Business News

* Gold supported by rebound in euro

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's consumers are cooling towards discretionary spending, preferring to salt money into savings or education for their children, according to a Nielsen survey of Chinese consumer confidence published on Thursday.

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - The U.S. government is seeking to close caves in national forests in the Northern Rockies to stem the spread of white-nose bat syndrome, a disease that has killed an estimated 5.5 million bats in 19 states and is spreading westward, officials said on Wednesday.

* Reid to ask for 'unanimous consent' on sanctions

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada and Credit Suisse are among the suitors seeking to bid for the non-U.S. wealth management businesses of Bank of America Merrill Lynch , sources told Reuters, in a deal that could be worth around $2 billion.

After inconclusive elections and fruitless political horse-trading, debt-laden Greece will finally name a government Thursday, but only to hold the fort until fresh polls next month.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has resumed construction work on an experimental light water reactor (ELWR) in a move that could extend its capacity to produce more material for nuclear weapons, website 38North reported on Thursday.

(Reuters) - Nine creditors of Residential Capital LLC, including the insurers American International Group Inc and Allstate Corp , were selected to join the unsecured creditors committee for the mortgage lender's bankruptcy.

SEOUL (Reuters) - Shares in South Korea's Samsung Electronics extended their heavy slide on Thursday, on speculation that arch rival Apple Inc is looking to cut its reliance on Samsung memory chips and turn increasingly to Japanese chipmaker Elpida.

TOKYO (Reuters) - After Penguin Number 337 made a daring bid for freedom from a Tokyo aquarium and vanished into the waters of Tokyo Bay two months ago, many feared the worst for the adventurous feathered fugitive.

PARIS (Reuters) - Google will meet with France's data protection watchdog next week to answer questions about its new user privacy policy as part of a Europe-wide investigation being led by the French regulator.

* Iran keeps trying to get banned nuclear items, report says

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy bounced back from a year-end lull in the first quarter, powering ahead of other major industrial nations thanks to rebuilding of the tsunami-battered northeast, solid private spending and some improvement in exports.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oxfam America sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday to try to get the SEC to force oil, gas and mining companies to disclose how much they pay to foreign governments.

(Reuters) - Activision Blizzard Inc and arch rival video game company Electronic Arts Inc have settled a lawsuit in which Activision accused two former executives of breaking their employment agreements to develop games for EA.

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - General Motors Inc's decision to stop advertising on Facebook may be a wake-up call for the No. 1 social network, but Top advertising executives say it's far too early to know if the site will take off as an advertising platform.

SINGAPORE, May 17 (Reuters) - Gold rose half a percent onThursday as bargain hunters resurfaced after prices tumbled toanother 4-1/2 month low in the previous season, but gains couldbe limited by fears of a deepening debt crisis in Greece, evenas the euro rebounded.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors who want Facebook Inc shares when the No. 1 online social network goes public later this week may have lost the opportunity. TD Ameritrade and Fidelity's brokerage arm both stopped accepting orders of Facebook shares as of Tuesday evening, according to representatives for each of the comp …