MARKETS / FINANCE

Gold demand in India rose on Friday, after prices fell 3 percent in the past two days, luring jewellers who began restocking and preparing for the wedding season beginning mid-January, dealers said.

Stock index futures were little changed on Friday, the last trading day of 2011, as investors waited until the next year to begin making large bets.

Out with the old year, in with the new and for investors uncertainty is likely to be the only certainty once more.

Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. expects increased production from its Jerritt Canyon project next year, the Vancouver-based company said Friday.

Spain's centre-right government will announce billions of euros in savings measures on Friday, using its first decrees since sweeping to power at November elections to give the nation a foretaste of tougher austerity to come.

February gold hit a fresh six-month low of $1,523.90 per ounce overnight. Gold has been under intense pressure since it closed at $1,741.80 per ounce Dec. 7.

China's factory activity shrank again December as demand at home and abroad slackened, a purchasing managers' survey showed on Friday, reinforcing the case for pro-growth policies to underpin the world's second-largest economy.

Gold prices began the final trading day of 2011 higher as bargain hunters took advantage of a recent downdraft that has left the metal with its first fourth-quarter loss in more than three years.

Asian stocks were poised to end their first losing year in three on Friday, having shed nearly a fifth of their value as Europe's debt crisis and financial turmoil took a toll on investors' risk appetite, driving them to safer assets such as the U.S. dollar and gold.

Asian stocks nudged higher and the euro clung to overnight gains on Friday, the last trading day of 2011, as positive data from the United States helped allay concerns on the global economy, while year-end short covering lifted crude prices.

The Trust Company of the West Group Inc and star bond investor Jeffrey Gundlach's DoubleLine Capital on Thursday said they had settled all claims between them, ending a long-running legal saga.

A U.S. appeals panel on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of a federal law that grants immunity to telecommunications companies that assist the U.S. government in conducting surveillance of American citizens.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission got a fresh dressing-down from the judge who rejected its $285 million settlement with Citigroup Inc, as he said the regulator kept him out of the loop on its efforts to salvage the case.

Sears Holdings Corp on Thursday identified 79 of the 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores it said earlier this week it would close, with the list split almost evenly between the two chains.

The U.S. Treasury Department plans to start charging large banks a fee to cover the costs of the financial risk council it leads and a research office tasked with measuring threats to financial markets.

Shares of Diamond Foods Inc , currently the target of a regulatory probe, rose as much as 14 percent, after CNBC reported rumors that high-profile investor David Einhorn may have invested in the company.

U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday, moving the S&P 500 back in positive territory for 2011 ahead of the last trading day of the year, on more positive signals on the U.S. economy.

Banks tightened the screws on lending to major financial market participants in recent months, the U.S. Federal Reserve said on Thursday, reflecting concerns about Europe's banking crisis.

Despite more than $100 billion in disaster losses around the world this year, insurers are not yet experiencing a broad and sustained increase in pricing power, defying predictions from a year ago that even half those losses would be enough to turn the industry around.

Technology companies appear likely to resume battle in 2012 on three major fronts of the patent wars: smartphone designs, operating systems and semiconductor chip sets. Despite passage of copyright reform under the America Invents Act in September, technology lawsuits persist and experienced lawyers worry that little will change.

If you're not in the mood to spend the night at home watching the Times Square ball drop via television and still haven't made plans, the International Business Times has created a guide of the top 10 best party venues to celebrate New Year's Eve 2012 in NYC.

Gold prices fell on Thursday to their lowest level in nearly six months as tight liquidity in the euro zone forced investors to sell the metal, but strong U.S. economic data prompted a stock rally on Wall Street.

Stocks rose on Thursday, resuming their upward move into year-end, as positive data on the U.S. economy offset concerns about the euro zone.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti sought reinforcement for the euro zone's bailout fund and pledged new efforts to boost the economy after a disappointing bond auction on Thursday underlined the threat to the country's shaky public finances.

Wall Street stocks resumed their upward move into year-end on Thursday but the S&P 500 continued to churn around its 200-day moving average as concern over Europe offset better-than-expected U.S. economic data.

Wall Street stocks resumed their upward move into year-end on Thursday but the S&P 500 continued to churn around its 200-day moving average as concern over Europe offset better-than-expected U.S. economic data.

Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead with a long-awaited plan to open up its stock market to foreigners and is now hoping to formalize its rules by January 15, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

As 2011’s mediocre stock market returns become final, what should technology investors seek for U.S. initial public offerings of technology companies for 2012?

With the Iowa caucuses just five days away, a new poll shows Ron Paul and Mitt Romney in a statistical dead heat for first place and Rick Santorum, against all odds, in third place. Newt Gingrich, who held a wide lead last month, has fallen into fourth place.