People walk in front of a signboard displayed at the head office of State Bank of India in MumbaiState Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, beat market expectations with a sharp rise in its fourth-quarter net profit, mainly due to a lower base last year and strong demand for loansSBI, in which the government is a majority shareholder, reported a net profit of Rs 4,050 crore for the three months to March, up from Rs 20.9 crore year earlier. The bank's year-ago profit was impacted by sharply higher provisions for bad loans(Photos by Reuters)

May 18: SBI Q4 PAT at Rs 4,050 cr

A labourer carries a packed basket of vegetables as a vendor waits for customers at his vegetables stall at a market in KolkataIndia&#39;s consumer price inflation accelerated in April to 10.36%, making life harder for the RBI as it looks to kickstart a flagging economy, government data showed on FridayIn March, consumer prices rose 9.47%Consumer price-based food inflation accelerated to 10.185 in April from 8.22% in February, driven by a rise in prices of vegetables, eggs and fish products

April CPI inflation accelerates to 10.36%

A driver waits to pay while getting petrol for his vehicle at a gas station in TaipeiOil prices slipped below $107 a barrel on Friday and hit a 2012 low as investors fought shy of riskier, growth-oriented assets on fears that Greece would leave the euro. The downgrade of 16 Spanish banks by Moody&#39;s also added to the gloomBrent crude was down 59 cents to $106.90 by 0849 GMT after earlier slipping to its lowest level for the year at $106.40. U.S. crude was down 7 cents to $92.49

Oil hits 2012 low under $107 on euro zone turmoil

A man looks at a stock quotation board outside a brokerage in TokyoJapan&#39;s Nikkei average shed 3% on Friday to log a seventh straight week of losses, its longest such run since the third quarter of 2001, as investors sold stocks and other risky assets on concerns over slowing global growth and a deepening euro zone crisisThe Nikkei fell 265.28 points to 8,611.31, taking its decline to 16% since hitting a one-year high on March 27. Should the benchmark extend losses next week, to around 8,200, it would technically enter a bear market

Nikkei slides, suffers worst weekly losing run since 2001

A Facebook application logo is pictured on a mobile phone in this photo illustration taken in LavignyInvestors are bracing for Facebook&#39;s Wall Street debut on Friday after the world&#39;s No.1 online social network raised about $16 billion in one of the biggest initial public offerings in US historyValued at $104 billion, Facebook is larger than Starbucks Corp and Hewlett-Packard combined, sparking intense speculation on how much higher its valuation will rise once shares start tradingFacebook priced its offering at $38 a share on Thursday, but the price could be higher when shares begin trading under the FB symbol on the Nasdaq at around 11 a.m. Eastern Time