producer's interest in five developing fields as part of a long-term partnership. Shares of Devon climbed about 6 percent after the deal was announced. Foreign companies like Sinopec, hungry for the know-how to produce oil and gas from shale and other unconventional basins, have invested heavily in North American acreage. Chesapeake Energy (CHK.N) announced a similar $2.3 billion deal on Tuesday with French oil company Total SA (TOTF.PA) [ID:nL6E8C30FP].

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(Reuters) - Stocks rose on Thursday as stronger-than-expected economic data lifted sentiment in a lightly traded session, although weakness in Amazon kept a lid on Nasdaq gains. The S&P 500 was again slightly higher for the year a day after concerns about Europe's debt crisis sparked a selloff that took the index into negative territory for 2011. While Italy's bond yields remaining at high levels after an auction, they were overshadowed by the positive domestic data.

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(Reuters) - New claims for unemployment benefits rose last week but the underlying trend continued to point to improving labor market conditions as the factory sector in the Midwest held firm in December. The growth picture was brightened by other data on Thursday showing pending sales of previously owned homes jumped to a 1-1/2 year high in November, adding to signs of a tentative recovery in the housing market.

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(Reuters) - Pending sales of existing homes surged to a 1-1/2 year high in November, an industry group said on Thursday, offering more signs of a tentative recovery in the housing market. The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in November, increased 7.3 percent to 100.1 -- the highest level since April 2010.

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(Reuters) - Italy's PM called for significantly more firepower for the euro zone's bailout fund after a bond auction did little to ease concerns over how the country would finance public spending in the next few months. Italy's borrowing costs fell from record highs at a bond auction on Thursday but cautious investors still demanded a near 7 percent yield to buy 10-year debt.

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(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc shares slid 3.3 percent on Thursday as a research note by Goldman Sachs suggested that the online retailer's sales growth in the current holiday quarter could miss Wall Street expectations. Goldman in a note from Wednesday said Amazon has typically bested overall online sales growth by 23 points. That would suggest a 38 percent jump this season, below the 40 percent increase Wall Street expects Goldman wrote.

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(Reuters) - Stocks fell on Wednesday after a hefty year-end rally and the S&P 500 erased gains for the year as investors shifted focus to what is expected to be a difficult start to 2012. After a 5 percent rally last week that helped Wall Street post its best quarter in over a year, the S&P 500 pulled back below its 200-day moving average, a closely watched indicator of market strength it has struggled to hold this year.

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