MARKETS / FINANCE

Now that perennial slugfest rivals Oracle and SAP have snapped up more human-resources software providers for the cloud, what’s left?

The U.S. trade deficit widened slightly more than expected in December, as stronger U.S. economic growth lifted imports to the highest level in three-and-a-half years.

Economists in a survey see the unemployment rate falling much faster this year than previously expected, an improvement in the jobs market that could help President Obama's re-election chances.

President Jacob Zuma squashed more than two years of talk on Friday about the nationalisation of South Africa's massive mining sector, saying state control or ownership of the mines in the world's biggest platinum producer could not work.

Precious metals miner Claude Resources Inc said it produced about 15 percent lesser gold in the fourth quarter, hurt by lesser production from its Santoy 8 mine in Saskatchewan.

Striking Greek workers denounced a new wave of austerity on Friday as an imposition too far by Europe and the IMF. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told the nation it faced a stark choice between sacrifices inside the euro area and bigger sacrifices outside.

Stocks dropped on Friday as the most recent flare-up in Greek negotiations for a financial bailout package put the S&P 500 on track to snap a three-day winning streak.

AllianceBernstein LP , a New York-based money manager controlled by French insurer AXA , said on Friday that net revenue fell 20 percent in the fourth quarter as clients continued to pull money from its stock funds.

Economists see the unemployment rate falling much faster than previously expected this year, even though they slightly lowered their outlook for economic growth, a survey released on Friday showed.

Apollo Global Management LLC became the latest private equity group on Friday to report lower fourth-quarter earnings due to mark-to-market valuations of its assets, even as the cash flow from its share of investment profits more than tripled.

Striking Greek workers denounced a new wave of austerity on Friday as a demand too far by the IMF and EU, but Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told the nation it had to decide within days whether to take the pain and stay in the euro or not.

Stocks were poised to drop at the open on Friday as the most recent flare-up in Greek negotiations for a financial bailout package put the S&P 500 on track to snap a three-day winning streak.

China betrayed signs of spluttering domestic demand on Friday as imports crumbling to their lowest in more than two years and weaker-than-forecast bank lending signaled to investors that policymakers would soon make a fresh bid to bolster growth.

Indonesia will ban exports of some unprocessed metals from 2014 and could revoke the export licences of firms that violate the ban, the energy ministry said in a regulation that was posted on its website on Friday but later disappeared.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told conservative lawmakers on Friday that existing Greek reform pledges would not bring its debt down to levels that are considered sustainable, sources who attended the meeting said.

Australian miner OceanaGold expects to sign an off-take agreement in six months with a trading firm for gold and copper from its flagship $350-million Didipio mine in northern Philippines, set to begin production at the end of 2012, a top company official said on Friday.

A merger between Russian Presidential hopeful Mikhail Prokhorov's Polyus Gold and rival Polymetal is not imminent after recent talks between core shareholders broke down, sources close to both firms told Russia's Vedomosti.

Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia's largest gold and copper mining company, said Friday profits in the second half of last year shot up 50 percent to a record level on sharply higher gold and copper prices.

Stock index futures fell on Friday as the latest setback in Greek negotiations for a financial bailout package put the S&P 500 on track to snap a three-day winning streak.

If the Jewish State does indeed make a move against Iran, there exists a Biblical precedent for such a momentous event.

Thanks to expansive oil fields and a reservoir of millions of barrels of crude, Nigeria is the third-richest country in Africa. But due to corruption, poor wealth distribution, and lack of infrastructure, the nation's people suffer from staggering rates of poverty.

Stock index futures fell on Friday as the latest setback in Greek negotiations for a bailout package put the S&P 500 on track to snap a three-day winning streak.

Gold traders in India, the world's biggest consumer, drifted back to the market on Friday as prices eased from their highest level in more than two months, dealers said.

If anyone can pull off the labyrinthine deal between Alibaba Group and Yahoo Inc, it's Jack Ma, who founded the e-commerce group and within a decade unlocked China's huge online shopping potential.

China's imports in January fell the most since the depths of the global financial crisis, raising concerns that demand may be weaker than previously thought even allowing for Lunar New Year factory shutdowns.

NYSE Euronext posted quarterly operating profit at the top end of expectations with a 13 percent rise helped by strong information and technology services, an area the U.S. group is now looking to as a growth driver.

Gold prices fell back Friday, just hours after an apparent deal between debt-choked Greece and potential Eurozone lenders reinvigorated hopes the nation would not be forced to default on its loans.

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.4 to 0.5 percent.

Tighter bank financing is the big threat to shipping companies, and many are looking at alternative sources of funding such as private equity to fill gaps amid a worsening credit squeeze, a transport survey showed on Friday.