DIAMOND

Barclays Bank chairman Marcus Agius has said "the buck stops with me" as he confirmed he will resign following the inter-bank lending rate fixing scandals.

Billionaire investor George Soros has called on Europe to start a fund to buy Italian and Spanish bonds, or risk the demise of the euro.

Asian markets jumped overnight and European exchanges are expected to open strongly after pro-bailout party New Democracy scraped a narrow win at the Greek election.

Charles Stanley, the stockbroking and investment management group, reported pre-tax profits fell 37% to £8.5m for the year ended 31 March 2012.

Shareholders in Royal Bank of Scotland(RBS) will never recover the money they lost after the lender's collapse more than three years ago, according to the bank's chairman.

Brewin Dolphin reported pre-tax profits for the half year to 31 March 2012 were up 3.3% on the same period last year to £12.3m, while income remained steady at £131.4m

The World Bank has cut its economic growth forecast for China this year from 8.5% to 8.2%, which would be its weakest level in more than a decade.

European equity markets have extended this week's losses at the open on Friday, after US stocks closed lower overnight, dragged down by the ongoing Greek crisis.

Gold has lost a fifth of it value since its peak last year as investors move into cash as fears over the eurozone crisis intensify.