IBT Staff Reporter

KB Home , the fifth-largest U.S. homebuilder, reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday as pressure on home prices offset the company's first rise in home deliveries in three and a half years.

Global regulators will dilute a reform that forces banks to hold more reserves to survive shocks without massive taxpayer help again, sources familiar with the negotiations said on Friday.

U.S. lawmakers hammered out a historic overhaul of financial regulations as dawn broke over the nation's capital on Friday, handing President Barack Obama a major domestic policy victory on the eve of a global summit devoted to financial reform.

Corrects to say banks could invest up to 3 percent of their Tier 1 capital, not their tangible common equity, in hedge funds and private equity funds

Electronics maker Foxconn Technologies, under fire for its working practices after a string of worker suicides, will sign over management of staff dormitories at its complexes in Shenzhen, southern China, to other companies, it said on Friday.

There is no basis for major appreciation of the yuan, given China's shrinking trade surplus, although the country's latest yuan policy will help to restructure its economy in the long run, a senior central banker said on Friday.

Economic growth was slower than previously estimated in the first quarter as estimates of business and consumer spending were cut, according to government data on Friday.

Stocks were little changed on Friday after mixed economic data, while financial shares gained as uncertainty ebbed after an agreement to overhaul financial regulations.

Oil rose on Friday due to concerns that a storm in the Caribbean may move toward the Gulf of Mexico, where oil facilities are clustered and BP continues to fight an oil spill.

Economic growth was slower than previously estimated in the first quarter as estimates of business and consumer spending were cut, according to government data on Friday.

Oppenheimer estimated first-day sales of Apple's iPhone 4 at 1.5 million units, surpassing previous iPhone launch sales.

Freddie Mac, the second largest purchaser of residential mortgages, said it shrank its investment portfolio in May, while the delinquency rates on loans it guarantees were mixed at elevated levels.

KB Home , the fifth-largest U.S. homebuilder, reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday, as pressure on home prices offset the company's first rise in home deliveries in three-and-a-half years.

Global regulators will dilute a reform that forces banks to hold more reserves to survive shocks without massive taxpayer help again, sources familiar with the negotiations said on Friday.

U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln credited common sense for helping forge a compromise on her proposal to force banks to spin off their swap trading operations, allowing them to retain the bulk of their books but bar them trading commodities, equity and credit default swaps.

Global merger and acquisition activity in 2010 is off to its worst start in six years, and with economic uncertainty and a sovereign debt crisis in Europe, the second half could be just as disappointing.

The dollar rose against the euro and fell against the yen on Friday as investors sought safety amid ongoing concerns about fiscal strains in the euro zone and after a report showed soft U.S. economic growth data.

Wall Street was set to open flat on Friday after the government said first-quarter economic growth was slower than previously estimated and lawmakers reached a historic agreement to overhaul financial regulations.

Shares of Research in Motion fell more than 5 percent before North American markets opened on Friday after the BlackBerry maker's quarterly results rekindled concerns about its declining North American market share and weaker profit margins.

BP Plc stock hit a 14-year low on Friday and its credit weakened sharply on talk it needs extra cash to fund the clean-up and compensation bill for the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

The dollar briefly extended declines against the yen on Friday after U.S. government data showed gross domestic economic growth was slower than previously estimated in the first quarter as estimates of business and consumer spending were cut.

Stock index futures rose on Friday as investors digested a historic agreement by U.S. lawmakers to overhaul financial regulations and awaited final readings on gross domestic product and consumer sentiment.

Yuan is the new driving force behind the base metals. Following China's announcement that yuan will be freed from the dollar peg, global base metals market has surged in a rapid way.

S&P 500 and Dow futures edged up on Friday as investors digested a historic agreement by U.S. lawmakers to overhaul financial regulations, while final readings on gross domestic product and consumer sentiment were on tap.

Worries about the fragility of global economic recovery hit financial markets again on Friday, knocking world stocks down for the fourth session in a row ahead of a summit of Group of 20 nations.

The euro fell broadly on Friday after investors pulled back from riskier assets as share prices fell, but the market was wary of chasing prices aggressively ahead of a Group of 20 leaders' summit.

Increased demand from investors and steady depletion of Russian state stockpiles are likely to bring the palladium market into balance in 2010. According to UK investment bank Barclays, despite an expected increase in supply, strong growth in investment demand, coupled with the possible exhaustion of Russian state supplies has the potential to balance the market in 2010, and even drive it into deficit.

The yuan CNY=CFXS ended at 6.7900 against the dollar on Friday, its highest close since its July 2005 revaluation, after the central bank set the daily reference rate at a post-revaluation high in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of the G20 summit.

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.3 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.25 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures falling 0.4 percent by 0939 GMT.