Asian stocks steadied on Friday with big gains unlikely as investors looked to take profits after three days of gains, while the euro held its tiny increase following Germany's approval to expand the euro zone bailout fund. As the curtains come down on the September quarter, the worst for equities since the final quarter of

Angela Merkel won her toughest challenge yet as German chancellor by pushing through changes to a rescue fund for the euro zone debt crisis on Thursday without the humiliation of relying on opposition support. Germany's approval of the beefed-up bailout fund with much stronger support than expected in the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) provoked

Spanish bank Santander expects it will take three years for profits to return to normal as higher regulatory and funding costs bite while the credit cycle gradually improves. The euro zone's biggest bank expects its return on equity to improve by between 3 and 6 percentage points over the next three years and sees profits

European shares and the euro pared modest gains on Thursday as relief from German parliamentary approval of new powers for the euro zone's rescue fund proved short-lived and markets refocused on broader concerns linked to the region's debt crisis. Lawmakers in Berlin backed a beefed-up bailout fund by a large majority in what was Chancellor

Asian technology companies came under pressure on Thursday to slash prices of their tablet computers after Amazon.com launched its Kindle Fire at a mass market-friendly $199. From Samsung Electronics to Sony Corp, major Asian tablet makers have ambitious plans to take on Apple, whose iPad is the gold standard in the booming market. With their

Greek civil servants blocked the doors of government ministries on Thursday in protest against austerity ahead of the start of talks with the EU and IMF on the delivery of an aid tranche Athens needs to avoid running out of cash next month. A "troika" of European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund