Markets: Asian markets were mixed, after strong US retail sales data and news that the House of Representatives passed the budget bill, increasing the likelihood of the Federal Reserve pulling back its stimulus programme. US budget passed House by large majority on Thursday evening, as leaders of both parties quashed dissent within their ranks. UK chancellor George Osborne vowed on Thursday to find "billions of pounds of welfare savings"as coalition tensions over how to eradicate the deficit bubbled to the surface. A US presidential task force has drafted recommendations that constitute a sweeping overhaul of the National Security Agency, according to people familiar with the recommendations. The panel's draft proposals would change the spy agency's leadership from military to civilian and limit how it gathers and holds the electronic information of Americans. Funds set up for victims of Bernard Madoff should recover almost three-quarters of the Ponzi scheme's $17.5bn losses after a new contribution from JPMorgan Chase of about $2.5bn - paid due to its alleged role in failing to alert US authorities of its suspicions. About $1bn will go to the US attorney's office in Manhattan, to be paid to victims of the Madoff fraud, and more than $1bn will go to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to settle a wider variety of anti-money laundering violations. Gold price probe extended to Deutsche Bank: Germany's financial regulator has demanded documents from Deutsche Bank as part of an investigation into potential manipulation of gold and silver prices. Saudi Arabia won't unilaterally cut oil production as it and fellow OPEC members discuss how to cope with a possible increase in global crude output, said people familiar with the matter. Hilton Worldwide's shares jumped 7.5 per cent per cent on their stock market debut on Thursday, marking a turnround for the hotel chain that has generated an $8.5bn paper profit for its private equity owner Blackstone. The shares rose to as high as $21.92 before ending their first day of trading at $21.50. A consortium led by Centrica, owner of British Gas, has been named as preferred bidder for Bord Gáis Energy, the retail arm of Ireland's state gas company, with a bid that values the group at €1.12bn. A U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled Anadarko Petroleum could be liable for at least $5 billion in a lawsuit over environmental and legal liabilities related to its 2006 acquisition of Kerr-McGee Corp. The ruling sent shares of Anadarko tumbling 9% in after-hours trading on Thursday to around $76 a share. Jones Group is nearing a deal to sell itself to private-equity firm Sycamore Partners, according to a person familiar with the matter, in a takeover that would value the footwear and apparel maker at roughly $1.2 billion. The French car makers Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroën have taken initial steps toward resuming deliveries to Iran, previously one of their biggest markets...A spokesman for Peugeot declined to comment on its plans for re-entering Iran. A spokeswoman for Renault said the company had begun contacting suppliers in Iran but was waiting for sanctions to be lifted. General Motors decided to dump its 7 per cent stake [typo in original, apols] in Peugeot on Thursday (Financial Times) The owners of Texas Industries are exploring a sale of the Dallas-based building materials company, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The cement company, with a market value of $1.68 billion as of the close of regular trading yesterday, is working with Citigroup Inc. to find a buyer, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Texas Industries, also known as TXI, may draw interest from buyers including Switzerland's Holcim and U.S. competitor Vulcan Materials, one of the people said. Britain is growing - this is no time for a stimulus (Financial Times) A chronic aversion to risk stunts decision-making across Europe (Financial Times) When did the Irish become so acquiescent? A long time ago, Roy (Financial Times) The eventual (p...p... probably) Tokyo taper (Financial Times) Cisco as canary in the coalmine (Financial Times) BofAML deal as end of an era for complex mortgage securities settlements (WSJ) SEC plans to take more cases to trial despite losses (Reuters) SAC reconsiders industry relationships - and its name (WSJ) Liberty Global/Ziggo: cable extension (Financial Times Lex) Lawsuit accuses IBM of hiding China risks amid NSA spy scandal (Reuters) Asian markets Nikkei 225 up +115.54 (+0.75%) at 15,457 Topix up +1.16 (+0.09%) at 1,243 Hang Seng up +48.16 (+0.21%) at 23,266 US markets S&P 500 down -6.72 (-0.38%) at 1,776 DJIA down -104.10 (-0.66%) at 15,739 Nasdaq down -5.41 (-0.14%) at 3,998 European markets Eurofirst 300 down -11.66 (-0.93%) at 1,245 FTSE100 down -62.47 (-0.96%) at 6,445 CAC 40 down -17.74 (-0.43%) at 4,069 Dax down -60.11 (-0.66%) at 9,017 Currencies €/$ 1.37 (1.38) $/¥ 103.82 (103.36) £/$ 1.63 (1.63) €/£ 0.8412 (0.8411) Commodities ($) Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.07 at 108.60 Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.07 at 97.43 100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +3.00 at 1,229 Copper (Comex) down -0.01 at 3.33 10-year government bond yields (%) US 2.88% UK 2.90% Germany 1.84% CDS (closing levels) Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe +0.15bps at 62.78bp Markit iTraxx Europe +1.86bps at 80.04bp Markit iTraxx Xover +3.8bps at 322.94bp Markit CDX IG +0.02bps at 70.25bp