INVESTMENT

Federal authorities have arrested eight more people in connection with the Galleon insider-trading scandal, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

TPG and the Canada Pension Plan on Thursday announced a deal to buy IMS Health Inc hich provides prescription drug sales data, for around $4 billion.

An ache has hit the belly of investors who feasted on initial public offerings in Asia, in a sign the primary equity window that saw a big revival two quarters ago is beginning to quickly shut.

Australian toll road operator Transurban Group rejected a $4.4 billion buyout approach from two Canadian pension funds on Thursday, but left the door open to a better offer, sending its shares up 20 percent.

Eight more people have been arrested in connection with the Galleon insider-trading scandal, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

News, details on corporate bond issues in the European markets on Thursday:

Wall Street cash bonuses are set to increase by about 40 percent this year, the Wall Street Journal said citing a report by compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates.

Gold prices retreated on Thursday from the record highs they hit in the previous session as the dollar rose ahead of policy decisions from the UK and the euro zone, which curbed appetite for assets seen as higher risk.

Asian shares fell on Thursday, while the dollar recovered most losses made after the U.S. Federal Reserve vowed to keep rates near zero for an extended period and saw a sluggish recovery in the world's biggest economy.

Spot gold inched lower on Thursday but remained within striking distance of $1,100 an ounce after hitting an all-time high for the second straight session on a weak dollar the previous day.

The abruptly scrapped sale of GM's Opel is not the first example of a deal born of the financial crisis being undone by the economic recovery, and probably won't be the last.

China Merchants Securities Co won regulatory approval for an initial public offering in Shanghai that could fetch $2 billion, setting off a return of big IPOs to the mainland stock market after share prices stabilised.

Goldman Sachs has agreed to sell half of its holding in Shineway Group, China's top meat processor, to a Chinese fund for about $150 million, earning roughly five times its investment from the landmark 2006 deal, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

Eight major banks which were at the front of the line for government bailouts have already set aside $117.6 billion this year to pay employees, almost as much as they paid in all of 2008, a Reuters analysis has found.

Britain's top shares added 0.9 percent by midday on Wednesday, boosted by gains in retailers Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) and Next (NXT.L), which posted forecast-beating results, while financials and miners also rose.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday ahead of key jobs and services sector data, with investors also eyeing the Federal Reserve's statement on interest rates and the economy.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher opening on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's statement on interest rates and the economy.

World stocks rose from the previous day's four-week low on Wednesday while the dollar slipped ahead of a policy decision by the Federal Reserve, expected to affirm its commitment to ultra-low interest rates.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc in a bid to buy $3 billion in tax credits from mortgage giant Fannie Mae, the Wall Street Journal's website reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose slightly on Tuesday as news of a major railroad acquisition helped sentiment, but the Dow edged lower on caution before a Federal Reserve statement on interest rates and the economy.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, weighed by technology and financial shares, as Morgan Stanley downgraded the semiconductor sector and after a shake-up at two big British banks and poor results from Swiss lender UBS.