MARKETS / FINANCE

A U.S. federal court judge has allowed Deutsche Bank AG and the mortgage unit of France's BNP Paribas SA to proceed with their lawsuits against Bank of America related to losses they incurred in connection with the collapse of mortgage lender Taylor Bean & Whittaker Mortgage Corp.

A Manhattan federal judge on Friday named three pension funds as co-lead plaintiffs in an investor lawsuit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc to recover losses tied to the Wall Street's bank's alleged misleading statements about Abacus, a product linked to subprime mortgages.

U.S. authorities closed the Bank of Commerce of Wood Dale, a small Illinois bank on Friday, bringing the total number of foreclosures in 2011 to 26.

Goldman Sachs and others said they did not urge the Tokyo Stock Exchange to halt trading because of Japan's earthquake and subsequent nuclear crisis, despite a comment from the bourse's chief that some foreign banks had pressed for a halt.

AT&T faces a tough pitch convincing regulators that its $39 billion deal to buy Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile will not create a duopoly in the cell phone market.

NEW YORK, March 25 - With the economy on firmer footing the Federal Reserve Bank is unlikely to extend its bond-buying stimulus program beyond a planned $600 billion, several top Fed officials said on Friday.

A woman who brought a $250 million sexual harassment lawsuit against American Apparel Inc Chief Executive Dov Charney could be forced to take the case to arbitration, rather than pursue it in court.

Wall Street advanced for a third straight day on Friday, giving the S&P 500 its best weekly performance since early February, but volume remained light as global uncertainty persisted.

Wall Street advanced for a third straight day on Friday, giving the S&P its best weekly performance since early February, but volume remained light as global uncertainty persisted.

Thomas Hoenig, one of the most outspoken anti-inflation hawks among senior Federal Reserve officials, will step down as president of the Kansas City Fed October 1, the bank said on Friday.

The U.S. economy grew more quickly than previously thought in the fourth quarter, the government said on Friday, but signs of softer consumer and business spending may slow its momentum in early 2011.

The Treasury secretary has no plans to exempt certain types of foreign exchange options from heavy new regulations, sources familiar with the matter said, dashing hopes of financial players and corporations who use the products to hedge currency risks.

NEW YORK, March 25 - The U.S. economy is on a firmer footing, and the U.S. central bank will have to reverse its easy money policy in the not-too-distant future to avoid sowing the seeds of inflation, a top Federal Reserve official said on Friday.

Thomas Hoenig, one of the most outspoken anti-inflation hawks among senior Federal Reserve officials, will step down from the Kansas City Fed October 1 as widely expected after he reaches mandatory retirement age, according to a bank statement on Friday.

The Federal Reserve should complete its current round of bond-buying, designed to support the recovery, and likely does not need to extend it, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said on Friday.

Wall Street advanced for a third straight day on Friday as the tech sector rose on upbeat outlooks, though weak trading volume hinted the rally lacks enthusiasm.

The U.S. economy grew more quickly than previously thought in the fourth quarter, the government said on Friday, but signs of softer consumer and business spending may slow its momentum in early 2011.

The U.S. economic recovery is on solid ground, making it unlikely the Federal Reserve will extend its bond-buying stimulus program, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said on Friday.

The economy grew more quickly than previously estimated in the fourth quarter as businesses maintained fairly solid spending and restocked shelves to meet rising demand.

Financial regulators have clarified that banks can provide services to foreign diplomatic missions and still comply with anti-money laundering laws after several major banks moved to close embassy accounts.

Wall Street advanced on Friday with Oracle's upbeat outlook lifting tech stocks, though weak trading volume hinted the rally lacks enthusiasm.

Consumer sentiment in March fell to its lowest level in more than a year as gasoline and food prices rose, a survey released on Friday showed.

European leaders agreed a new package of anti-crisis measures at a two-day summit, but were forced to delay increasing their rescue fund and acknowledged they faced new threats from a government collapse in Portugal.

The collapse of an asset bubble will not necessarily lead to higher unemployment as long as monetary policy is loose enough, a top Federal Reserve Bank official said on Friday.

The economy grew more quickly than previously estimated in the fourth quarter as businesses maintained fairly solid spending and restocked shelves to meet rising demand, while corporate profits increased 3.3 percent, a government report showed on Friday.

Global banking regulators are discussing how to use extra capital cushions as a means of stopping very big lenders getting even larger, a source familiar with the talks said on Friday.

The economic recovery is on solid ground but there are still enough sources of weakness to justify keeping interest rates very low, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said on Friday.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said on Friday there were signs that liquidity was not just abundant, but excessive in the United States.

Oil steadied on Friday, with Brent crude close to $116, but analysts saw the risk of higher prices as unrest bubbled across the Middle East and western powers kept up a military campaign in Libya.