The London Stock Exchange named former Lehman Brothers banker Xavier Rolet as its new chief executive, tasking him with tackling the twin challenges of rising competition and weak financial markets. Rolet, previously head of Lehman Brothers in France, takes up his new role on May 20, succeeding Clara Furse, the first woman to lead the

European stocks were up 1.8 percent around midday on Friday, snapping a three-sessionlosing run, as Washington's plan to subsidise mortgage payments for troubled homeowners sparked a relief rally across the board. Recently beaten-down shares of banks and insurers were among the top gainers, with BNP Paribas up 3.8 percent, Axa up 4.8 percent, Credit Suisse

PepsiCo Inc reported lower quarterly earnings on Friday, hurt by restructuring and impairment charges and lower volume in its North American beverage business, but results met Wall Street estimates. Profit fell to $719 million, or 46 cents per share in the fourth quarter, from $1.26 billion, or 77 cents per share a year ago. Excluding

Toyota Motor Corp offered buyouts to some 18,000 U.S. workers and said it would cut pay for executives and blue-collar workers in North America, and an analyst warned it may soon cut working hours in Japan. The world's No.1 automaker, struggling as the global credit crunch sends auto sales sliding, said it would shut down

Microsoft Corp announced plans Thursday to open its own chain of branded stores as it looks to catch up with rival Apple Inc's successful move into retailing. The world's largest software company, which also makes the Xbox video game console and the Zune digital music player, did not say how many stores it was looking

The world's mobile telecom industry will gather in the Spanish city of Barcelona next week, hoping to find ways to outwit the downturn, powerful new rivals and software developers threatening to steal their thunder. Mobile World Congress, the phone industry's biggest annual gathering, comes on the heels of a season of miserable 2008 results reports

Technology firms like Nokia and Microsoft are rushing to open their mobile software stores, hoping to follow the runaway success of Apple's online App Store. The focus of the cellphone market has been shifting to software development since Google and Apple entered the mobile market in the past two years. Research firm Strategy Analytics forecasts

U.S. sales of video game hardware and software rose 13 percent in January from a year earlier, led by Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii console and DS hand-held systems, market researcher NPD said on Thursday. The results presented more evidence that even in the middle of a brutal economic downturn, U.S. consumers are willing to spend