(Reuters) - President Barack Obama served notice on Sunday that the United States was fed up with China's trade and currency practices as he turned up the heat on America's biggest economic rival. "Enough's enough," Obama said bluntly at a closing news conference of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit where he scored a significant breakthrough in his push to create a pan-Pacific free trade zone and promote green technologies.

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(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that Europe could be living through its toughest hour since World War Two as new leaders in Italy and Greece rushed to form governments and limit the damage from the euro zone debt crisis. A rally on financial markets sparked by the appointment of respected European technocrats in Rome and Athens soon stalled. Analysts warned that daunting obstacles could hinder decisive action needed to breathe new life into their ailing economies.

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(Reuters) - Shares in Olympus Corp rose by the maximum allowed on Monday on signs the scandal-hit maker of cameras and endoscopes may escape having its shares de-listed. A source familiar with the case said on Sunday that Japan's securities watchdog may only recommend a fine against the company, while proposing criminal charges be sought against the individuals behind dubious M&A deals used to cover up its massive investment losses.

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(Reuters) - Groupon Inc is trying to grab a much larger share of consumers' holiday spending this year following the biggest daily deal company's initial public offering. Groupon launched its first holiday shopping push last year. Grouponicus, as it is known, offered discount deals in 15 cities last year. This year, Grouponicus will target 41 cities in the United States and Canada, including New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

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(Reuters) - Stocks rose on Friday, with the Nasdaq jumping 2 percent as Italy's Senate approved economic reforms, easing investor concerns about the euro zone's debt crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 268.75 points, or 2.26 percent, at 12,162.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 25.44 points, or 2.05 percent, at 1,265.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 55.21 points, or 2.10 percent, at 2,680.36.

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(Reuters) - Italy's parliament began rushing through austerity measures demanded by the European Union to avert a euro zone meltdown, after U.S. President Barack Obama ratcheted up pressure for more dramatic action from the currency bloc. Italy's Senate approved a new budget law, clearing the way for approval of the package in the lower house on Saturday and the formation of an emergency government to replace that of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

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(Reuters) - U.S. consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in five months in early November as Americans felt better about the economic outlook, a survey released on Friday showed. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment rose to 64.2 from 60.9 the month before, topping the median forecast of 61.5 among economists polled by Reuters.

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(Reuters) - The brokerage arm of collapsed futures firm MF Global Holdings Ltd has terminated its 1,066-member workforce, according to the trustee in charge of liquidating its assets. Trustee James Giddens said in a statement on Friday that the workers were notified their employment has been terminated immediately, though they will be paid through Tuesday.

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(Reuters) - An erroneous downgrade of French sovereign credit rating by Standard & Poor's rating agency on Thursday was a very serious incident and will have to be investigated, the European Commission said on Friday. "This is a very serious incident. This shows that we are in an extremely volatile situation, that markets are extremely tense, and therefore that players on these markets must be extremely rigorous and exercise a duty of responsibility," EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said in a statement.

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(Reuters) - Stocks rebounded on Thursday, a day after the S&P 500 suffered its worst day since mid-August as Italian bond yields eased. Traders said the European Central Bank increased its bond buying, but the ECB's hard-line chief economist told regional governments not to expect the bank to rescue them with unlimited funds.

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