LONDON, April 5- Britain's most high-profile entertainment retailer HMV was handed a lifeline on Friday when a turnaround group bought it, ensuring a future for a firm which gave the Beatles one of their first big breaks.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will discuss ways that Europe can rebalance its demand to help grow the economy during a trip to the continent next week, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. "What is very clear is that overall we're seeing very weak demand in Europe and rising levels of unemployment," a senior U.S. Lew will go to France, Belgium and Germany.
NEW YORK, April 5- Brent crude oil fell to an eight-month low below $105 a barrel on Friday as data showed a much sharper slowdown in hiring by U.S. employers than analysts had expected, feeding worries about the economy and potential fuel demand.
LONDON/ SEOUL, April 5- North Korea has asked embassies to consider moving staff out and warned it cannot guarantee the safety of diplomats after April 10, Britain said, amid high tension and a war of words on the Korean peninsula.
LONDON, April 5- Gold held just below session highs on Friday as weaker-than-expected U.S. non-farm payrolls data stoked fears the recovery of the world's largest economy is losing momentum.
LONDON, April 5- The investment herd is scattering again in a sign of less stressful times, encouraged by resolute central bank protection even if scarce growth and jobs may deter funds from straying too far.
PARIS, April 5- Chancellor Angela Merkel's Social Democrat rival in this year's election accused the German leader during a visit to France on Friday of dragging Europe's southern economies into a vicious circle of ruin by insisting on fiscal austerity.
SEOUL- North Korea has placed two of its intermediate range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them on the east coast of the country in a move that could threaten Japan or U.S.
April 5- The resignation of Hewlett-Packard Co Chairman Ray Lane and appointment of activist investor Ralph Whitworth as his interim replacement is a positive move by the No.1 PC maker that augers for a more "shareholder friendly" board, analysts said.
*Rigel shares slump 33 pct, AstraZeneca little changed. LONDON, April 5- AstraZeneca's experimental rheumatoid arthritis pill fostamatinib met only one of two goals in a late-stage clinical trial, leaving the future of one of the group's few advanced pipeline products uncertain.
An apt symbol, as Slovenia comes under growing pressure to seek a bailout to fill a financial hole, just as Cyprus did last month. The countries are different in many ways, but they have at least two things in common: like Cyprus, Slovenia needs to recapitalise its biggest banks, and it does not have the money to do so.
LONDON, April 5- Brent crude oil fell to a five-month low near $105 per barrel on Friday as bleak U.S. jobs data and bulging inventories dimmed the outlook for economic growth and fuel demand.
*CME sounds out Chile as location for copper warehouses. LONDON/ NEW YORK, April 5- U.S. exchange operator CME Group is sounding out Chile as the location for a network of warehouses as its copper contract takes market share from the London Metal Exchange, sources familiar with the matter said.
NEW YORK-- Israeli technology company Radware is lowering its first-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts due to weaker-than-expected sales in China and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Radware Ltd. said that it now expects adjusted earnings of 30 cents per share, down from its prior guidance of 40 cents to 43 cents per share.
*Wall Street set to open weaker, European shares weaken. LONDON, April 5- European shares extended their losses, Wall Street was poised to open lower and Treasury bonds rose on Friday after a U.S. jobs report revealed a hiring slowdown in March, raising fears that the economic recovery was losing momentum.
LONDON, April 5- Bailed-out British lender HBOS was so badly run it would have failed even without the 2008 financial crisis and the regulator should consider banning its former bosses from the industry, UK lawmakers said in a damning report.
LONDON, April 5- Brent crude oil fell to a five-month low near $105 per barrel on Friday as bleak U.S. jobs data and bulging inventories dimmed the outlook for economic growth and fuel demand.
*North Korea asks embassies to close- Russia says. LONDON/ SEOUL, April 5- North Korea has asked embassies in Pyongyang that might wish to get staff out if there is a war to submit plans to it by April 10, Britain said on Friday, as it upped the pressure as part of a war of words that has set the Korean peninsula on edge.