MARKETS / FINANCE

Most big U.S. banks may be forced to make public offerings soon if the Treasury demands payback of the funds it issued under the Troubled Assets Relief Program, veteran banking analyst Richard Bove said.

Another 2,140 workers at First Quench Retailing, the group behind British off-license chains Threshers and Wine Rack, are losing their jobs after the administrator said it would close 391 more stores by Dec. 20.

U.S. stock dropped on Friday as a possible debt default at a Dubai state-owned conglomerate sparked fears of renewed financial turmoil.

Banks outside the Gulf played down on Friday their exposure to Dubai debt, after fears the emirate could default and even derail world economic recovery prompted a sell-off in global markets.

Americans headed to stores in droves to kick off the holiday shopping season on Friday, though many said they were being more selective about what they buy and paring back what they spend.

The United Arab Emirate has total debt amounting to $184 billion at the end of 2009, according to estimates by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, which said the region faces a heavy redemption schedule until 2013. Dubai's shock announcement this week that it is seeking to suspend payments on debt of its state-owned conglomerate Dubai World and property subsidiary Nakheel has roiled global markets, r...

Britain is past the worst of the recession and should return to growth in the fourth quarter, two Bank of England policymakers said, in remarks which support government forecasts the economic downturn is nearly over.

One of News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch's sons sold about $27.6 million of his shares in the media company this week as his investment company purchased a large stake in an Australian radio broadcaster.

Dubai's debt troubles have exposed the fallacy of its once much-vaunted model of raising shining cities in the desert with foreign residents, finance and labor.

The United States' pattern of consumption funded by credit has an impact on its currency's exchange rate, ECB's governing council member Nout Wellink said on Thursday.

Dubai debt default concerns continued to send shockwaves across the world on Friday, with heightened risk aversion pushing global equities sharply lower and prompting investors to take refuge in government bonds.

ING priced a rights issue intended to raise 7.5 billion euros ($11.2 billion) at a steep discount, hoping to reduce its dependence on state aid by tapping shareholders made warier by Dubai's debt crisis.

The Bank of Japan stepped closer to currency intervention on Friday than at any time in the last five years by checking exchange rates with commercial banks as the yen rallied to a 14-year high against the dollar.

Fears about a global contagion from Dubai's debt crisis triggered a broad sell-off of world shares, oil and other assets on Friday, fuelling flows into the low-yielding yen and safe-haven government bonds.

Investors recoiled from risky assets on Friday and dumped shares in Asian banks and builders, fearing a Dubai debt default could reignite the financial turmoil of the credit crisis.

Japan's finance minister raised the prospect of a Group of Seven joint statement on currencies to cool the yen's rally as the dollar tumbled to a 14-year low against the yen on Friday.

ING priced a rights issue intended to raise 7.5 billion euros ($11.2 billion) at 4.24 euros per share, luring shareholders with a hefty discount of close to 40 percent as it looks to pay back state aid.

Americans headed to department stores in droves in the dead of night on Friday to kick off the holiday shopping season, though many said they had pared back how much they would spend on family members and on themselves.

Japanese consumer price index excluding volatile food and energy prices slid in the year to October at the fastest rate since 2001 with increasing signs that weak demand is weighing on prices, while a tumbling dollar adds to price pressures.

Dubai struggled to ease fears of debt default on Thursday after its move to delay repayments at two flagship firms shook confidence in the Middle East as a center for investment and a source of capital.

U.S. shoppers may stretch tight budgets this year to reward loved ones after months of thrift, a softening of heart that store chains hope will erase the holiday season sales debacle of 2008.

Dubai struggled to ease fears of debt default on Thursday after its move to delay repayments at two flagship firms shook confidence in the Middle East as a center for investment and a source of capital.

Chi-X Europe criticized the London Stock Exchange for adopting a procedure that prevented trades being routed to rival venues when glitches halted trading for more than three hours on Thursday.

UK bank Lloyds' army of small investors grilled executives for over three hours on Thursday over secret central bank loans and mistakes made during the crisis, but agreed to back a record-breaking rights issue.

Dubai struggled to ease fears of debt default on Thursday after its move to delay repayments at two flagship firms shook confidence in the Middle East as a center for investment and a source of capital.

LinkedIn, the world's biggest professional social network, will probably pursue an initial public offering some time but not in the near future, co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman told Reuters.

Lloyds Banking Group investors on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the bank's record rights issue but gave executives a grilling for mistakes made during the financial crisis.

Mahindra-Satyam shares fell to a 4-month low on Thursday, before recovering, on concerns over its outlook after Indian investigators filed new charges over accounting fraud that hit Satyam earlier this year.

Debt problems in Dubai hit global stocks, helped lift bonds and took the dollar away from a 14-year low against the yen on Thursday.