ECONOMY & MARKETS

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Friday are: General Electric, Google, Micron Technology, Sara Lee, American International Group, Schlumberger and Biogen Idec.

Ambulatory surgery centers operator NovaMed Inc. (NOVA) said it agreed to go private and be acquired by an affiliate of Surgery Center Holdings, Inc. for $13.25 a share in cash.

The Japanese cabinet office said on Friday the economy is showing signs of growth momentum and that the exports sector has been helped by China's growth and strong recovery in the U.S.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a higher opening on Friday with futures on the S&P 500 up 0.15 percent, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.11 percent and Nasdaq100 futures up 0.15 percent.

GE reported 52 percent growth in its quarterly profit that blew past estimates on growth in Technology Infrastructure and NBC Universal Businesses and lower costs

The companies that reported earnings before the markets open on Friday are: General Electric, Bank of America, Schlumberger, BB&T, Air Products and SunTrust Banks.

The companies that reported earnings after the markets close on Thursday are: Google, AMD, Capital One, International Game Technology, Wipro, Consolidated Edison, Maxim Integrated, Flextronics, Intuitive Surgical, Polycom...

New GDP figures at purchasing power parity (PPP) seem to suggest that China may have already overtaken the U.S. as the world's largest economy.

FBR Capital Markets lowered its 2011 profit view of Advanced Micro Devices, after the company ousted its Chief Executive Dirk Meyer.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Friday are: Bank of America, Advanced Micro Devices, Google, General Electric, Intuitive Surgical, Schlumberger, International Game Technology, Emulex and Capital One Financial.

Business confidence in Germany continued to improve further in January, posting a gain for an eighth consecutive month.

UK retail sales slid 0.8 per cent in December as food, petrol and clothing sales remained under pressure and the adverse effects of the snow dented high street spending.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Thursday are: Warner Music Group, American Reprographics, GMX Resources, Energy Transfer Partners and Aspen Insurance Holdings. The top after-market NYSE losers on Thursday are: International Game Technology, Emulex, Medley Capital, Jones Apparel and Kinross Gold.

The Irish Times reported on Friday EU finance ministers have opened tentative talks on the restructuring of Greek sovereign debt but analysts have pointed out that the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) will not be enough to take Greece through a successful debt restructuring.

Close on the heels of a China central bank adviser hinting at an imminent rate hike, a state-controlled newspaper has said more rate hike is on the cards, probably as early as in February, confirming the dominant view that Beijing will pull out all the stops to address what is becoming a serious political problem.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Danvers Bancorp, Intuitive Surgical, Clinical Data, Polycom, SinoTech Energy, and Google. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Morgans Hotel Group, Seattle Genetics, Matrixx Initiatives, Synaptics, and DealerTrack Holdings.

India's food inflation eased for the second straight week due to lower fruit and vegetable prices, data showed on Thursday, but an acceleration in headline inflation in December is likely to put pressure on the central bank to raise rates at a policy review next week.

Stocks closed modestly lower, but well above intra-day lows, as the tech sector incurred the heaviest losses on fears of Chinese interest rate hikes.

Reports that some financial institutions have started to exit their gold positions have been circulating this week, says French bank and London bullion dealer Natixis in its latest commodity analysis. Physically-backed ETF trust funds shrank almost 1% this week on Natixis' data - the sharpest weekly drop since we started keeping records in 2008.

Bill Draper speaks to IBTimes about his views on venture capital investments.

Plans for a delayed 300 MW wind farm in Kenya can now proceed after lenders agreed to rely on the government's assurance that it backed the plan, instead of proper guarantees, the chairman of the project said.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday led by losses in the technology sector and on worries that China's rapid growth may lead to more aggressive measures to tackle inflation.

Mauritius private equity group Ciel Capital plans to venture into Kenya, east Africa's biggest economy, in the first half and is in talks with key players in various sectors, a senior partner said.

South African utility Eskom said on Thursday a 10-year, $1.75 billion international bond launched this week with a 5.75 percent coupon was more than 2-1/2 times oversubscribed.

Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area continues to expand in January with all broad indicators remaining positive and supported by a pickup in new orders and employment, the Philadelphia Fed's survey showed on Thursday.

PC giant Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ) is preparing to launch another probe into the circumstances that led to the departure of former Chief Executive Mark Hurd, according to a recent court filing.

Los Angeles city administrative office's (CAO) reporting of job creation and retention numbers under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds could be very misleading, said Wendy Greuel, LA city controller.

Gold fell like a stone on Thursday, following three days of gains, and ignored a recovery in the euro as investment demand waned. Spot gold fell over $20 to $1,348.55 an ounce by 1426 GMT.

Futures on major U.S. indices pared earlier losses and point to modestly lower opening on Thursday after the Department of Labor reported that weekly jobless claims fell sharply last week.