(Reuters) - Applications for home mortgages fell last week, after a sharp bounce the week before, as refinance demand dropped and interest rates rose, an industry group said on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, declined 5.9 percent in the week ended June 17.

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(Reuters) - Oil driller Transocean Ltd blamed BP Plc in a report released on Wednesday for last year's Gulf of Mexico spill in the latest skirmish between the two companies over paying the costs for the maritime oil disaster. Transocean, the owner of the drilling rig that exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico last year, and BP are locked in a legal battle over which company was at fault in the disaster that killed 11 workers and gushed crude oil into the Gulf for three months.

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(Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Monday as investors were hesitant to buy riskier assets after a decision was delayed on emergency loans to Greece and Moody's said it may downgrade Italy's credit rating. The market seesawed between modest gains and losses. Wall Street started lower, but erased losses as the S&P dipped toward 1,259, its 200-day moving average, encouraging buyers. A drop below that level would be the first since September 2010.

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(Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers applied intense pressure on Greece on Monday, saying it had to approve stricter austerity measures before a final decision is made on a further 12 billion euros in loans. Before launching a second day of meetings on Greece, ministers indicated that the next tranche of EU/IMF aid would be paid by mid-July, allowing Athens to avoid default, but said the country had to show progress first on plans to cut spending, raise taxes and generate other revenue streams.

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(Reuters) - The world economy is slowing down due to a combination of factors such as the euro zone's debt problems and a weak U.S. housing sector, but it is not headed for a double-dip slump, the head of the OECD said on Monday. "We do not believe there is a return to a recession," Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), told reporters when asked if recent signs of a slowdown pointed to a major weakening in the global economy.

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(Reuters) - Airbus bagged billions of dollars of orders for its revamped A320 plane on day one of a rain-sodden Paris Air Show, where it is vying with rival Boeing and trying to recover from pre-show mishaps. Airbus said on Monday it had won an order for 60 narrow-body A320neo planes worth $5.1 billion at list prices from the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of General Electric.

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(Reuters) - PNC Financial Services Group Inc (PNC.N) will buy Royal Bank of Canada's (RY.TO) U.S. retail bank operations for $3.45 billion in cash and stock, allowing PNC to expand in the U.S. Southeast. The deal, announced by the banks on Monday, helps RBC offload a money-losing business and comes in contrast to steps by its Canadian rivals to expand in the United States.

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(Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc CEO Myron Ullman will leave the company and the board in February after a three-month transition period to hand over the reins to his successor, Apple Inc executive Ron Johnson, the department store chain said on Monday. Last week, Penney said Johnson, who oversees Apple's chain of stores, would become chief executive officer on November 1, reporting to Ullman, who would stay on as executive chairman. But when Penney announced the appointment on Tuesday, it did not describe Ullman's role or say whether this would be part of a transition.

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(Reuters) - Macy's Inc (M.N) said it has a new $1.5 billion credit agreement, and the department store operator lowered its 2011 interest expense forecast, saying it received more favorable terms on the new facility. Macy's, which last month regained an investment grade rating from Standard & Poor's thanks in part to improving sales, said the new agreement matures on January 20, 2015, and replaces a $2 billion agreement that was to mature in August 2012.

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(Reuters) - Greece's debt crisis may be contagious and poses one of the biggest risks to global financial markets alongside Middle East uprisings, Citigroup's Chief Risk Officer told Reuters. Greece, on the verge of a debt default following Portuguese and Irish bailouts, is being pressured by European finance ministers to introduce harsh austerity measures before they agree to 12 billion euros ($17 billion) in emergency loans.

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