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The Persian Gulf kingdom of Qatar has expressed some interest in investing in two major partially-nationalized British banks, Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE: LYG).

Apple iPad 2 shipments appear on track for April and the company will hold an event in March to launch the next generation of iPad, according to Barclays Capital.

Gold fell back slightly toward $1,400 an ounce on Tuesday, breaking a six-session rally, as turmoil in Libya prompted bullion investors to take profits and as sharp losses in equities and other commodities markets prompted margin selling.

China rejected plans to use real exchange rates and currency reserves to measures global economic imbalances, casting doubt on the ability of Group of 20 major economic powers to reach agreement at a meeting on Friday.

Gold hit five-week highs in Europe on Friday and silver its strongest since 1980 as growing unrest in the Middle East lifted interest in precious metals, though another reserve requirement hike from China curbed gains.

U.S. President Barack Obama's proposed 2012 Federal budget included proposals to improve the inefficiencies in government data centers. The budget outlines the adoption of cloud-computing and virtualization technologies to lower IT spending costs and increase agility.

Jens Weidmann has been named chief of the Bundesbank, replacing Axel Weber who recently quit for “personal reasons.”

Barclays Capital said it continues to believe the new tablet category (led by Apple Inc.'s iPad) is poised for rapid growth over the coming years.

South Africa's rand softened against the dollar on Tuesday with the market showing little inclination to resist central bank moves since the start of the year to weaken the currency.

British bank Barclays will review its portfolio and cut costs to boost profitability as it grapples with tougher regulations which it said will lower its returns.

China's trade surplus fell to its lowest in nine months in January after imports surged, supporting the government's case ahead of a G20 meeting that it is doing enough to spur domestic demand without speeding up currency appreciation.

Britain's smaller companies are reluctant to tap banks for financing due to negative perceptions of the sector, a survey said on Friday, as politicians continue to attack the industry for not lending enough to businesses. Britain wants banks to lend more money in order to stimulate the country's faltering economy, and this week it struck a deal

Pipeline company Kinder Morgan Inc sold more shares and priced them above the expected range, an underwriter said on Thursday, raising about $2.86 billion in the largest U.S. energy initial public offering since 1998.

U.S. job openings slipped in December, a government report showed on Tuesday, but a decline in layoffs supported views of a gradual labor market recovery. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, eased 139,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.1 million, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

The British government has entered into a comprehensive agreement with the nation’s largest banks on matters related to lending, transparency and bonuses payments to executives, after four months of negotiations and wrangling.

Company does a refresh on its laptop and desktop lines while giving out minor details on a new Windows tablet.

Regulators on Monday are expected to make their most forceful attempt yet to clamp down bank bonuses since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, but the proposals pale in comparison to harsher restrictions already set in Europe.

The Middle East is headed into the unknown, on that everyone agrees -- but the speed of events in Egypt and elsewhere has left analysts and financial markets struggling to find their bearings.

Intel's design issue could have a ripple effect throughout the IT Hardware food chain, said an analyst at Barclays Capital.

Nomura Holdings <8604.T>, Japan's top brokerage, reported its biggest profit in three quarters after gains in Tokyo stocks gave a boost to revenues, but higher costs to expand overseas limited earnings growth.

Market analysts are of the view that the Intel's chipset issue could hurt the personal computer (PC) shipments in the first quarter.

European policymakers and international bankers at the Davos forum said on Saturday the euro zone's debt crisis had turned a corner and any doubt about the survival of the single currency area had passed.

Gold fell back from its third overnight rally in four days in London trade on Thursday, dropping 1.1% against the Dollar. We don't feel that this downward pressure can persist, given ample global liquidity and low long-term real interest rates, says Standard Bank's commodity team in a client note.

Gold rose on Wednesday, snapping a four-day losing streak, after the Federal Reserve's lukewarm economic assessment and its plan to complete its bond-buying program boosted bullion's safe-haven appeal.

Barclays Plc is to cut about 1,000 UK jobs as it stops offering financial planning advice in its branches, in further evidence the bank is sharpening the knife on areas of sluggish profitability.

British bank Barclays Plc is to cut about 1,000 UK jobs as it stops offering financial planning advice in its branches.

Bankrupt financial company Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc proposed a new plan for dividing up billions of dollars among its creditors and offered a bigger payment to bondholders, provided they sign on.

Annual bonuses at top global banks are causing ructions that could drive a outsized round of defections as weaker profits and tougher rules widen the pay discrepancy between star performers and everybody else.

Bankrupt financial company Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc proposed a new plan for divvying up billions of dollars among its creditors and offered a bigger payment to bondholders, provided they sign on.