IBT Staff Reporter

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday on optimism the economic slump is waning, but a reassessment of the recent sharp market run-up could keep gains in check.

General Motors Corp will talk to the Korea Development Bank about selling a stake in GM Daewoo, if that would help its South Korean carmaking unit in the long term, Nick Reilly, President GM Asia Pacific, said on Friday.

Chrysler LLC filed for bankruptcy on Thursday and announced an industry-changing deal with Fiat, after being pummeled by sliding auto sales and unable to reach agreement on restructuring its debt.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday on optimism the economic slump is waning, but a reassessment of the recent sharp market run-up could keep gains in check.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's biggest bank, warned on Friday that it now expects to have slid to an annual net loss of $2.7 billion, hit by losses on its stock holdings.

Mexico started a five-day shutdown of most offices and businesses on Friday to try to halt the spread of a deadly flu strain, and officials said they were encouraged by signs the number of new cases was dropping.

Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) mechanics and engineers are working round the clock to make sure the new 787 Dreamliner, already two years behind schedule, makes its first test flight before the end of June.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 share indexes are up 0.3-0.4 percent, pointing to a higher start on Wall Street.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group , Japan's third-largest bank, will buy Citigroup's Japanese brokerage and key investment banking units for $5.9 billion in a deal likely to reshape Tokyo finance and create a banking powerhouse.

Italian automaker Fiat SpA's next project is a deal with Germany's Opel after a landmark alliance with U.S. car maker Chrysler, Fiat's chief executive said in an interview published on Friday.

Global markets were flat on Friday in subdued holiday weekend trading after growing hopes of a global economic recovery propelled shares over 11 percent in the previous month.

Removes reference to Bund futures in last paragraph as market closed for public holiday

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group said it would buy Citigroup's Japanese brokerage and key investment banking businesses for at least $5.6 billion in a deal that will reshape Tokyo's finance sector and create a banking powerhouse.

Citigroup Inc executives are using the sale of its Japanese retail brokerage Nikko Cordial to ease demands from the U.S. stress tests on banks, arguing the sale of non-core assets such as Nikko would strengthen its balance sheet, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to the matter.

U.S. automaker Chrysler has filed for bankruptcy and entered an industry-changing deal with Italy's Fiat , in the latest big government intervention in the economy to try to deal with the global crisis.

Japanese stocks struck a four-month closing high on Friday and higher-yielding currencies held gains as investors favored riskier assets, with improvements in Chinese manufacturing and South Korean exports adding to evidence of a global economy on the mend.

Electronic health records need a nudge from the government if the technology is to become widespread, the nation's new health information technology czar said on Thursday.

Hartford Financial Group posted its third straight net loss and said it plans to stop selling new policies in Japan and the United Kingdom, as the insurer reeled from the same weak financial markets that triggered a net loss at MetLife Inc .

McAfee Inc , the No. 2 security software maker, reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by new software modules and partnerships with PC vendors.

Switzerland urged a U.S. court on Thursday to reject demands by U.S. tax authorities for information about U.S. clients of UBS AG, saying disclosure would violate its sovereignty and international law.

Oracle Corp, the world's No. 2 business software maker, plans to expand its small line of programs that companies access via the Web, said a person familiar with the strategy.

Mexico's state owned oil and gas company Pemex maintains operations on its production, distribution, storage, offshore terminals and export facilities despite a federal government call to suspend all non essential economic activities to avoid the propagation of the swine flu virus.

Electric car owners will be able to charge their vehicles for less and reduce stress on the electrical grid using a new device developed by a government laboratory which can set charging times to use electricity when rates are cheaper and usage is lower.

Delta Air Lines Inc's chief executive had total compensation of about $5.9 million last year, up about 77 percent from the year before, boosted by values for stock and option awards, the company said in its proxy filing on Thursday.

Freddie Mac, the U.S. mortgage finance giant, on Thursday said it paid $1.3 million in retention bonuses to three executives in late 2008 and so far this year, including a full payout of the award promised to its acting chief financial officer before his shocking death, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Bank of America Corp's board is not planning to remove Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis after he was ousted as chairman under shareholder pressure, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Thursday.

The World Bank reached an agreement Thursday to provide a $400 million additional loan for India’s Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to improve access to finance Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

UBS AG asked a U.S. court on Thursday not to proceed with a high-profile tax evasion case brought against it by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, saying the case would violate Switzerland's strict bank secrecy laws.

MBIA Inc , the world's largest bond insurer, sued Merrill Lynch & Co on Thursday seeking damages for losses from complex debt securities it insured for the bank.