MARKETS / FINANCE

When service was finally restored to Sony Corp's PlayStation Network earlier this month, millions of customers rushed back to it, impatient to get back to battling friends in sports or shooter games.

Increasing consumer anxiety that prices are broadly on the rise should not trigger an inflation-fighting response from the U.S. Federal Reserve, according to research Monday from the San Francisco Fed.

A small group of French activists have organized an Internet campaign to send roses to the woman who has accused former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her in New York.

U.S. banks are due to meet with state attorneys general and federal agencies on Tuesday as they seek to reach a settlement over problems in the mortgage servicing industry.

U.S. stocks closed at their lowest levels in a month on Monday in a sign of increasing doubt that equity markets can weather recent weakness in global manufacturing and demand.

Bank of America Corp has won tentative approval of a $410 million settlement of lawsuits accusing it of charging excessive overdraft fees to roughly 1 million customers.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Monday it was premature to discuss whether she would win the top job at the IMF and insisted any selection process should be open, transparent and merit-based.

Individual investors are wading back into the market nearly three years after the financial crisis, but some U.S. brokerage executives said their customers remain cautious.

Stocks fell on Monday, joining a global equities sell-off, as a slowdown in manufacturing growth and a stronger U.S. dollar clouded the outlook for earnings.

Financial markets piled pressure on heavily indebted euro zone countries on Monday as investors worried about heightened risks in Spain and Greece and ratings agencies stoked new concerns over Italy and Belgium.

Financial markets piled pressure on peripheral euro zone countries on Monday as investors worried about heightened risks in Spain and Greece and fresh concerns over Italy.

Russian Internet company Yandex raised the price guidance for its Nasdaq initial public offering on Monday, responding to strong investor demand after LinkedIn Corp's blowout debut last week.

Microsoft will seek to cut its 899 million euro ($1.3 billion) antitrust fine in Europe's second-highest court on Tuesday, marking the last chapter of a decade-long battle with EU regulators.

Campbell Soup Co reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday and forecast full-year results at the top of its range after moving its focus from profit-sapping promotions to advertisements.

Irving Picard, the trustee seeking money for Bernard Madoff's victims, is suing Swiss private bank Banque Syz & Co SA to recover $73.3 million derived from feeder funds in the Ponzi schemer's former investment firm.

Schawk Inc , a provider of digital imaging graphic services, said it may face U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges relating to a 2008 restatement, and its shares fell as much as 8.9 percent.

Campbell Soup Co reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday and forecast full-year results at the high end of its range, after moving its focus from profit-sapping promotions to advertisements.

Stocks fell on Monday as escalating worries about the euro-zone debt crisis and a slowdown in global industrial demand led investors to sell risky assets.

Filling a trio of top regulatory jobs will be crucial for maintaining momentum in global reforms with the chances of emerging market candidates boosted if a European bags the IMF, regulatory sources and analysts said.

Stocks dropped more than 1 percent at the open on Monday as worries escalated about the euro-zone debt crisis after Standard & Poor's cut Italy's rating outlook and Spain's ruling Socialists suffered an elections setback.

An increasingly farcical game of cat-and-mouse between Britain's media and celebrities, Twitter users and the judiciary prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to promise a review of the country's privacy laws on Monday.

Citigroup Inc has hired Samuel Di Piazza, Jr, the former chief executive of PricewaterhouseCoopers , to help its faltering investment bank rebuild after the financial crisis.

Mizuho Financial Group's <8411.T> president will step down and its corporate banking chief will take the helm, Japan's second-largest bank said on Monday, as it grapples with persistent system troubles including a breakdown in ATMs after the devastating March earthquake.

Manufacturers in Europe and China tapped the brakes this month and price pressures eased as tighter policy measures to control inflation began to bite, purchasing managers' indexes showed on Monday.

Stocks were set for a lower open on Monday as worries about the euro-zone debt crisis increased after Standard & Poor's cut Italy's rating outlook and Spain's ruling Socialists suffered a setback in elections.

Indian software services exporter Mahindra Satyam posted on Monday a net loss for its fiscal fourth quarter, hurt by a one-time expense due to settlement of a U.S. shareholder lawsuit, sending its shares down as much as 6 percent.

Stock index futures fell on Monday on worries about the euro-zone debt crisis after Standard & Poor's cut Italy's rating outlook and Spain's ruling Socialists suffered a setback in elections.

Italy will bring forward to next month plans for slicing 35 to 40 billion euros off its budget deficit, government sources said on Monday, moving to reassure markets after a rating agency cut its outlook on the country.

Japan's Mizuho Financial Group <8411.T> said on Monday its president, Takashi Tsukamoto, would step down and be replaced by the head of its corporate banking unit, Yasuhiro Sato.