IBT Staff Reporter

The Dollar price of Gold on wholesale markets continued to rally Friday morning, rising as high as $1516 per ounce - less than 4% off this month's all-time high - before slipping back, while stock and commodity markets recovered some of Thursday's losses.

Google Inc is close to settling a U.S. criminal probe into allegations that it made hundreds of millions of dollars from online pharmacy ads that break U.S. laws, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

After much speculation over who will replace troubled actor Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men, it was finally announced that Ashton Kutcher will take on the role.

Will Ferrell will be awarded with the Mark Twain prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in October.

Oil rose more than $1 on Friday, taking benchmark U.S. crude futures back above $100 per barrel, after much higher-than-expected growth in Germany and France and a rebound in the euro against the dollar.

Cisco Systems Inc is expected to cut thousands of jobs in possibly its worst-ever round of layoffs to meet Chief Executive John Chambers' goal of slashing costs by $1 billion.

A new study says the rise of rogue online pharmacies directly corresponds to the rise of prescription drug abuse.

The world's top banks will likely be hardest hit by new capital surcharges that would rise according to size, links to other lenders and how easily a bank could be replaced in a crisis, the Financial Times reported.

U.S. stock index futures edged up on Friday ahead of key inflation and consumer confidence data that will give investors a chance to reassess recent volatility of the commodities market.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association after comments made on referee Howard Webb before his side's 2-1 win over league-rivals Chelsea.

Sony promises to do everything in its power to support its publishers.

The Lloyd's of London insurance market will take a $3.8 billion hit from earthquakes and floods in the first quarter, and predicted the high level of catastrophe claims will lift insurance prices this year.

Manchester United have been linked with a summer move for Nikica Jelavic after the Rangers striker claimed that United were preparing a £13 million bid.

NDP Group report states that Sony Computer Entertainment America recorded a 13 percent increase in hardware sales for the month of April.

Despite bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal, Europe's debt crisis may yet spread to core euro zone countries and emerging Eastern Europe, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.

U.S. bank failures in 2010 cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp $2 billion, or 9 percent, more than initially forecast, according to a new analysis by SNL Financial.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 all up 0.3 percent at 4 a.m. EST.

Storming performances by the German and French economies in the first quarter highlight the yawning gap between the euro zone's strong and weak and suggest the forecast for growth in the bloc is well under par.

World stocks rose Friday and the euro rose from a six-week low against the dollar as upbeat German and French growth data and favorable European corporate earnings prompted investors to buy back risky assets.

Greece seems not to have met terms of its international rescue package recently, European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny was quoted as saying on Friday.

Finnish software firm Digia said it would cut up to 190 jobs due to restructuring at its major client Nokia.

The Trinamool Congress is headed for a historic win after establishing leads in 215 of the 294 seats in West Bengal as per the latest reports.

BP chief executive Bob Dudley said on Friday talks were ongoing about its planned share swap with Russian group Rosneft and he was optimistic about a resolution.

Brazil will apply non-tariff trade barriers on cars in an effort to protect domestic manufacturers, the government said on Thursday, in a new example of escalating protectionism in South America.

First quarter results at Spain's Telefonica were slightly below expectations on Friday hit by the weight of a heavy economic crisis in its home market while Latin American units continued to drive earnings.

The Trinamool Congress is headed for a historic win after establishing leads in 215 of the 294 seats in West Bengal as per the latest reports.

Settlement agreements being hammered out by securities regulators and securities firms accused of fraud in mortgage bond deals are likely to include civil charges against at least one person connected to each deal, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

A government scheme to support massive compensation payouts from Tokyo Electric Power will likely hit investor appetite for other power companies in Japan as these firms must contribute funds to the plan.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the title character in Hesher: a mysteriously menacing fellow with a tapestry of tattoos, a permanent scowl. Comparing to the roles he presented before, it is really beyond your imagination.