Business Investing, Equities, Bonds

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Monday after Wall Street posted its worst weekly loss for the year and on assurances that world powers want debt-laden Greece to remain in the euro. On Saturday, G8 leaders stressed that their "imperative is to promote growth and jobs" and gave verbal backing for Greece to stay in the euro, but despite calls from the United States for immediate moves to boost growth, no sign emerged that Germany would soften its stance on austerity as the cure for Europe's debt problems. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - British bank Barclays said it is to sell its 19.6 percent holding in U.S. asset manager BlackRock, worth $6.1 billion and which it has held for almost three years. Tougher global regulations mean banks have to hold more capital against their stakes in asset managers and other firms, making it less profitable. Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond is attempting to get the bank's return on equity back above 13 percent, by selling or shutting businesses or investments that do not stack up. ...

SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chinese Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma is buying back up to half of a 40 percent stake in his Alibaba Group from Yahoo Inc for $7.1 billion, in a deal that moves the Chinese e-commerce leader closer to a public listing. Under the agreement, Yahoo will sell half its stake in Alibaba for at least $6.3 billion in cash and up to $800 million in new Alibaba preferred stock. ...