European stocks fell on Friday, recording their third straight week of losses, led by utilities, oil & gas and basic resources while banks and media pulled in the opposite direction.

Magna's board of directors is scheduled to approve next Tuesday a business plan for the acquisition of German carmaker Opel, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

PepsiCo Chief Executive Indra Nooyi said Thursday she is not concerned about the potential for Moody's to downgrade the company's credit rating if it succeeds in acquiring its two largest bottlers Pepsi Botting Group and PepsiAmericas.

Last year, after the financial crisis, Morgan Stanley made a decision that its biggest rivals avoided: burned by the crisis, it would take far fewer risks in its trading.

Johnson & Johnson will take over most of Elan's Alzheimer's research and invest $1 billion in new Elan equity in exchange for an 18.4 percent stake in the Irish drugmaker, the companies said on Thursday

Power generator Exelon says it has raised its offer to buy rival NRG Energy Inc. to about $8 billion in stock.

Opel frontrunner Magna's consortium partner Sberbank said the race to acquire the carmaker was all but over, though Beijing Automotive Industry Holding may still lodge a bid in the coming days.

European shares closed lower on Thursday after U.S. employers cut far more jobs than expected, casting further doubt on the strength of economic recovery.

Sony Corp's, Sony Music Entertainment, the second largest music company in world, said on Wednesday it made a strategic investment in IODA, a digital distributor of independent music.

General Motors cut operational ties on Monday to a northern California auto plant it had operated in a joint-venture with Toyota Motor since 1983.

World No. 2 brewer SABMiller will sell 10 percent of its South African unit to black investors in a deal worth $750 million to meet the country's affirmative action rules, it said on Wednesday.

European equities ended the first session of the quarter in positive territory, with strong metals prices on Wednesday boosting mining shares, while banks rose after slipping in four of the past seven days.

Bank of America's primary investment management unit is drawing lower than expected bids after its likeliest suitor, BlackRock, inked a blockbuster deal to buy Barclays Global Investor, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to the matter.

Standard Chartered is in talks to purchase assets in China and India owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

Viacom's Paramount Studios is considering combining its DVD manufacturing and distribution operations with those of a rival studio to cut costs, a source close to talks said on Tuesday.