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European stock markets shot higher Thursday as investors waded into riskier assets, emboldened by EU leaders’ pre-dawn agreement to slash Greece’s massive debts.

Oil prices rose above $92 per barrel while the euro gained strongly following the European summit dedicated to fixing a debt mess in Greece before it provokes a bigger debt crisis across the continent.

European trading was buoyant from the outset. Britain’s FTSE climbed 2.1 percent to 5,670.12. Germany’s DAX jumped 3.7 percent to 6,243 and France’s CAC-40 gained 3.9 percent to 3,297. Wall Street also headed toward gains, with Dow Jones industrial futures rising 1.6 percent and S&P 500 futures gaining 1.8 percent.

The Greek market rallied on hopes the early morning deal would finally lift the specter of government bankruptcy.

Shortly after opening Thursday, shares on the Athens Stock Exchange were up 3.46 percent at 800.55, with banking stocks up more than 10 percent _ after suffering heavy losses earlier this week.

The hard-fought European deal requires banks to take on 50 percent losses on Greeks bonds. Eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund will also provide an additional euro100 billion ($140 billion) in rescue loans as a second bailout package for Greece.

EU leaders “stopped the hemorrhaging,” said Marc Touati, chief economist at Assya Compagnie Financiere in Paris. “(They) have saved the Eurozone and that’s the good news and that’s why the markets are reacting positively.”

European leaders agreed early Thursday on a plan to provide Greece with more rescue loans to help relieve its crushing debt obligations. It will involve private investors taking bigger losses on the value of their Greek bonds, which would make Greece the first nation that uses the euro currency to be rated in default on its debt.

European Union President Herman Van Rompuy said the deal will reduce Greece’s debt to 120 percent of its gross domestic product in 2020. Under current conditions, it would have grown to 180 percent.

In addition, the euro440 billion European Financial Stability Facility will be used to insure part of the losses on the debt of wobbly countries like Italy and Spain, rendering its firepower equivalent to around euro1 trillion ($1 paydayloans.4 trillion).

Loose ends still need to be worked out, and the fundamental problem of low economic growth in the euro zone has not been resolved by the crisis summit, some economists warned.

“(They) have only saved it temporarily,” Touati said. “Unfortunately the fundamental problem concerning the absence of growth has not been resolved.”

Shares in Asia posted solid gains earlier in the day. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 2 percent to close at an eight-week high of 8,926.54. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.5 percent to 1,922.04. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 3.3 percent to 19,688.70.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 2.5 percent to 4,348.20 after trading resumed following a 4-hour technical glitch.

Meanwhile, strong economic reports helped send Wall Street higher on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.4 percent to 11,869.04. The S&P 500 index rose 1.1 percent to 1,242. The Nasdaq composite added 0.5 percent to 2,650.67.

Reports in the U.S. showed businesses ordered more heavy machinery and other long-lasting manufactured goods last month. That indicates businesses are still spending on equipment despite worries about a weak economy and Europe’s debt problems. Sales of new homes rose in September after falling for four straight months.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was up $1.98 at $92.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.97, or 3.2 percent, to end the day at $90.20 in New York on Wednesday.

Brent crude was up $1.87 at $110.78 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

In currencies, the euro climbed to $1.4003 from $1.3908 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar weakened to 75.83 yen from 76.20 yen.

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President Barack Obama says he’s waiting until more Republican presidential hopefuls are “voted off the island” before he starts tuning into the GOP race.

During an appearance on NBC’s “Tonight Show,” Obama says once the field of contenders aiming to replace him is narrowed down to one or two, he’ll start paying attention.

The president taped his appearance with Jay Leno Tuesday morning in Los Angeles before heading north to San Francisco for a campaign fundraiser.

Obama also addressed the recent killing of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the end of the war in Iraq and the NBA lockout during his appearance on Leno’s show. The full interview is scheduled to air late Tuesday night.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

President Barack Obama is making the rounds in reliably Democratic California, joking with Jay Leno and tapping the coffers of wealthy, celebrity donors as he raises money for his re-election bid.

The president taped an appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” that was scheduled to air Tuesday night. It’s his second stop on the show as sitting president and fourth appearance overall. From Los Angeles, Obama headed north to San Francisco for a fundraiser featuring a performance by folk rock singer-songwriter Jack Johnson. Obama also had fundraisers scheduled in Denver, all part of a three-day, three-state swing through the west.

Tuesday’s fundraisers follow star-studded campaign events in Los Angeles on Monday. Obama joined actor Will Smith and basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson at a dinner at the home of producer James Lassiter. Then he mingled with Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas over canapes at the movie star couple’s home just a few blocks away.

Obama was in California for money events last month. The state ranks as Obama’s top donor state, and he raised about $1 million in the Los Angeles area alone during the last two fundraising quarters, according to an Associated Press review of contributions above $200.

The western tour is one of Obama’s busiest donor outreach trips of the season. Celebrities are tried and true fundraising draw, particularly for Democratic presidents. Both the president and the stars bask in their reflected fame and the endorsement of stars can be a useful asset.

Not that he needs the votes here. California is a solidly Democratic state, though Sacramento-based Democratic consultant Roger Salazar said the president, echoing national trends, is less popular now in the state than he was when he was elected.

“Democrats by their nature are going to give the president the benefit of the doubt,” said Salazar, a veteran of California and national political campaigns. “But they want him to do something about it. They want to see some movement.”

Obama is promising some movement. He has been promoting his $447 billion jobs bill, which has been broken up into its component parts in hopes Congress can pass some of them business cards design.

Addressing about 240 donors at the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas Monday, Obama said the pieces that Republicans reject would likely linger as campaign issues in 2012.

“This is the fight that we’re going to have right now, and I suspect this is the fight that we’re going to have to have over the next year,” Obama said. “The Republicans in Congress and the Republican candidates for president have made their agenda very clear.”

Addressing donors in Los Angeles, Obama ticked off his administration’s accomplishments, eager to reinvigorate supporters whose enthusiasm has flagged since his 2008 election.

“Sometimes I think people forget how much has gotten done,” the president said, as Smith and Johnson looked on. He urged his backers to rally once again, at the same time joking, as he often does, that he is older and grayer now. “This election won’t be as sexy as the first one.”

At Banderas’ and Griffith’s house, its entrance path lined with rose petals and votive candles, Obama told about 120 mostly Latino contributors that he has kept a list of his campaign promises and that, by his count, he has accomplished about 60 percent of them.

“I’m pretty confident we can get the other 40 percent done in the next five years,” he said to loud applause.

The Griffith-Banderas event was Obama’s first Latino fundraiser, with donors giving at least $5,000 per person to attend. It featured guests such as actress Eva Longoria, comedian George Lopez, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and mayors Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and Julian Castro of San Antonio.

Obama drew the loudest applause when he vowed to tackle an overhaul of immigration laws, a promise from 2008 that has gone unfulfilled in the face of Republican opposition.

The Las Vegas fundraiser attracted about 240 people who paid from $1,000 to $35,800 toward Obama’s re-election campaign and to the Democratic National Committee. The bigger donors met the president personally. Guests at Lassiter’s home contributed $35,800.

Obama has been displaying campaign-style vigor. At a Las Vegas subdivision where he promoted housing proposals, Obama waded into the neighborhood crowd to shake hands, sign autographs, even lift a baby.

Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Obama headed to a diverse neighborhood minutes from Lassiter’s home south of Hollywood and stopped at Roscoe’s, a popular Los Angeles chicken restaurant chain. Obama roved through the dining booths greeting customers, leaving at least one awestruck young boy holding his hand aloft after shaking the president’s hand. One man gave him a hug and a Hispanic man told his daughter that if she studied hard “you’ll be like him.”

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Associated Press writer Jack Gillum contributed to this report.

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Managed-care company Cigna says it will pay about $3.8 billion to buy fellow health insurer HealthSpring in a deal that boosts Cigna’s Medicare Advantage business.

The Bloomfield, Conn., company will pay $55 per share in cash for HealthSpring, which is based in Nashville, Tenn. Cigna says that price represents a 37 percent premium over the stock’s Friday closing price of $40.16.

Cigna says the boards of directors for both companies have approved the deal. It is expected to close in the first half of 2012 guaranteed online personal loans.

Medicare Advantage plans are privately run versions of the government’s Medicare program. They are subsidized by the government and offer basic Medicare coverage topped with extras or premiums lower than standard Medicare rates.

HealthSpring has about 340,000 Medicare Advantage customers in 11 states.

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A top bank lobbyist insisted Saturday that banks and the eurozone are far from reaching a deal to cut Greece’s debt, despite claims by eurozone finance ministers that they will ask banks to take steeper losses on their Greek bonds.

Although the ministers did not say how much of a cut they are aiming for, a report from Greece’s international debt inspectors suggested that the value of Greece’s bonds may have to be slashed as much as 60 percent to get the country solvent enough to repay its debt.

The ministers on Saturday sent their chief negotiator, Vittorio Grilli, to start discussions with banks and other private investors on a new deal for Greece.

However, Charles Dallara, the managing director of the Institute of International Finance, which has been leading the negotiations, said in an interview with The Associated Press that an agreement remained elusive.

“We’re nowhere near a deal,” he said.

Banks in July agreed to accept 21 percent losses on their Greek bonds. However, eurozone leaders have since reopened the deal and Greece’s international debt inspectors _ the so-called troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund _ have said that Greece’s economic situation has deteriorated dramatically since the summer.

They said that under the July deal, Greece would need an extra euro252 billion ($347 billion) in loans from the eurozone and the IMF _ on top of the euro110 billion ($152 billion) it has been relying on to pay bills since May 2010.

But Dallara said new plans to slash Greece debt would still leave the country as “a ward of Europe” for years.

He declined to say how much in losses banks would be willing to accept, saying only “we would be open to an approach that involves additional efforts from everyone payday loan no faxing.”

Dallara was in Brussels, where eurozone finance ministers have been meeting for two days of talks.

Earlier Saturday, an EU official said EU finance ministers neared agreement on forcing banks to raise just over euro100 billion ($140 billion) to ensure they have enough cushion to weather further losses on their Greek bonds as well as market turmoil.

Strengthening banks and slashing Greece’s debts are critical to solving Europe’s crisis, which is now threatening to engulf larger economies like Italy and Spain and is blamed for dampening growth across Europe and even the world.

“The crisis in the eurozone is doing real damage to many of the European economies, including Britain,” George Osborne, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, said as he headed into Saturday’s meeting. “We have had enough of short-term measures, sticking plasters that get us through the next few weeks.”

The European official said EU leaders meeting Sunday should sign off on forcing the continent’s biggest banks to raise just over euro100 billion in capital. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions between ministers were still ongoing.

The figure is likely to disappoint some analysts. A report by the International Monetary Fund has called for up to euro200 billion ($280 billion) to be poured into banks.

The new rules would force systemically important banks to raise their core capital ratios to 9 percent, compared with just 5 percent to 6 percent they needed to pass EU stress tests this summer. The ratio measures the amount of capital banks hold compared to their risky assets.

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SSM Health Care-St. Louis named Robert William “Bill” Hoefer as the next president of St. Clare Health Center in Fenton. He will begin his duties on Jan. 3.

In addition to leading the 174-bed hospital, which opened in 2009, Hoefer will serve as service line executive for the SSM Neurosciences Institute.

For the past four years, Hoefer has been vice president of operations for Sentara Norfolk General Hospital no fax payday loans. He has a master’s degree in health care administration from the Washington University School of Medicine.

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Even higher fares couldn’t pull American Airlines out of its financial nosedive.

American’s parent, AMR Corp., said Wednesday that it lost $162 million in the third quarter, as fuel spending jumped 40 percent, wiping out higher revenue from fare increases and passenger fees.

It was AMR’s fourth straight losing quarter and 14th in the last 16. In last year’s third quarter _ often the strongest of the year for airlines because of heavy summer travel _ AMR earned $143 million, or 39 cents per share.

AMR hasn’t turned a full-year profit since 2007, and it has lost more than $12 billion since 2001, adding to speculation that it could be headed toward bankruptcy protection.

American has high costs, a heavy debt load, too many gas-guzzling planes in its fleet, and years of labor problems.

AMR spent $2.3 billion on fuel, easily topping wages and benefits as the biggest third-quarter expense and swamping American’s average fares increase of 7 percent.

Revenue rose 9 percent to $6.38 billion. While that was $30 million better than analysts expected, the loss of 48 cents per share was wider than analysts’ forecast of 43 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Investors were disappointed. The company’s shares fell 11 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $2.71 in morning trading.

Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey said the third quarter was “challenging for American Airlines,” but said the company was moving aggressively to improve. The top goal, he said, was to control costs.

As recently as 2008, American was the world’s largest airline, but has since been surpassed by Delta, which bought Northwest, and United, which bought Continental. American is trying to compensate for its smaller size by expanding partnerships with British Airways and Japan Airlines to win more lucrative international travel.

As other airlines merged and returned to profitability in the last two years, analysts and investors have grown impatient with AMR management, skewering executives for failing to show enough urgency in fixing American’s problems.

The last few days provided another example of AMR’s woes. The company raised expectations it would settle labor negotiations with American Airlines pilots and win money-saving schedule flexibility, but there was no weekend deal and AMR’s stock fell 6 percent on Monday.

American and the pilots’ union could still reach an agreement any day, allowing American to argue that it is doing something to control costs and boost productivity.

The airline is also taking steps to update its fleet. It announced in July that it will buy 460 new jets from Boeing Co. and Airbus over several years. That should reduce fuel and maintenance spending, but the improvement will be gradual.

American said advance bookings are about the same as last year, but with a weak economy, it has cut the late-fall and winter flights by 3 percent compared with last winter. That should ease pressure to slash fares and help the airline cope with a high number of pilot retirements.

But American said fourth-quarter costs per mile will rise more than 6 percent over the same period last year. That figure doesn’t include fuel costs.

AMR’s stock price has fallen 64 percent this year _ far more than any other major U.S. airline company _ reflecting speculation that the company could be forced into bankruptcy protection like so many other carriers over the past decade.

Most analysts think that won’t happen anytime soon because the company has about $4.3 billion in unrestricted cash and short-term investments that could be liquidated in a pinch.

Standard & Poor’s analyst Jim Corridore said he doesn’t see a need for bankruptcy in the next year but called AMR shares “high risk.” He said problems include pilot retirements, lack of movement on labor talks, and AMR’s need to borrow money.

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A senior prison officer was killed by his subordinates as he tried to stop mass prison breaks during Egypt’s popular uprising against President Hosni Mubarak, an Egyptian rights group said Monday.

The case of Mohammed el-Batran is key to the mystery surrounding the mass prison break in Egypt in one weekend in late January, when nearly a quarter of Egypt’s prisoners escaped.

Some allege the mass prison break was engineered by an embattled regime trying to cling to power by creating anarchy, though other testimony suggests there may not have been a single guiding hand.

Chaos struck Egypt’s prisons as inmates watched the uprising against Mubarak unfold on television staring Jan.25.

An official investigation has yet to be completed into the escape of more than 23,000 inmates and deaths of at least 120.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said witnesses say el-Batran opposed an alleged official plan to unleash anarchy in the country as a way of derailing the popular uprising against Mubarak.

At the time, authorities and state media said el-Batran was killed by rioting inmates in al-Qatta prison on the outskirts of Cairo.

“This is a version that has been refuted by many witness accounts,” the report said. “There were many stories during the revolution that he refused to let the prisoners out.”

The report reviews witness accounts of inmates and prison officials, as well as forensic evidence describing the circumstances surrounding the death of el-Batran, the head of the prison investigation department in the Interior Ministry, on Jan.29.

El-Batran had argued with a prison official, asking him to leave so he could handle the angry inmates, the report related.

As he walked out of the cell block with hundreds of prisoners following him, a police officer opened fire at the crowd from a watchtower, killing el-Batran and others, the report said.

The findings confirm an earlier report by a national fact-finding mission, which was ignored by the authorities until a new forensic report came out this summer.

“Was this all part of a plan and upon orders, or was it because of the pressures the officers were under, we don’t know yet,” said Ghada el-Shehbandar, a member of the EOHR board. “But we accuse the (former interior minister) of negligence and creating chaos.”

The police vanished from the streets three days after the revolt began, and the military took over. The police have yet to full redeploy, and the country is suffering a serious increase in crime, further complicating Egypt’s transition to a new regime.

The group said some prisoner escapes involved organized and heavily armed attempts to free relatives. But there is enough evidence, the report said, to suggest that some prison breaks were orchestrated by security officials “to spread chaos and instability and to bury the revolution.”

At one lockup, prisoners said they were left for days without food or water after the wardens fled, and only armed guards manning watchtowers remained behind.

Also Monday, Justice Ministry officials said two sons of Mubarak have an estimated $340 million in Swiss bank accounts.

Assem al-Gohary said Swiss authorities are investigating whether one of the sons, Alaa, was involved in money laundering along with other ex-regime figures.

At home, Mubarak and his sons have been charged with corruption and all three are under arrest. Mubarak is also charged with complicity in the killing of about 850 protesters during the uprising.

Switzerland has already frozen the assets of the Mubarak family and other ex-Egyptian regime figures, which al-Gohary estimated at nearly $450 million. He added that most of those assets belong to the sons.

Al-Gohary also said that the wealth of Mubarak’s top associate, tycoon Hussein Salem, and his family exceeded $4 billion. He added that Salem and his family have transferred funds overseas in the past six months, including to Hong King, the United Arab Emirates.

The 77-year-old Salem is co-defendant in the Mubarak corruption trial and faces charges in relation to lucrative land and other deals, including exporting gas to Israel. He is also under arrest in Madrid, Spain.

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From coast to coast and North to South, the Occupy Wall Street protest against corporate greed that started out with a few young people in a lower Manhattan park grew to vocal thousands with weekend rallies in about two dozen states and supporters joining in from Canada and overseas.

Tens of thousands nicknamed “the indignant” marched in cities across Europe on Saturday. Violence broke out in Rome and dozens were injured.

Marches in the United States remained largely nonconfrontational, although dozens of people were arrested in New York when police moved to contain overflowing crowds or keep them off private property. Two police officers in New York City were injured and had to be hospitalized.

In Times Square, thousands of demonstrators mixed with gawkers, Broadway showgoers, tourists and police to create a chaotic scene in the midst of Manhattan.

“Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” protesters chanted from within police barricades. Police, some in riot gear and mounted on horses, tried to push them out of the square and onto the sidewalks in an attempt to funnel the crowds away.

Sandra Fox, 69, of Baton Rouge, La., stood, confused, on 46th Street with a ticket for “Anything Goes” in her hand as riot police pushed a knot of about 200 shouting protesters toward her.

“I think it’s horrible what they’re doing,” she said of the protesters. “These people need to go get jobs.”

The Times Square rally lasted several hours before the crowd dispersed. Over the course of what was billed as “a global day of protest,” city police arrested more than 80 people in demonstrations at Times Square, Washington Square Park and a nearby Citibank bank branch. Police cited violations such as wearing masks, criminal trespass, and refusing to leave the park at midnight when police warned them it was closed.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said one of the police officers hospitalized suffered a head injury, the other a foot injury. Two dozen were arrested when demonstrators entered the Citibank bank branch and refused to leave, police said.

Citibank said in a statement that police asked the branch to close until the protesters could be taken away. “One person asked to close an account and was accommodated,” Citibank said.

Earlier in the day, as many as 1,000 demonstrators paraded to a Chase bank branch, banging drums, blowing horns and carrying signs decrying corporate greed. A few protesters went inside the bank to close their accounts, but the group didn’t stop other customers from getting inside or seek to blockade the business.

Lily Paulina of Brooklyn said she was taking her money out because she was upset that JPMorgan Chase was making billions, while its customers struggled with bank fees and home foreclosures.

“Chase bank is making tons of money off of everyone … while people in the working class are fighting just to keep a living wage in their neighborhood,” the 29-year-old United Auto Workers organizer said.

Police told the marchers to stay on the sidewalk, and the demonstration seemed fairly orderly as it wound through downtown streets.

Sergio Jimenez, 25, said he quit his job in Texas to come to New York to protest. He participated in an anti-war march to mark the 10th anniversary of the Afghanistan War.

“These wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were all based on lies,” Jimenez said. “And if we’re such an intelligent country, we should figure out other ways to respond to terror, instead of with terror.”

Throughout the country _ from about 50 people in Jackson, Miss., to some 2,000 in Pittsburgh _ the protest gained momentum.

Nearly 1,500 protesters gathered for a march past banks in downtown Orlando, Fla. Hundreds marched on a Key Bank branch in Anchorage, and declared it be foreclosed. In Colorado, about 1,000 people rallied in downtown Denver to support Occupy Wall Street. Nearly 200 people spent a cold night in tents in Grand Circus Park in Detroit, donning gloves, scarves and heavy coats to keep warm. Helen Stockton, a 34-year-old certified midwife from Ypsilanti, said they planned to remain there “as long as it takes to effect change.”

“It’s easy to ignore us,” Stockton said. Then she referred to the financial institutions, saying, “But we are not going to ignore them. Every shiver in our bones reminds us of why we are here.”

Hundreds more converged near the Michigan’s Capitol in Lansing with the same message, the Lansing State Journal reported.

Rallies drew young and old, laborers and retirees. In Pittsburgh, marchers included parents with children in strollers. The peaceful crowd stretched for two or three blocks.

“I see our members losing jobs. People are angry,” said Janet Hill, 49, who works for the United Steelworkers, which she said hosted a sign-making event before the march.

Retired teacher Albert Siemsen said at a demonstration in Milwaukee that he’d grown angry watching school funding get cut at the same time banks and corporations gained more influence in government. The 81-year-old wants to see tighter Wall Street regulation.

Around him, protesters held signs reading: “Keep your corporate hands off my government,” and “Mr. Obama, Tear Down That Wall Street.”

In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick visited protesters in Boston’s Dewey Square for the first time. He said after walking through the camp that he better understands the range of views and was sympathetic to concerns about unemployment, health care and the influence of money in politics.

The Rev. Al Sharpton led a march in Washington that was not affiliated with the Occupy movement but shared similar goals. His rally was aimed at drumming up support for President Barack Obama’s jobs plan. Thousands of demonstrators packed the lawn in the shadow of the Washington Monument to hear labor, education and civil rights leaders speak.

Hundreds protested in the heart of Toronto’s financial district. Some announced plans to camp out indefinitely in St. James Park. Protests were also held in other cities across Canada from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Overseas, tens of thousands nicknamed “the indignant” marched in cities across Europe, as the protests that began in New York linked up with long-running demonstrations against government cost-cutting and failed financial policies in Europe. Protesters also turned out in Australia and Asia.

In the violence that broke out in Rome, police fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters who broke away from the main demonstration, smashing shop and bank windows, torching cars and hurling bottles.

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