Banking stocks rose in London on Friday as traders welcomed reports that global regulators had eased plans to force the sector to set aside billions of dollars in extra capital. The sector was lifted by reports that the Basel committee’s outline proposals for the overhaul of regulatory requirements, due to be presented to the G20 summit at the weekend, would stop short of requiring banks to hold more capital for longer.

European equities markets continued to fall on Friday, with carmakers suffering after a brace of broker downgrades in the sector. In Berlin, the bellwether market for the sector, Daimler slumped 3.4 per cent, while Volkswagen was down 2.6 per cent after UBS downgraded both stocks to “neutral” from “buy”. BMW lost 2.4 per cent. In Milan, Fiat fell by 2.9 per cent to €8.82, while in France, Renault slumped 3.8 per cent and Peugeot was down 2.6 per cent on disappointing vehicle registration figures.

Project Canvas, the BBC-led move to integrate online video and traditional television, passed its final major hurdle on Friday when it was approved by the corporation’s governing body. The BBC Trust said that subject to certain conditions including granting access to content rights holders and internet service providers, the BBC could participate.

The US Government revised down for the second time its estimate of economic growth in the first three months of 2010 on the back of lower consumer spending, underscoring caution about the recovery’s strength. Gross domestic product rose at a 2.7 per cent annual rate from January through March, the Commerce Department reported Friday in its third GDP estimate for the first quarter. That was down from an original estimate of 3.2 per cent in April. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected no revision from the second estimate of 3.0 per cent that was made a month ago. The rate of economic growth at the start of the year was less than half the 5.6 per cent increase registered in the final quarter of 2009. But while the driver of growth at the end of last year was a temporary inventory swing, the economy was lifted in the first quarter by consumer spending and business investments, which made the recovery look more sustainable.