Barbara Kydd Graves, the wife of the publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine who aided in the growth of the publication and media company, died Friday.

Activist investor Carl Icahn has taken a sizable stake in Chesapeake Energy Corp. and is calling for at least four of company's directors to be replaced.

Profits at big U.S. companies broke records last year, and so did pay for CEOs.

A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Friday:

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is being asked to appear before Senate and House panels next month to answer questions about the bank's $2 billion-plus trading loss.

The women's clothier Talbots Inc. said Friday that a deadline expired without a deal in its exclusive talks about being acquired by a private equity firm and that it will actively pursue other options.

A better hiring outlook and lower gas prices pushed a measure of U.S. consumer confidence to its highest level in four and a half years.

Spain's troubled bank, Bankia, asked the Spanish government for (EURO)19 billion ($23.8 billion) in financial support on Friday, the day that a leading credit rating agency downgraded it to junk status.

MORE GAINS: Meat prices are expected to rise faster than overall food costs in 2012. Prices rose in the spring and may increase an additional 1 percent to 3 percent this summer.

Yields on U.S. government bonds slipped Friday as traders turned their attention to Spain's debt troubles.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.85 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.49 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.79 percent at 0842 GMT.

The U.S. spring home-selling season got off to a strong start in April, with rising sales and prices providing evidence that a housing market recovery was gaining some traction.

Financial troubles at a big Spanish bank and one of the country's richest regions, Catalonia, piled on problems on Friday for the Madrid government and for investors who question whether it can pay its debts without help from euro zone allies.

The United States and Japan must tackle their tax issues and China must relax restrictions on the yuan, as they share responsibility with Europe for restoring global economic health, EU leaders said ahead of a June summit of the G20 leading economies.

Merrill Lynch's battle to void a $10 million arbitration ruling suffered a setback this week after a new court filing raised questions about its claims that a panel member had not disclosed her potential conflicts.

China launched a complaint at the World Trade Organization on Friday against U.S. import duties on 22 Chinese products that the United States says are unfairly priced or subsidized, including solar panels and steel products.

Four of Wall Street's major market makers involved in Facebook's botched initial public offering last Friday expect their losses from technical glitches on Nasdaq's exchange to be around $115 million.

Nasdaq OMX said on Friday its board of directors elected Börje Ekholm to serve as the interim chairman of the exchange operator, replacing Furlong Baldwin, who retired.

(Reuters) - Central banks and companies not bracing for a possible Greek euro exit would be making a grave error, Belgium's foreign minister said on Friday, rattling markets already alarmed by Spain's deteriorating finances.

Former Enron Corp Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling is reviving his quest for a new trial based on evidence his legal team received from prosecutors long after he was convicted of 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors.