IBT Staff Reporter

The economic outlook improved in most countries in the 30-nation OECD area and clear signs of recovery can be seen in the major seven economies, an OECD survey said on Friday.

A year after the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers , frozen credit markets are piecing themselves together again but the face of borrowing is dramatically different.

U.S. stock index futures indicated a modestly higher open on Friday as positive remarks from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner supported optimism for a recovery, but Wall Street could stall after five days of gains.

Chinese industrial output and other economic data surprised on the upside in August, suggesting its recovery is on a solid course but not so strong that Beijing will need to hit the policy brakes anytime soon.

For Barclays and Nomura, the collapse of Lehman Brothers was the opportunity of the lifetime -- a chance to grab a seat at banking's top table as Wall Street's giants fell.

Delta Air Lines , the world's biggest carrier, is in talks to invest in struggling Japan Airlines Corp and become its top shareholder, Japanese media said on Friday.

Delta Air Lines , the world's biggest carrier, is in talks to invest in struggling Japan Airlines Corp and become its top shareholder, Japanese media said on Friday.

Motorola unveiled on Thursday the first of many cellphones to be developed in partnership with Google, but analysts questioned if it could revive the once-dominant handset maker's fortunes.

Tiny companies with big ideas for making flu vaccines have captured the attention of investors and governments looking for a quicker way to make a vaccine against the pandemic of swine flu.

The state parent of Brilliance China Automotive is near a deal to make special purpose vehicles in China with Daimler AG and Toyota Motor , a company source said on Friday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is expanding its U.S. commercial banking business, even amid the recession, and is considering a return to commercial real estate next year.

Stephen Ross, founder of the private developer Related Companies, and two of his partners have been granted preliminary approval by U.S. regulators to charter a new bank that would enable them to bid for failed institutions seized by the government, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday.

A weakening dollar and robust Chinese economic data sharpened investor appetite for risk on Friday, sending world stocks to fresh 11-month highs.

Asian shares rose on Friday, buoyed by strong Chinese economic data which also boosted commodity prices and sent the dollar to its lowest in a year against a basket of currencies.

HSBC Bank Plc has increased the size of its planned Samurai bond issuance to 117 billion yen ($1.3 billion), nearly double an initial estimate of Y60 billion yen, documents filed with Japanese financial authorities showed on Friday.

China's largest online auction site Taobao is banking on rural transaction growth and its online mall selling top brands to double its revenue growth this year and help it break even, its chief executive said on Friday.

The following stocks may be affected by newspaper reports and other factors on Friday:

Dubai's Istithmar World is freezing investments as part of a restructuring process that may result in sale of the fund or its assets, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the plan.

Chip companies ASML and Texas Instruments raised sales forecasts, in another sign consumers are buying more gadgets, sending technology shares higher on Thursday.

The private equity arm of India's Infrastructure Development Finance Co is buying energy giant BP's wind power assets in India for 6.5 billion rupees ($134 million), the Economic Times reported on Friday.

EnCana Corp, Canada's second-largest energy company, put a plan to split into two back on track Thursday, less than a year after shelving it, saying it believed financial and commodity markets had recovered to where the move looked attractive again.

BMW, the world's largest premium car maker, said on Friday its August car sales in mainland China surged 63.2 percent from a year earlier.

Japan's health ministry is set to buy enough H1N1 flu vaccine for nearly 50 million people from British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline and Swiss maker Novartis, a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday.

China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier by subscribers, said on Friday it hoped to soon have lower-cost handsets for its 3G service, as it tries to popularise the service based on a homegrown standard.

Chipmaker National Semiconductor Corp posted stronger-than-expected first quarter results on Thursday because of increased demand from industrial markets.

Canadian media company Canwest Global Communications said on Thursday that its Canwest Limited Partnership unit has reached an agreement with senior secured lenders while discussions about a potential recapitalization deal continue.

Walt Disney Co on Thursday dashed fan speculation that it plans to resurrect the Michael Jackson 3-D film Captain EO in its theme parks, saying the 1986 short movie is dated.

Alessandro Nivola, Elisabeth Shue and Abigail Breslin have been cast in the indie drama Janie Jones, along with Frank Whaley, Brittany Snow, Peter Stormare and Joel David Moore.

Sales of video game equipment and software in the United States fell 16 percent in August to $908.7 million, research group NPD said on Thursday, the sixth consecutive monthly decline.