Saturday Papers: US stocks surge on latest data - other news

Financial Times

* US stocks surged on Friday in what analysts have described as a “stealth rally”, putting the S&P 500 index on track for its best month in a decade; the index rose 2.12% to 1,149, giving it a gain of 9.47% in September.

* HSBC's board on Friday named Douglas Flint, its finance director, as the new chairman, in place of Stephen Green, who will become the UK’s trade minister; Stuart Gulliver, the head of its investment banking division, would take over as the bank’s new chief executive; Flint will be replaced as finance director by Iain Mackay.

* New home sales in the US held steady at an adjusted annual rate of 288,000 last month, according to government data.

* Petrobras raised $67 billion in the biggest share issue ever undertaken, priced on Thursday night.

* Norway’s central bank has sued Citigroup for alleged misstatements over the company’s financial condition before the financial crisis.

* Federal regulators have unveiled a multibillion-dollar rescue of wholesale credit unions, which have suffered big losses from risky mortgage-backed securities.

* The US Congress moved closer to punishing China for allegedly manipulating its currency, as a key committee of the House of Representatives voted to advance legislation that could heighten economic tensions between Washington and Beijing.

* Merck has said it may appeal against a rejection by European regulators of its multiple sclerosis treatment cladribine, which casts a shadow over the potential blockbuster.

* Elena Salgado, Spanish finance minister, unveiled what she called an austere 2011 budget that will increase income tax for the rich and cut ministerial expenditure by an “extraordinarily large” 16%.

* Louis Dreyfus, the 159-year-old family-owned commodities trading house, has entered into merger talks with Singapore-based rival Olam International to create the world’s third largest agricultural trader.

* Blackstone is in talks to buy Pulse, the staffing agency for doctors, nurses and social workers, as part of a plan to consolidate the sector.