UNITED STATES

Asian stocks on Friday ended their best week in six months as investors regained an appetite for risk and brushed aside European debt concerns, while the euro hovered near three-week highs against the dollar.

China told the rest of the world on Friday not to meddle with the way it manages the yuan, calling the exchange rate a sovereign matter for it alone to decide and all but ruling it out of bounds at next week's G20 summit.

The euro held at three-week highs on Friday, on track for its second successive week of gains, while the dollar appeared vulnerable to further losses after falling below a key chart level.

Gold held steady near an all-time high on Friday after a rise in physical gold holdings supported by a weaker dollar and persistent worries about Europe's fiscal outlook.

U.S. crude futures extended losses on Friday as sluggish economic indicators raised doubts about the sustainability of a recent acceleration in demand growth by top oil consumer the United States.

The euro held at three-week highs on Friday, on track for its second straight week of gains, while the dollar appeared vulnerable to further losses after falling below a key chart level.

Stock index futures pointed to a pause in the rally on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.15 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.06 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.03 percent at 0705 GMT.

Gold prices remained near record high in Asian trade Friday as investors continued to trust the precious yellow metal amid Europe's financial crisis. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $1244.84 an ounce at 11.30 a.m Singapore time after hitting as high as $1248.35 in early trade.

Most Asian stocks rose on Friday, encouraged by a late rebound on Wall Street, while the euro hovered near 3-week highs against the dollar after a strong investor response to Spanish bond auctions.

Motorola Inc will buy back most of its debt and pump the bulk of its remaining cash into its proposed spinoff of its money-losing mobile devices unit, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Investors set aside sovereign debt fears and shifted their money to higher-returning assets in mid June, with emerging market assets and U.S. equities among the recipients of fresh cash, EPFR Global said in a report on Friday.

BP Plc bosses weathered a week of anger in Washington but the energy giant's financial outlook faces renewed scrutiny from investors trying to gauge remaining costs and risks from the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

Lawmakers accused BP Plc Chief Executive Tony Hayward of evasion and ducking responsibility for the worst oil spill in U.S. history at a hearing on Thursday that was rocked by a Republican member of the panel apologizing to the company.

Europe's fiscal problems are a risk that will have some effect on U.S. growth during the rest of this year and 2011, U.S. Federal Reserve vice chairman Donald Kohn said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

A sweeping overhaul of financial regulations will include a controversial plan to insulate banks from risky swap dealing, aides said on Thursday as lawmakers hammered out a final bill.

The Australian dollar has rallied more than half a US cent overnight on the back of gains in equity markets in Europe and the US. The AUD rallied to a high of USD0.8684, driven by stronger equity markets and investor confidence.

Broadcom Corp, whose chips power Apple Inc's iPad, expects more tablet computers using its chips to hit the U.S. market as early as this year, an executive for Broadcom said on Thursday.

United Airlines and Continental Airlines need to merge to be profitable in competing with low-cost and foreign carriers, executives of the two U.S. major airlines said on Thursday.

The Australian Dollar spent the majority of local trade yesterday above the 0.8600 cents mark as risk appetite returned to the market with high yielders the main benefactor.

Lawmakers accused BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward of evasion and ducking responsibility for the worst oil spill in U.S. history when he appeared before them on Thursday to answer charges his company cut corners on its blown-out Gulf of Mexico well.

New claims for jobless aid rose last week while consumer prices notched their largest decline in nearly 1-1/2 years in May, suggesting interest rates will remain ultra low to nurse the fragile economic recovery.