American household wealth jumped in 2009 for the first time since a brutal recession struck the country, underscoring the impact of an economic recovery, data from the central bank showed Thursday. The net worth of US households -- the difference between their assets and liabilities -- stood at 54. 18 trillion dollars at the end of last year, a 5.

A group of US lawmakers Thursday urged the US administration to save NASA's Constellation project aimed at returning Americans to the moon in the next generation of space travel. "Space exploration has been the guiding star of American innovation," the lawmakers -- 10 Republicans and five Democrats -- said in a letter to the NASA administrator Charles Bolden.

A key US senator said he would unveil new legislation on Monday aimed at giving American financial rules their biggest overhaul since the Great Depression in the wake of the 2008 meltdown. The move by banking committee chairman Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, ends weeks of talks with Republican Bob Corker aimed at producing a bipartisan bill.

US stocks staged an 11th hour rally Thursday after the head of Citigroup, Vikram Pandit, said he was sure the major bank was on track for a sustainable recovery, lifting sentiment. After opening mostly lower, the market headed into positive territory in the final hour of trade, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 44.

Oil prices traded narrowly mixed Thursday as the market weighed prospects for global economic recovery ahead of an OPEC meeting next week. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, inched up two cents to close at 82. 11 dollars a barrel. London's Brent North Sea crude for April shed 20 cents to settle at 80.

Nordic foreign ministers raised the pressure on Iceland on Thursday to reach a banking payback deal with Britain and the Netherlands, warning a failure could block IMF aid to the crisis-hit island. "Our message is that we want to help Iceland but on condition. . . that there is parliamentary support for the government in Reykjavik on Icesave," Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen told reporters after talks in Copenhagen.

The Russian presidency signed a deal with the French government on Thursday to buy some prime real estate near the Eiffel Tower in Paris so as to build an Orthodox cathedral there, officials said. French Budget Minister Eric Woerth signed off on the sale of the former headquarters of France's meteorological service on the River Seine, which went to "the highest bidder," the French finance ministry said in a statement.

Oil prices fell Thursday on profit-taking, one day after rising in reaction to news of robust energy demand in the United States, traders said, who were looking ahead to next week's OPEC meeting. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, dropped 21 cents to 81. 88 dollars a barrel.

Europe's most powerful solar power plant is set to start operations in Italy later this year, the US company building the installation on an area as large as 120 football pitches said on Thursday. The plant in Rovigo near Venice in northeast Italy will take up 850,000 square metres (9. 15 million square feet) and produce 72 megawatts, SunEdison said in a statement announcing the start of construction.

US President Barack Obama Thursday called on China to embrace a "market oriented" exchange rate for its yuan currency, saying such a move would help rebalance the global economy.