BARACK OBAMA

President Barack Obama, fresh from a win on a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street regulations, on Saturday urged Congress to take up his proposal for a $90 billion, 10-year tax on banks as the next step in reform.

Most principles embodied in a new set of financial regulatory rules proposed by the United States and Europe also fit China, and embracing them early would help it strengthen financial stability, the country's deputy central bank governor said on Saturday.

U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron were expected to discuss London-based BP Plc and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Saturday as stormy weather raised fears that clean-up operations could be disrupted.

Stock investors will anxiously await the crucial June jobs data next week for clues on how the U.S. economy may weather recent storms that drove Wall Street's major indexes down for the year.

The Obama administration on Friday asked a U.S. appeals court to stay a ruling that lifted a temporary ban on deepwater oil drilling, its latest attempt to clamp down in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill.

Lawmakers hammered out a historic overhaul of financial regulations on Friday, handing President Barack Obama a major domestic policy victory on the eve of a global summit of world leaders.

Economic growth was slower than previously reported in the first quarter on lower consumer spending on services, raising concerns the recovery would be too sluggish to bring down unemployment.

BP Plc's struggle to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was nearing a potentially important stage on Friday even as worries about the soaring costs of the clean-up sent its shares nosediving to a 14-year-low.

BP Plc's struggle to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was nearing a potentially important stage on Friday even as worries about the soaring costs of the clean-up sent the company's shares nose-diving to a 14-year-low.

A Democratic plan to provide additional aid to jobless workers, businesses and cash-strapped states and raise taxes on investment fund managers failed in the Senate on Thursday.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

China's Ministry of Commerce, a long-standing opponent of a stronger yuan, fell into line on Friday behind the scrapping of the currency's peg to the dollar but said the exchange rate would climb only gradually.