MARKETS / FINANCE

Never Dead is expected to arrive in the last quarter of 2011.

Shares of graphics card maker Nvidia Corp rose 12 percent in pre-market trade on Friday after the company reported market-beating quarterly results and forecast strong third-quarter revenue on accelerating growth in its mobile business.

Reeling from a debt crisis that has spread to the very heart of Europe, the continent is looking once again to the Franco-German duo that dreamed up the euro to save the single currency from ruin.

LONDON/NEW YORK - An anorexic under doctor's orders to put on weight might fret unnecessarily about getting fat one day.

Organic agriculture, long seen as the best foot forward for supporting good health has now found new proof in a recent study that expects to reduce existence of drug-resistant bacteria on U.S. farms that "go organic".

Retail sales in July posted their biggest gain since March, tempering fears that the world's largest economy might be slipping back into recession.

Retail sales in July posted their biggest gain since March, tempering fears that the world's largest economy might be slipping back into recession.

After a week of gyrations that's seen the Dow Jones Industrial Average rise or fall 400 points for four straight days, it's understandable if U.S. investors are bewildered. Given the tumult, what stance should investors adopt now?

European stock markets rallied on Friday as a ban on the short-selling of financial shares tempted investors back into the battered banking sector, although concerns over the health of French banks kept the mood edgy and trading remained volatile.

U.S. futures were higher on Friday, signaling stocks would extend the previous day's big gains, after a rally in Europe and another strong outlook from a technology company.

Mining company European Goldfields, which secured a long-awaited Greek permit last month, posted a narrower pretax loss for the second quarter and said it had made "major progress" with its Olympias project, on track for first production next year.

Handing out flyers at the corner of 47th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City's Diamond District, Mariabi Peenya is having trouble finding passersby eager to sell their gold jewelry for cash.

A surge in prices to all-time highs has galvanized the French retail gold market, for long a dusty corner beloved of coin investors, drawing in ordinary punters but also the unwelcome attention of armed robbers.

Gold prices eased in Europe on Friday, extending the previous session's retreat from record highs, as fresh strength in equity markets and gains in the euro versus the safe-haven Swiss franc pointed to sharper appetite for risk.

A piecemeal ban on short-selling of financial stocks highlighted flaws in euro zone policy and investors said relief for bank stocks would be temporary in the absence of co-ordinated action by Europe's governments.

LONDON, Aug 12 - Options are rapidly running out for Europe's ailing mid-tier banks as nervous creditors pull the plug on once vital sources of funding in response to growing sovereign contagion worries, sowing the seeds of an imminent liquidity crisis at the heart of the eurozone.

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Friday as investors took a step back from the massive volatility that has shaken markets recently.

China's bank lending slowed more than expected in July to seven-month lows as Beijing kept a tight grip on monetary policy to quell near three-year-high inflation.

French economic growth ground to a halt as household spending shrank in the second quarter, raising pressure on the government to announce cutbacks to convince turbulent markets it will deliver on debt reduction targets.

French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said on Friday the government's targets for growth and deficit reduction were not being altered after data showed growth ground to a halt in the second quarter of 2011.

China is worried about challenges that the European Union faces in the next two months and urged the bloc as well as the United States to hold down government debt, its trade minister said on Friday.

Japan may lack the implicit approval of G7 nations to spend big in any future efforts to stem sharp yen rises and will have to rely on limited opportunistic strikes to prevent a build-up of aggressive bets on its currency.

European stock markets struggled early on Friday as a ban on short-selling of financial sector shares failed to put a lid on concerns over banks and the spread of the euro zone's debt crisis to France.

PARIS/MADRID - A ban on short-selling financial stocks in four European countries including France takes effect on Friday, a coordinated attempt to restore confidence in markets hit by rumors and higher borrowing costs.

U.S. stock futures slid 1 percent on Friday, pulling Asian shares off early highs, as sentiment remained cautious on concerns over the European debt crisis, which will probably keep supporting safe havens like gold and Swiss franc.

China is worried about challenges that the Europe Union faces in the next two months and urged the bloc as well as the United States to hold down government debt, its trade minister said on Friday.

Wilmar International , the world's largest palm oil plantation firm, said on Friday it has no plan to further hike cooking oil prices in China after raising the price by 5 percent recently.

French economic growth ground to a halt in the second quarter of 2011, raising pressure on President Nicolas Sarkozy to cut spending and abolish tax breaks ahead of elections as he tries to convince nervous financial markets that he will deliver on debt reduction targets.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) to disclose which employees knew of its decision to downgrade U.S. debt before it was announced last week, the Financial Times said, citing people familiar with the matter.