MARKETS / FINANCE

A day after oil prices plunged an unprecedented $12 a barrel, a New York trader sat on the steps of the dormant oil futures pit, playing a word game on his tablet computer.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein was in good spirits on Friday at his firm's annual meeting, despite battling some testy shareholders and what seemed to be a cold.

Finance ministers from Germany, France, Italy and Spain did not discuss Greece leaving the euro zone or the possibility of a Greek debt restructuring during a meeting in Luxembourg on Friday, Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said.

Stock investors head into next week with added worries about the sustainability of the recent rally and a desire to reduce risk, as shown by the stampede out of commodities on Thursday.

Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae on Friday said it would ask for an additional $8.5 billion from taxpayers as it continues to suffer losses on loans made prior to 2009.

Top finance officials of the euro zone's biggest economies met to discuss Greece's debt crisis on Friday and Athens denied a media report that it was considering whether to leave the bloc.

Two Federal Reserve officials on Friday stressed there will be no rush to roll back the U.S. central bank's super-easy monetary policy with the labor market still healing and inflation expectations largely in check.

PIMCO's Bill Gross, who runs the world's largest bond fund, said on Friday the only way he would reverse his short position on U.S. government-related bonds and purchase Treasuries again is if the United States heads into another recession.

PIMCO's Bill Gross, who runs the world's largest bond fund, said on Friday the only way he would reverse his short position on U.S. government-related bonds and purchase Treasuries again is if the United States heads into another recession.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is in advanced talks with U.S. regulators to resolve a probe into its role in selling subprime mortgage-backed bonds in 2007, a case that highlights a rare misstep by Chief Executive Jamie Dimon.

An unexpectedly strong report on U.S. payrolls helped equities bounce back on Friday from four days of losses, tempering worries that stocks could suffer

Companies created jobs at the fastest pace in five years in April, pointing to underlying strength in the economy even as the jobless rate rose to 9.0 percent.

The Sony data breach that compromised the personal data of more than 100 million customers of the Japanese electronics conglomerate may claim yet another victim -- the cloud computing industry.

An unexpectedly strong report on payrolls helped stocks bounce back on Friday from four days of losses, tempering worries that stocks could follow the sharp declines seen this week in commodities.

PIMCO's Bill Gross, who runs the world's largest bond fund, said on Friday the only way he would reverse his short position on U.S. government-related bonds is if the United States heads into another recession.

Silver Bullion rallied from a drop below $34 per ounce, the fifth daily plunge running and some 31% below last Thursday's new three-decade high. Dollar prices to Buy Gold whipped in a $10 range Friday morning in London, trading up to $1488 per ounce - some 5.5% below Monday's record-high spike- as European equities and global commodities stemmed their losses.

Regulators are moving to lift a veil of secrecy over a key constituency on Wall Street a year after the flash crash, but how much disclosure should be required of high-frequency traders remains an open question.

An unexpectedly strong report on U.S. payrolls propelled stocks higher on Friday for the first time this week, but indexes retreated from highs after speculation Greece might leave the euro zone.

Citigroup Inc , which needed $45 billion in U.S. government handouts to survive the financial crisis, is about to paper over a visible remnant of its near-failure: its single-digit share price.

Billionaire Len Blavatnik's Access Industries has won the auction to take control of Warner Music Group Corp for $3.3 billion, setting the stage for a possible bid for rival music company EMI Group.

The Federal Reserve should keep interest rates on hold for some time after it completes its bond buying to assess its impact on the economy, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Friday.

Hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, absent for three days from his trial on insider trading charges because of a foot infection, returned to the New York courthouse on Friday wearing a blue vinyl medical shoe.

An unexpectedly strong report on U.S. payrolls propelled stocks higher on Friday one day after a sell-off, but investors were wary that the market's months-long rally may be near a peak.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said he is not stepping down, despite media reports that he has plans to resign.

U.S. employment increased more than expected in April as private companies created jobs at the fast pace in five years, pointing to underlying strength in the economy, even though the jobless rate rose to 9.0 percent.

Bank of America Corp will test an overdraft program in the first quarter of next year, allowing customers to accept an overdraft fee when a debit transaction is turned down, a company executive said on Friday.

An unexpectedly strong U.S. payrolls report propelled stocks higher on Friday one day after a selloff, but investors were wary that the market's months-long rally may be near a peak.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is in advanced discussions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve a probe into its role in selling collateralized debt obligations, the bank said.

European mutual fund managers sense an opportunity to drive down the price of Glencore International's bumper $11 billion listing, as fears of slowing global economic growth rattles commodity markets.