IBT Staff Reporter

China posted a smaller-than-expected trade surplus in May of $13.1 billion because of soaring imports and weaker global demand growth, giving mixed signals about how the economy fared when some of its best export customers faltered.

In the Aegon Championshipss at Queen's, world number one Rafael Nadal and four-time winner Andy Roddick both progressed into the quarterfinals after defeating Radek Stepanek and Kevin Anderson, respectively.

Apple's delay in launching iPhone 5 could be a deliberate attempt to buy time to spruce up its next phone offering in order to meet the new benchmark set by Android phones like HTC Sensation.

Disappointing trade data from China and the scrapping of a large IPO fed into fears about market volatility and the economy on Friday, sending futures lower a day after stocks bounced from a six-day losing streak.

Nokia was expected to report a loss for this quarter and next as it cuts prices to try to prevent more customers defecting to rivals' smartphones, a Reuters poll found.

Toyota Motor Corp forecast a larger-than-expected 35 percent fall in annual profit on Friday and warned that the strong yen was making it difficult to justify keeping production in Japan.

With Anthony Weiner expecting his first child, resigning wouldn't be in his best interest financially.

OPEC, which failed to reach agreement on raising production at a meeting this week, on Friday forecast a tightening world oil market in the rest of 2011, underscoring the need for more supply to meet rising demand.

China's constant search for natural resources to fuel its burgeoning economy has driven Beijing's helmsmen to the far reaches of Africa, South America and the embattled Middle East.

French finance minister Christine Lagarde, favorite to take the IMF's top job, could face a late challenge after a report that South Africa's Trevor Manuel could enter the race as the window for bids closes.

NEW YORK Stock index futures pointed to a lower start for Wall Street, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.1 percent, Dow Jones industrial average futures down 0.2 percent and Nasdaq futures down 0.2 percent by 5 a.m..

Technology giant Google, Inc has deployed more than 70 electric vehicle charging stations managed by the ChargePoint Network at its worldwide headquarters in Mountain View, CA, the company said in its official blog post on Thursday.

Internazionale midfielder Wesley Sneijder has quashed rumours linking him to Manchester United and Chelsea after suggesting that he was happy at Milan and would like to continue playing at Inter.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Friday countries that had not undertaken far-reaching structural reforms faced weak growth after the financial crisis.

Siemens said it had discovered evidence of corruption at its business in Kuwait and had involved authorities.

Nokia said it was still in talks with multiple parties about its stake in Nokia Siemens Networks, after a report that U.S. private equity firms had backed away from bidding for a majority stake.

Simon Murray, adventurer and outspoken chairman of commodity trader Glencore , is back in the spotlight, this time over his role as a director of Sino-Forest , whose shares have been hit by accusations of fraud.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Friday it expects operating profit this business year to fall 35 percent to 300 billion yen ($3.7 billion) after Japan's biggest earthquake on record severely disrupted car production and slashed sales and a strengthening yen cut into overseas earnings.

Oakand Athletics fired its manager Bob Green, 49, Thursday, replacing him with Bob Melvin, 49, who is a former Major League manager.

Ford Motors said on Thursday it plans to triple its electrified vehicle production capacity to more than 100,000 annually by 2013.

Ally Financial, an auto and mortgage lender majority owned by the U.S. government, is delaying a $6 billion IPO due to bad market conditions, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

The appointment of French finance minister Christine Lagarde as head of the International Monetary Fund is a done deal, rival Grigori Marchenko was quoted as saying on Friday.

Ally Financial, the auto and mortgage lender majority-owned by the U.S. government, is delaying its initial public offering due to bad market conditions, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Morgan Stanley and its China partner Huaxin Securities launched their joint venture on Friday, joining several other rivals looking to cash in on the country's booming investment banking business.

Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> is expected to forecast a fall in annual profit later on Friday as the world's largest automaker works to restore output knocked out by Japan's March 11 disaster and grapples with a strong yen.

Microsoft Corp suffered a defeat on Thursday when the Supreme Court upheld a record $290 million jury verdict against the software giant for infringing a small Canadian company's patent.

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said he was surprised at the tumble in the company's share price following the unveiling of a successor to its smash hit Wii games console, adding that the new gadget had to be played to be understood.

Creditors of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc , including units of Bank of America Corp and Barclays PLC , are blasting attempts by Lehman bondholders to force them to reveal details about their claims against the failed bank.

Steve Jobs says he would like Apple to break ground next year on a 'spaceship'-type campus in the company's home town of Cupertino, California and move in by 2015 in a building the iPad-maker's CEO described as having a shot at being the best office building in the world.