For Bill Gross, quitting Pimco's $222 billion Total Return Fund to take over a $13 million fund at Janus Capital is like resigning the U.S. presidency to become city manager of Ashtabula, Ohio, population 18,800.

The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in 2-1/2 years in the second quarter with all sectors contributing to the jump in output in a bullish signal for the remainder of the year.

Activist investor Starboard Value LP said on Friday it has acquired a "significant" stake in Yahoo Inc YHOO.O and urged the Internet company to explore a merger with AOL Inc AOL.N.

Lending to euro zone households and companies contracted for the 28th month in a row in August, though at a slower pace, putting a keener spotlight on European Central Bank efforts to get credit flowing again.

U.S. companies are increasingly less optimistic about the business outlook in China, and see growing competition from local rivals who get preferential treatment as a key challenge, a survey showed on Friday.

China boosted the quotas it gives foreign institutions to invest in domestic securities by the largest amount in the third quarter since the final quarter of 2012 and regulators may also raise the limit on a parallel yuan-denominated program.

The dollar held near a four-year high against a basket of currencies on Friday, fueled by the biggest yield advantage over the euro in nearly 15 years as the Federal Reserve contemplates hiking interest rates.

China's steel consumption dropped this year for the first time since at least 2000 due to slower economic growth, leading to a surplus of iron ore in the country and a more than 40 percent plunge in prices of the steelmaking raw material.

French oil company Total SA (TOTF.PA) is looking to sell its 17 percent stake in the Gulf of Mexico's Tahiti oil field, which could fetch between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in a deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

Japan's legions of retail foreign-exchange traders, popularly known as Mrs Watanabe, are turning into sellers of yen.