JAPAN

Hong Kong and Shanghai shares rose on Friday, achieving a second straight week of gains and managing to break above stubborn chart resistances on hopes of policy easing inChina and on stronger overseas markets.

A rally for European stocks and the euro ran out of steam on Friday, with markets focused on debt talks between Greece and its private creditors that may prove the trigger for the next leg of the euro zone's debt crisis.

Japan's Sony and Panasonic both had their debt ratings downgraded on Friday by Moody's Investors Service, which cited concerns about continued losses in their TV divisions, two weeks ahead of their earnings announcements.

A German court ruled against Samsung Electronics Co in a patent suit versus Apple, another leg in a long legal battle as the two technology giants jostle for top spot in the booming smartphone and tablet markets.

Volkswagen AG, which sold 8.16 million vehicles last year comes second.

Japan's Nikkei share average hit a two-month high on Friday, boosted by encouraging results from U.S. banks Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N), while near-term concerns over Europe eased after successful Spanish debt auctions.

General Motors Co reclaimed its title as the world's top selling automaker for the first time since 2007, after sales of more than 9 million vehicles globally in 2011.

General Motors Co reclaimed its title as the world's top selling automaker for the first time in three years, after sales of more than 9 million vehicles globally in 2011.

General Electric, the U.S.'s largest industrial manufacturer, is expected to report a 22.3 percent fourth-quarter profit increase when it announces its earnings Friday, driven by strong equipment order and pricing trends and growth in the aviation and energy infrastructure sectors. It marks the seventh straight quarter of operating earnings growth.

The world economy will lose momentum in 2012 but it will keep moving in the right direction, according to Reuters polls of around 600 economists who said crisis-hit Europe would drag on global growth.

The world economy will lose momentum in 2012 but it will keep moving in the right direction, according to Reuters polls of around 600 economists who said crisis-hit Europe would drag on global growth.

General Motors has once again grabbed the largest share of global sales and become the world's largest automaker, moving past sales of Toyota and Volkswagen in 2011.

Sony Ericsson <6758.T> was sucked back into a loss in 2011 by an industry slowdown and cut-throat competition, leaving new owner Sony facing an uphill struggle to join the top tier of handset providers.

Long-suffering investors may wonder what to do with their Eastman Kodak shares now that the company has filed for bankruptcy in New York City.

Starbucks Corp , the world's largest coffee company, is finalizing its retail partnership with India's Tata Coffee Ltd and hopes to announce the deal by the end of this month, a senior official of the Indian company said on Thursday.

Japanese authorities, while reluctant to act now, may consider engaging in a rare intervention to stem yen rises against the euro if the moves appear to be driven by speculators and sharp enough to severely hurt business sentiment.

Three years ago the Toylet was just a pipe-dream for developers at Japanese video game maker Sega, but now the urinal video game has been rolled out at pubs across the nation.

Japan's Nikkei average hit a five-week closing high on Thursday, soaring past its 75-day moving average as the euro climbed on news that the International Monetary Fund is seeking to bolster its funds to stem the euro zone sovereign debt crisis.

World stocks rose to their highest in over two months on Thursday as risk appetite improved on hopes Greece will reach an agreement with its creditors and the International Monetary Fund will boost resources to tackle the euro zone debt crisis.

India and China have agreed to try to avoid flare-ups along their disputed 4,000-km border through the Himalayas, a positive development in often fractious relations between Asia's emerging giants.

The IMF currently has a lending capacity of about $380 billion and estimates demand could be about $1 trillion in the medium-term.