(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc reported higher third-quarter earnings on Monday as the bank set aside less money to cover bad loans and recorded an accounting gain banks can take in turbulent markets. Investment banking fees dropped as the European debt crisis cut into stock and bond issuance and merger activity. Operating expenses rose, in part because of investments the bank is making to boost its business.

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(Reuters) - Industrial production rose 0.2 percent in September, in line with expectations, as a gain in manufacturing offset a drop in utility output, a Federal Reserve report showed on Monday. September's industrial output gain followed an downwardly revised reading showing flat output in August. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.2 percent gain in September.

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(Reuters) - Confidence will be key to sparking higher growth in the U.S. economy and easing tensions about the financial system that have sparked a global wave of protest, said General Electric Co Chief Executive Jeff Immelt. "Until you can restore confidence you can't move forward," Immelt, the head of the largest U.S. conglomerate, said at a Thomson Reuters Newsmaker event in New York on Monday.

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DUESSELDORF, Germany/LONDON (Reuters)- - Germany lowered expectations on Monday of a breakthrough in the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis, saying a weekend summit of EU leaders would not produce a definitive solution, in comments that pushed down the euro and European stocks. Financial markets have risen in the last week on hopes that the 27 European Union leaders will agree on a comprehensive plan to draw a line under the two-year-old crisis, which is weighing on the world economy.

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(Reuters) - Stocks rose on Friday, putting the S&P on track for back-to-back weekly gains for the first time since early July, led by optimism the euro zone will continue to make progress on a solution to its debt crisis. French and German officials are trying to put flesh on the bones of a crisis resolution plan in time for a European Union summit on October 23.

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(Reuters) - Proposals to double the size of the IMF as part of a broader international response to Europe's debt crisis immediately ran into resistance from the United States and others, burying the idea for now and firmly putting the onus back on Europe. The outlines of the plan, that had the backing of several developing economies, emerged as G20 finance ministers and central bankers began meeting in Paris to discuss a world economy under threat from European nations mired in debt.

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(Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's multi-million dollar campaign to win back the hearts and minds of News Corporation's independent investors suffered a new blow on Friday after another key shareholder group called for his eviction from its board. Hermes Equity Ownership Services (HEOS), the shareholder advisory service affiliated to Britain's largest pension fund, issued a rallying cry to investors to vote against all Murdoch family re-elections to the board of the embattled media group at next week's annual general meeting on October 21.

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(Reuters) - Mattel Inc (MAT.O), the world's largest toy company, reported a bigger-than-expected fall in gross margins, as it spent more on making, packaging and transporting its toys, sending its shares down 4 percent. Toymakers are fighting to shield their margins from a rise in the cost of raw materials like plastics and paper, and higher wages demanded by laborers in China, where a lot of U.S. companies make their toys.

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(Reuters) - Shares of Google Inc jumped over 7 percent on Friday, a day after the internet search giant said robust growth at its mobile business and a strong emerging market lifted its third quarter, allaying worries that a slowing Europe was hurting business. The strong mobile revenue underscores the importance of Google's Android mobile software -- already the world's most-used smartphone platform -- and supports the rationale for its Motorola Mobility Holdings deal, analysts said.

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(Reuters) - Stocks fell on Thursday as earnings from JPMorgan and soft economic data in China reinforced worries about a slowing global economy, giving investors reason to pause after the recent run-up. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) slipped 3.5 percent to $32.04 as the biggest drag on the Dow, after the first major U.S. bank to announce third-quarter earnings said they fell 4 percent as the European debt crisis pushed investment banking clients to the sidelines. The KBW Bank index .BKX shed 2.2 percent.

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