... Off. � European markets up in early trading on Friday � Japanese market swings widely in volatile trade � Europe needs Britain, says ECB president Mario Draghi � FTSE 100 suffers heaviest drop for a year � HSBC's $1.9bn money laundering settlement ...

By Toni Vorobyova. LONDON | Fri May 24, 2013 9:03am BST. LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 steadied on Friday after their steepest fall in a year in the previous session, with central bankers offering some reassurance that stimulus will stay for a while yet.

Restarting the Bank of England's bond-buying program should help drive faster economic growth in the U.K. without setting off inflation, a senior BOE official said Friday.

London open: Stocks in search of direction after sell-off LONDON (SHARECAST) - Markets opened tentatively on Friday morning with sentiment still fragile following a plunge the day before as traders reacted to concerns about stimulus measures in the US ...

Weeks of cold weather had left national gas supplies at critically low levels in March, and prices spiked to a seven-year high after a faulty pump at one of Britain's main pipelines forced it to close.

A Guernsey airline is considering using bigger planes after becoming the only operator to fly to Gatwick. The Treasury and Resources Department is the sole shareholder in Aurigny and said it is considering leasing or buying aircraft outright.

Two key lieutenants of Tesco boss Phil Clarke received almost �3million in 'damages' following their departure from Britain's biggest retailer at the height of its troubles.

JPMorgan's UK wealth management business has been fined nearly �3.1m for failing to keep complete and up-to-date client files, a shortcoming that put customers at risk of receiving unsuitable investment advice.

A day after the International Monetary Fund urged the government to do more to spur growth, Britain's official statisticians have reminded economists of just how far the UK economy remains from full health.

Mothercare is crawling towards a recovery as chief executive Simon Calver insisted the UK company was on target to break even within two years.