FEDERAL RESERVE

The rupee fell for the first session in seven on Friday as dollar demand from oil importers overwhelmed inflows, although suspected central bank intervention helped the currency recover smartly from the day's low.

The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to an almost four-year low last week, and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic expanded moderately, suggesting the economy carried some momentum into the new year.

European banks are preparing for a potential worsening of the region's sovereign and banking crisis, with many firms stockpiling cash and cutting back on loans to new clients as they seek to protect themselves against a possible seizing-up of financial markets.

European banks are preparing for a potential worsening of the region's sovereign and banking crisis, with many firms stockpiling cash and cutting back on loans to new clients as they seek to protect themselves against a possible seizing-up of financial markets.

Hong Kong and Shanghai shares rose on Friday, achieving a second straight week of gains and managing to break above stubborn chart resistances on hopes of policy easing inChina and on stronger overseas markets.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) may give shares worth $1 billion to employees instead of cash as part of bonuses and hold back on dividend increases and buybacks, as the second-largest U.S. bank grasps for ways to boost its capital levels.

The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic expanded moderately, suggesting the economy carried some momentum into the new year.

U.S. prosecutors arrested a Chinese computer programmer on charges he stole software code valued at nearly $10 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

In late October, as MF Global Holdings Ltd teetered toward bankruptcy, Jon Corzine phoned his close-knit circle of Wall Street friends for help.

Former House Speaker and current Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said the United States should consider returning to the gold standard.

Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), a giant of the custody and trust banking sector, said fourth-quarter earnings fell 31 percent. Shares fell after the bank posted earnings 10 cents below consensus estimates.

India's bullion traders stayed away from placing fresh orders after a nearly 90 percent hike in gold import duty was announced earlier this week, while China's gold purchases slowed down ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

When the Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) reports its quarterly earnings Wednesday morning, the results will be a reflection of an institution at a crossroads. BNY, an industry player widely known for its dominance in the sleepy turf of trust banking, is trying to muscle its way into the more aggressive corners of Wall Street trading. Earnings could show what it's like when a bank occupies the worst of both those worlds of finance.

The Federal Reserve's latest push toward increased transparency has so far done more to muddle the outlook for interest rates than clarify it.

A gauge of manufacturing in New York State showed growth picked up in January, rising to the highest level in nine months as new orders and employment improved, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report on Tuesday.

A gauge of manufacturing in New York State showed growth picked up in January, rising to the highest level in nine months as new orders and employment improved, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report on Tuesday.

The five-year slide in U.S. home prices will stop this year, followed by the start of a weak recovery next year, according to a Reuters poll that also showed economists split on whether the government would make new efforts to support the market.

Two top Federal Reserve officials, including a policy centrist, said on Friday the central bank should hold off buying more bonds to boost growth given a strengthening in the economy.

These days, everyone in commerce and finance circles seems to complain about the dollar, but few institutional investors want to part with them.

Paul has struck a chord among many of the electorate and may ultimately influence the policy direction of the Republican Party.

A recent rise in loans to businesses is spurring hope that bank earnings reports, which begin Friday, will show that the outlook for this economically critical industry is better than its battered stock prices and weak investment banking volumes would suggest.