A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc director accused of leaking confidential boardroom information has sued U.S. regulators, saying they are trying to unfairly deprive him of a jury trial. Rajat Gupta is fighting civil charges that he tipped Galleon hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, the central figure in a sprawling insider trading case, about Warren

Gold rose for a third straight day on Friday after a unilateral cease-fire declared by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi failed to calm investor nerves as political tensions heightened across the Arab world. Bullion also benefited from a weaker dollar as traders braced for more official action after the G7 nations coordinated to intervene into the

Britain's top share index extended gains on Friday from a technically oversold position as intervention by G7 countries to stabilise the yen boosted sentiment. The FTSE 100 was up 22.02 points, or 0.4%, at 5,718.13. The index is down more than 4% in March. The FTSE relative strength index is trading around 36, from 29

Europe's regulators are still haggling over how tough to be on capital requirements for banks undergoing more stress tests after last year's flopped. Investors hope a second round of stress tests already under way will clear up worries about which lenders have sufficiently robust capital to withstand economic shocks. The region's new banking watchdog said

Alpha Bank, Greece's third-biggest lender, is expected to report a 76% drop in full-year 2010 net profits on Tuesday, as a deep recession at home curbed loan growth and led to higher loan-loss provisions. Eight analysts polled by Reuters on average see Alpha reporting net earnings of 84.6 mln euros ($119 mln), down 76% from

Japanese engineers conceded on Friday that burying a crippled nuclear plant in sand and concrete may be a last resort to prevent a catastrophic radiation release, the method used to seal huge leakages from Chernobyl in 1986. But they still hoped to solve the crisis by fixing a power cable to at least two reactors