Stock index futures pointed to a fourth straight day of gains on Friday after Citigroup (C.N) said it did not need any more government capital infusions, bolstering investor optimism that banks might be seeing some stabilization. Before the bell, shares of Citigroup jumped nearly 14 percent to $1.90 after Chairman Richard Parsons told Reuters the

World stocks were on track on Friday for one of their largest weekly gains in 20 years, propelled by growing confidence in the recovery of the U.S. banking system. The Swiss franc fell sharply, a day after the Swiss National Bank intervened to weaken the currency to make it more competitive, a move that triggered

Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg all sought ways on Friday to fend off a global crackdown on tax evasion by offering concessions on bank secrecy. Andorra and Liechtenstein relaxed their strict bank secrecy rules on Thursday ahead of a meeting starting on Friday of finance ministers from the G20 group of developed and emerging countries that

Japan and China on Friday backed government spending to fight the global financial crisis, ahead of a G20 meeting at which the United States and Europe are split over the need for more aggressive stimulus measures. Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano urged world leaders to focus on giving an immediate boost to the global economy

China said it was ready to pump more money into its economy and saw a pick-up in trade, offering another glimmer of hope for the battered global economy as signs that big U.S. banks may be turning around lifted world stocks. Japan pledged to outline a new stimulus package in time for a Group of

Japan's Nikkei average leapt 5 percent and led Asian stocks higher on Friday, propelled by growing investor confidence that large U.S. banks will survive without government takeovers and may even profit. Major European stocks were expected to rise for a fourth straight day as much as 1.7 percent, according to financial bookrunners, as a wave