(Reuters) - U.S. auto sales rose sharply in November as more confident American consumers spent more on the average showroom purchase, extending a recovery trend for the industry to a sixth month. Chrysler Group LLC, Nissan and Volkswagen AG reported double-digit percentage gains sales, putting the industry total on track for its highest level in more than two years.

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(Reuters) - The Massachusetts attorney general has filed a lawsuit against five large U.S. banks accusing them of deceptive foreclosure practices, a signal of ebbing confidence that a multi-state agreement can be worked out. The lawsuit was filed in state court in Boston on Thursday against Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc, Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo & Co and Ally Financial Inc.

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(Reuters) - Retailers that stuck with their same old holiday season strategies were dealt a blow in November, while earlier hours and bigger promotions were the keys to success for other chains. Overall, November sales at stores open at least a year rose as they were expected, although there were clear winners and losers during a critical month for the retail industry.

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(Reuters) - Apple Inc's newest board member, Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger, bought about $1 million worth of the iPhone maker's shares earlier this week, a symbolic gesture of confidence in the prospects of the company. Iger, who was appointed to Apple's board on November 15, bought 2,670 Apple shares on the open market on Tuesday at an average price of $375 each, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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(Reuters) - Stocks rose more than 3 percent on Wednesday as major central banks acted jointly to add liquidity to the global financial system, boosting appetite for risky assets. All ten S&P sectors were sharply higher, with the energy and materials groups approaching gains of 5 percent.

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(Reuters) - The world's major central banks acted jointly on Wednesday to provide cheaper dollar liquidity to starved European banks facing a credit crunch as the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis threatened to bring financial disaster. The surprise emergency move by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the central banks of Britain, Canada and Switzerland recalled coordinated action to steady global markets in the 2008 financial crisis.

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(Reuters) - Private sector job growth accelerated in November as employers created the most jobs in nearly a year, prompting some economists to raise their forecasts for Friday's more comprehensive government labor report. The beleaguered housing market also showed some unexpected cheer as pending home sales surged in October amid low mortgage interest rates.

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(Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett buys newspapers every day, the hometown daily included, but on Wednesday he dispensed with the single-issue price and bought the whole company instead. Buffett's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway said it would buy the Omaha World-Herald Co, owner of the paper of the same name, six other dailies and a series of weekly papers in Nebraska and Iowa.

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(Reuters) - American Airlines wants to shed unwanted leases for 24 aircraft and engines as the third-largest U.S. carrier begins cutting costs after filing for bankruptcy. AMR Corp, the parent company, said it has a large number of aircraft on order, and breaking leases on older equipment will allow it to speed up its fleet renewal.

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(Reuters) - Stocks jumped about 3 percent on Monday on hopes that fresh proposals may emerge out of Europe to help solve the region's debt crisis. The rally spread across the board, with all but one issue on the S&P 500 index higher. Retail stocks were among the top gainers after a trade group said U.S. retailers racked up a record $52.4 billion in sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, a 16.4 percent jump from a year ago.

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