INVESTMENT

Some of Europe's biggest banks are in talks with Italy's UniCredit SpA about its proposal for a 20 billion euros ($25.2 billion) private sector fund to help failing lenders, a source close to the issue said.

Gold eased in Europe on Monday, falling for the fourth time in the last seven sessions, as improved investor confidence boosted the dollar and sapped investment flows into the precious metals complex. Spot gold was bid at $1,203.85 an ounce at 1440 GMT, against $1,211.85 late in New York on Friday. U.S. gold futures for August delivery eased $5.60 an ounce to $1,204.20.

Stocks edged higher on Monday on optimism over new merger deals and the upcoming earnings season, though continued concerns about Europe's fiscal issues and financial sector limited gains.

Some of Europe's biggest banks are in talks with Italy's UniCredit SpA about its proposal for a 20 billion euros ($25.2 billion) private sector fund to help failing lenders, a source close to the issue said.

World stocks eased on Monday while the euro fell broadly as investors grew cautious ahead of a slew of key U.S. corporate earnings and details of tests on European banks' financial health. While second-quarter earnings are expected to come in strong, investors remained concerned about Europe's fiscal issues and the health of its financial sector ahead of the stress tests on the continent's banks.

Gold slipped in Europe on Monday, surrendering some of the previous session's more than 1 percent gains, as the dollar firmed and investment flows into the metal dried up as concerns over euro zone risk receded.

Blackstone Group will manage a $2-billion-plus Asian real estate fund of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, in a deal that will close in the third quarter, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Gold slipped in Europe on Monday, surrendering some of the previous session's more than 1 percent gains, as the dollar firmed and fresh investment flows into the metal dried up and concern over euro zone risk receded.

European finance ministers will shift their focus next week onto a possible need for banks to raise more capital and on who will cover any shortfalls exposed by stress tests -- a sum which Credit Suisse estimated could reach 90 billion euros ($114 billion).

Securities regulators are moving quickly to tighten rules for market makers to ensure there is liquidity during stressful times and avoid a repetition of May's brief market crash, said sources familiar with the discussions.

Alcoa Inc (AA.N), facing a sharp drop in aluminum prices, is losing favor on Wall Street as analysts lower their expectations for the company's earnings. Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, is expected to turn a second-quarter profit after a year-ago loss, but analysts have recently been cutting their forecasts, and one sees the possibility of a return to red ink later this year.

Mid- and small-capitalization stocks often serve as a leading indicator for the direction of the U.S. economy. So what does it say that they are down roughly 15 to 20 percent?

BC Partners and Silver Lake are set to buy U.S. healthcare services firm MultiPlan, the private equity firms said on Friday, in the year's largest secondary buyout worth about $3.1 billion.

First-half performance figures are showing the same pattern for hedge funds as for more mainstream investors -- the most successful were in fixed income, the least successful in stocks.

BC Partners and Silver Lake are set to buy healthcare services firm Multiplan for $3.1 billion in the largest secondary buyout of the year, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday.

Gold edged up to near $1,200 an ounce on Friday as bargain buying helped offset selling from speculators, who had shifted some of their money to equities on hopes of an economic recovery. Dealers saw purchases from jewelers and other physical buyers across Asia, keeping premiums for gold bars steady. The electronics sector in Japan was on the sidelines, but bargain hunters snapped up platinum.

U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co is planning to start up a natural gas exploration company focusing on shale and coal-bed gas, Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar briefed on the plan.

Wells Fargo & Co, the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets, said on Wednesday it is closing more than 600 Wells Fargo Financial offices and will no longer originate non-prime mortgages.

European shares gained ground on Thursday with investors scooping up battered banking stock as details of the sector's stress tests started to emerge, adding to a tentative recovery from a sharp two-week sell-off.

In an effort to reassure financial markets about the health of the European Union's banking system, the bloc's countries will stress-test a large number of their banks and publish the results.

The euro surged to a two-month high and Asian stocks were set for their best gains in over two weeks on Thursday after a bullish company forecast fuelled optimism about the coming U.S. earnings season and underpinned a slow return by investors to riskier assets.