Gold Advances After Dollar Rally Stalls; Silver Also Rises in London Trade

(Bloomberg) -- Gold rose in London, erasing an
earlier decline, as the dollar's rally against the euro stalled,
reviving demand for bullion as an alternative investment. Silver
also advanced.

Gold has added 1.9 percent this year as the dollar declined
2.2 percent against the euro. The dollar fell against the euro
today for the first day in a week.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

S.Africa's 3-month T-bill discount rate up to 9.10 pct

(Reuters) - The average discount rate for South African three-month Treasury Bills increased to 9.10 percent on Friday, the Reserve Bank said.

The average yield was also up at 9.31 percent, while applications for the 2.3 billion rand of bills on offer totalled 5.836 billion rand.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Croatian Economy Grew at Fastest Pace in More Than Four Years Last Quarter

(Bloomberg) -- The economy of Croatia, the next
country in line to join the European Union, unexpectedly grew at
the fastest pace in four-and-a-half years in the first quarter as
consumer spending and industrial output increased.

Gross domestic product rose an annual 7 percent in the
quarter, the state statistical office said on its Web site today.
This is higher than the 5.5 percent median estimate of six
economists in a Bloomberg survey and the highest growth since the
third quarter in 2002, when the economy grew 7.04 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

DAX Index Rises for Second Day; Linde Group, Volkswagen, BASF Pace Advance

(Bloomberg) -- Germany's benchmark DAX Index rose
for a second day, led by shares of Linde Group and BASF AG.

Volkswagen AG gained after the carmaker said its venture
with China FAW Group Corp. may boost profit by at least a
quarter this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

CORRECTED: Ex-HealthSouth CEO Scrushy sentenced to prison

(Reuters) - MONTGOMERY, Alabama - Ousted HealthSouth Corp. Chief Executive Richard Scrushy, acquitted two years ago in a major corporate fraud case, and former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman were both sentenced to prison on Thursday for bribery.




A federal judge sentenced Scrushy to six years and 10 months in prison and Siegelman to seven years and four months after they were convicted of involvement in a scheme to manipulate hospital building permissions that favored HealthSouth.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

BBVA to Hire 240 Bankers This Year to Boost Derivatives Business Worldwide

(Bloomberg) -- Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA,
Spain's second-largest bank, is hiring 240 bankers worldwide
this year to boost its derivatives business.

BBVA recruited 151 of the bankers since January, including
Lorenzo Isla, Barclays Capital's former head of structured
credit research in London, who will run credit derivatives in
Madrid. The Bilbao, Spain-based lender will add about 100 of the
new derivatives staff in Madrid and 115 in offices including
London, Frankfurt and Mexico City, said Ricardo Laiseca, head of
global markets. A team of 25 will start an equity derivatives
business in Hong Kong.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Calls for IMF to consider non-European to replace Rato

(Reuters) - The surprise resignation of the head of the International Monetary Fund immediately prompted calls for the job search for his replacement to reach beyond Europe -- which has provided all the IMF's leaders.

The top IMF job has always gone to Europeans since the IMF's inception in 1945. Similarly, the World Bank is typically headed by an American, shutting out Japan and developing countries.


Read more at Reuters Africa