(Reuters) - Top commodity trader Glencore aims to raise up to $12.1 billion with a dual listing that will boost firepower for deals at the height of a resources boom and make paper fortunes for its publicity-shy partners. The long-awaited details of the offer, set to be the largest ever in London, were outlined in an intention-to-float that confirmed an earlier Reuters story. They did not, however, include the appointment of a new non-executive chairman -- a requirement for its listing.

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(Reuters) - Top technology companies warrant a fresh look as earnings season hits full swing next week after their shares were hard hit by sputtering PC sales and supply issues following Japan's largest-ever earthquake. Fund managers have sold down sector bellwethers since the March 11 disaster, fearing worse-than-expected damage to margins as they battle to secure critical components from a country that supplies 14 percent of the world's electronics.

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(Reuters) - U.S. regulators are probing whether some major banks colluded to manipulate a global benchmark interest rate before and during the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. In March, Reuters reported that regulators are probing whether a handful of major banks manipulated the global benchmark interest rate -- known as Libor -- to tart up their credit quality, citing a person familiar with the matter.

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(Reuters) - Greece faced a new surge in its debt costs Thursday after Germany said for the first time that Athens may need to restructure its debt, a move one central banker warned would be a "catastrophe." Growing talk of restructuring by Greece, the first euro zone member to receive a bailout a year ago, points to a new stage in the debt crisis that has driven Ireland and Portugal to seek aid and forced draconian budget cuts in Spain.

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(Reuters) - In the most damning official U.S. report yet produced on Wall Street's role in the financial crisis, a Senate panel accused powerhouse Goldman Sachs of misleading clients and manipulating markets, while also condemning greed, weak regulation and conflicts of interest throughout the financial system. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, one of Capitol Hill's most feared panels, has a history with Goldman Sachs.

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(Reuters) - Ford Motor Co and U.S. safety regulators have agreed to a greatly expanded recall of the best-selling vehicle in North America, the Ford F-150 pickup truck, the regulators said. The recall is for a possible short circuit that could cause airbags to deploy unexpectedly, and involves nearly 1.2 million F-150 pickup trucks and few Lincoln Mark LT vehicles, said the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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(Reuters) - Top ECB policymakers sent fresh warnings about rising euro zone inflation risks on Thursday, with one likening the current economic situation to that at the start of the bank's last rate hike cycle in 2005. The ECB raised rates to 1.25 percent last Thursday, beginning what financial markets expect to be a steady run of hikes despite assurances from the bank's President Jean-Claude Trichet that a cycle of increases is not pre-programed.

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(Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged up on Wednesday but were off their earlier highs as bank shares turned negative. Gains came from energy stocks after a steep selloff in commodity shares in the previous session.

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(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co drastically cut the amount of money set aside for bad loans, allowing it to boost first-quarter profit by two-thirds but spurring analysts to question whether the growth can be repeated. The bank's book of consumer loans shrank by 10 percent in the quarter, and loans to corporate customers did not grow enough to make up for it. The No. 2 U.S. bank also took $1.75 billion of charges linked to collecting payments on bad mortgages and foreclosures. The bank said it is still suffering from high losses from mortgages.

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(Reuters) - Schneider Electric tried in vain on Wednesday to quash rumors that it planned to buy Tyco International after the French engineering company's stock was hammered by worries about a capital hike. "In response to market rumors, Schneider Electric announced today that it is not currently in discussion with Tyco International regarding a potential strategic transaction between the two companies," Schneider said in a statement.

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