(Reuters) - Spain's medium-term borrowing costs spiraled to a euro-era record at an auction on Thursday, hours before an independent audit was due to reveal how big a capital hole in Spanish banks needs to be filled by a euro zone bailout. Euro zone finance ministers will discuss later in the day how to channel up to 100 billion euros ($126 billion) in rescue loans to Spanish lenders weighed down by bad loans from a burst property bubble. Many in the markets see the package as a mere prelude to a full program for the Spanish state.

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(Reuters) - Merrill Lynch must pay a $2.8 million fine for overcharging customers $32 million in fees, among other things, Wall Street's industry-funded regulator said on Thursday. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority alleged that Merrill Lynch, part of Bank of America Corp did not have an adequate supervisory system in place between April 2003 and December 2011 to ensure customers were billed properly, according to a settlement document in the case.

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(Reuters) - Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who has been under investigation for his role in two car crashes earlier this month, said on Thursday he was resigning to "prevent distractions" at the department he led for less than a year. "I have informed the President that I am resigning as Secretary of Commerce," Bryson said in a letter to Commerce Department employees. "The work that you do to help America's entrepreneurs and businesses build our economy and create jobs is more important now than ever and I have come to the conclusion that I need to step down to prevent distractions from this critical mission," Bryson said.

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(Reuters) - Wall Street edged lower on Wednesday as uncertainties over Europe's finances and tepid U.S. economic data gave investors little reason to make any decisive move after a sharp snap-back rally. Traders called the environment opaque and are worried about getting caught on the wrong side of what could be a sharp swing in the market. Investors are on guard ahead of the upcoming weekend elections in Greece, whose outcome have the potential to put Greece on course to exit the euro zone, and next week's policy meeting of the Federal Reserve.

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(Reuters) - Evidence of insider trading against businessman Rajat Gupta is "overwhelming," a prosecutor told jurors at the trial's close on Wednesday, while a defense lawyer countered that the government had a weak, circumstantial case without direct proof. Jurors were expected to begin deliberating the charges against Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc board member, later on Wednesday in one of the U.S. government's biggest insider-trading prosecutions in recent years.

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(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon told lawmakers that he could not defend how a hedging strategy in a London office morphed into a multibillion-dollar trading loss, but he still took swipes at regulatory reforms that he said fail to make sense. The Senate Banking Committee was mostly gentle with the polished and relaxed banker at Wednesday's hearing, and did not force him to reveal whether the estimated $2 billion loss has significantly swelled.

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(Reuters) - U.S. home buyers are snapping up houses at a faster pace this spring, but many homeowners remain reluctant to sell until prices edge up, data released on Wednesday showed. The number of homes listed for sale fell 20.1 percent last month from a year earlier to 1.88 million, Realtor.com reported.

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(Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Wednesday sought to shore up his political support ahead of a series of crucial international meetings where stemming the spread of the euro zone crisis will be the main objective. "We should use these new difficulties to double our efforts both on the European front and within Italian politics," Monti said in a speech to parliament.

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(Reuters) - Investors could be excused for avoiding health insurance and hospital stocks as a U.S. Supreme Court decision nears on President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul law - an outcome that could send the companies' shares down 10 percent or more. Aside from an educated guess, little real analysis can predict a ruling that has at least a half-dozen possible results for a law that affects wide swathes of the healthcare industry.

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(Reuters) - Stocks traded flat on Tuesday as yields on Spain's 10-year bond hit a euro-era high, pointing to continued stress in the nation's debt markets shortly after an announced European Union bailout. While a $125 billion aid package to Spain did ease some concerns about the region's debt crisis, questions remained about the terms of the deal and the impact it could have on Spanish debt levels.

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