Reuters

A 4.5-magnitude earthquake struck southern Greece on Friday in the Peloponnese region, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake was located 104 miles (169 km) southwest of Kalamata at a depth of 21.5 miles (35 km), the agency said.

Greece is prone to earthquakes. Most cause no serious damage, but a 5.9 magnitude quake in 1999 killed 143 people.

Fitch Ratings on Friday affirmed Intralot’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at B+, but revised the outlook to Negative from Stable.

[Reuters]

Greece's fourth-largest lender Alpha Bank said on Friday it is looking into business proposals, including the possible acquisition of the operations of Citibank in Greece.

Greece's state-controlled electricity firm PPC confirmed on Thursday it would sell bonds worth 500 million euros ($691 million).

The notes will be a combination of three- and five-year bonds and will be listed on the Global Exchange Market of the Irish Stock Exchange, PPC said in a bourse filing.

Greece's general government primary surplus last year, as calculated by the country's international lenders, is estimated at 1.5 billion euros ($2.07 billion), Greece's deputy finance minister said on Wednesday.

Turkish fuel retailer Turcas said on Tuesday its gas unit has begun nonbinding talks with another company to jointly procure natural gas from the Leviathan field in the Eastern Mediterranean for Turkish markets.

U.S. president threatens Russia with more sanctions

WASHINGTON, KIEV -- U.S. President Barack Obama says Russia may expect additional sanctions "if it intensifies support to separatists" in the east of Ukraine.

Greece’s new five-year bond returned on Wednesday to the yield at which it was sold last week, after a turbulent few days of trading.

The bond issue – which was Greece’s first in four years and came just two years after the country defaulted – was issued at a yield of 4.95 percent last Thursday.

Putin: Escalation takes Ukraine to brink of civil war

MOSCOW -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin have had a telephone conversation about the situation in Ukraine.

Greece's bank bailout fund received bids from anchor investors, including Canada's Fairfax (FFH.TO) and York Capital, for a big chunk of Eurobank's (EURBr.AT) 2.86 billion euro share offering, a senior banking source close to the talks said on Tuesday.