(Reuters) - Stocks were higher on Friday as bullish comments about Greece caused the dollar to fall, resulting in strength in commodity prices. A weak pending home sales number, which continues a recent trend of disappointing data, helped equities to pare their gains in early trading. The U.S. dollar index .DXY fell 0.6 percent as the euro rose following comments from European Central Bank Governing Council member George Provopoulos, who said Greece could handle its debt if it sticks to its aid program.

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(Reuters) - Consumer spending rose modestly in April, starting the second quarter on a soft note as high gasoline prices continued to squeeze household finances and keep inflation pressures simmering. Further evidence of anemic economic activity was also offered by another report on Friday showing pending sales of previously owned homes plunged to a seven-month low in April.

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(Reuters) - Greece's prime minister failed to convince opposition leaders on Friday to support tougher austerity measures to free up EU/IMF aid needed to avert a debt default. European Union policymakers have demanded that Greek politicians reach a cross-party consensus behind long-term economic and fiscal reforms as a condition for providing more funding for the debt-burdened euro zone member.

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(Reuters) - Yandex (YNDX.O) said on Friday the underwriters of its recent blockbuster Nasdaq IPO had exercised an over-allotment option in full, bringing the total raised to $1.43 billion. Yandex, which raised $1.3 billion in the biggest internet IPO in the United States since Google Inc (GOOG.O) nearly seven years ago, saw its shares surge 55 percent in their trading debut on Tuesday.

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(Reuters) - A New York judge rejected Morgan Stanley's (MS.N) bid to throw out a lawsuit accusing the bank of fraudulently inducing bond insurer MBIA Inc (MBI.N) to insure $223.2 million of risky mortgage debt. MBIA filed the lawsuit in December accusing Morgan Stanley and its Saxon Mortgage Services Inc unit of making false representations about the quality of the underwriting on a pool of 4,979 second-lien residential mortgages.

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(Reuters) - EBay and its online payment unit, PayPal Inc, on Thursday sued Google Inc and two executives for stealing trade secrets related to mobile payment systems. The two executives, Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius, were formerly with PayPal and led the launch on Thursday of Google's own mobile payment system in partnership with MasterCard, Citigroup and phone company Sprint.

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(Reuters) - Ratings agency Fitch on Friday cut its outlook on Japan's sovereign debt, warning that the vast cost of a March earthquake and tsunami and the still-unknown bill for the clean-up after the nuclear disaster would further strain the country's already shaky public finances. The Fitch move means all three major ratings agencies now have their fingers poised on the trigger to downgrade Japan's credit status unless they see moves by the government to strengthen the country's finances.

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(Reuters) - HSBC Holdings Plc executives faced investor anger on Friday over lackluster returns and high executive pay, prompting Chairman Douglas Flint to admit performance had been disappointing. Europe's largest bank, which has started a cost-cutting drive to make bigger profits, faced a backlash over top executive rewards at its annual shareholders' meeting, even if a remuneration plan won the backing of some former critics.

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(Reuters) - European bank shares rose Friday on hopes that new international capital rules for lenders would be applied with a lighter touch in the European Union as Germany and France demand more leeway. Berlin and Paris have pushed for more flexible treatment of some types of bank capital including controversial hybrid bonds in a debate over the rules that are designed to make banks more stable, an EU source said Friday.

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(Reuters) - Oil pared gains on Friday as weaker-than-expected U.S. pending home sales data for April triggered fresh concerns about the pace of recovery by the world's largest energy consumer and after a softer dollar initially lent support to prices. Brent crude futures were down 5 cents up at $115.00 a barrel by 1416 GMT, after earlier touching $115.68. U.S. crude was up 8 cents at $100.32, having touched intra day highs of $101.24 earlier.

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