HSBC

HSBC plans to dispose of its 8 percent stake in Bank of Shanghai, a Chinese newspaper reported on Thursday, citing unidentified sources.

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) has agreed to buy HSBC's credit card unit for approximately $32.7 billion, netting HSBC a $2.6 billion premium.

Gold hit fresh record highs on Wednesday as U.S. stock markets resumed their decline on concerns over the U.S. and euro zone economies, and after the Federal Reserve said U.S. interest rates would stay near zero for at least two years.

HSBC is selling its U.S. credit card arm to Capital One Financial Corp in a $32.7 billion deal as Europe's top bank streamlines its mammoth operations.

U.S. stocks soared in turbulent trading Tuesday, coming off the worst three day selloff since the financial crisis, as investors took in stride the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates near zero at least through mid-2013.

A 26-year-old man who was shot in a car in Croydon, south of London, during disturbances this week has died, becoming the first fatality of riots sweeping Britain, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

What began in Tottenham has spread to low-income neighborhoods across the city, as youths and rioters spiral out of control.

Following Japanese and Swiss authorities? intervention in the currency markets to weaken the sharp appreciation in their domestic currencies, now the market focus turns to Canada, where the Bank of Canada (BoC) expressed concerns over the persistent strength of Canadian dollar (CAD).

The U.S. stock market had a mini-meltdown on Thursday ahead of Friday's all-important Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) jobs report as fears about the global economy slipping into another recession weighed on the sentiment.

The move is a part of the bank?s comprehensive plan to refocus its operations in profitable areas and away from stagnating business lines in the developed world.

The world's economy moved closer to stagnation last month as firms in Asia and Europe reined back in the face of an ongoing debt crisis and signs of a new U.S. slowdown, business surveys showed on Wednesday.

With more than 14 million people out of work, consumer spending falling by the day, the GDP growth outlook remaining grim and rising inflation denting confidence of ordinary people, a massive spending cut of more than $2 trillion would be the proverbial last straw on the camel's back.

he British-based bank may slash at least 1,400 more jobs in 2011, after already having eliminated another 1,400 positions this year

On Monday HSBC announced intentions to lay off 30,000 employees by 2013, a move that Goldman Sachs indirectly caused, says one professor.

Banks around the world are likely to keep slashing jobs in order to compete better in what is a cut-throat global business.

Technology is increasingly displacing the need for workers worldwide. Foxconn, making of Apple's iPhones and iPads, plans to add one million robots to factories in the next three years. HSBC is cutting out "unnecessary bureaucracy" in eliminating 30,000 jobs.

Market cheers job cuts, streamlining.

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) should unveil a half-year profit of near $11 billion on Monday, flat from a year earlier as weak investment bank trading and wobbly U.S. and European economies offset growth in Asia.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Friday are: Dynegy, Unifi, iSoftStone Holdings, Orbitz Worldwide, Terex, Crexus Investment, Miller Petroleum, Gildan Activewear, HSBC Holdings and MEMC Electronic Materials.

Gulliver had warned that Europe?s largest bank ?clearly [has] a cost problem."

The deal brings to an end the litigation between recording companies and Baidu over piracy charges