TORONTO (Reuters) - Home and auto insurer ING Canada Inc said profit fell 42 percent in the second quarter as weak equity markets hurt investment gains and severe weather knocked underwriting income.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US regulators and ten stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), have forged a new alliance to clamp down on illegal insider trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. and state regulators are close to reaching a settlement with multiple banks accused of selling auction-rate securities under false pretenses that would force them to repurchase billions of dollars of the now-illiquid securities at face value, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. regulators' emergency rule to restrict "naked" short selling in 19 major financial stocks had little impact and may have even backfired, two studies of the rule's effects showed on Wednesday.

London (Reuters) - Stock futures point to a higher opening on Wall Street on Thursday, reversing some of the previous session's losses while investors await for key inflation data, as well as earnings from Wal-Mart Stores , the world's biggest retailer.

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index bounced into positive territory on Thursday morning, recovering from an earlier fall as resource shares trimmed losses and tech shares gained.

LONDON (AFP) - Leading shares closed lower Friday as commodity stocks dragged down the FTSE despite better-than-expected US data.

NEW YORK (AFP) - US stocks closed narrowly mixed Friday as falling oil prices tamped down inflation worries and the dollar continued to rally on mounting signs of a slowing global economy.