IBT Staff Reporter

The Dow and S&P 500 stock indexes opened flat on Friday as data showed the labor market deteriorating further while the unemployment rate hit its highest since 1983, underscoring the severity of the recession.

U.S. banks that have received government aid, including Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co, are considering buying toxic assets to be sold by rivals under the Treasury's $1,000 billion plan to revive the financial system, the Financial Times said.

The Dow and S&P 500 stock indexes were set to open flat on Friday as data showed the labor market deteriorating further while the unemployment rate hit its highest since 1983, underscoring the severity of the recession.

The U.S. unemployment rate soared to 8.5 percent in March, the highest since 1983, as employers slashed 663,000 jobs and cut workers' hours to the lowest on record, government data showed on Friday.

Watch out scientists -- you may be replaced by a robot.

Google Inc may be in talks to buy internet start-up Twitter, the free micro-blogging service that allows people to send short text messages to a network of friends, the TechCrunch website said late Thursday.

Stock futures lost ground on Friday as a brief boost that followed the March non-farm payrolls report faded.

IBM cut its offer for Sun Microsystems Inc to $9.55 a share after a thorough vetting and may soon unveil details of its largest- ever takeover, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

Stock futures added to gains on Friday after data showed employers continued to slash jobs, pushing the unemployment rate to 8.5 percent, although the numbers were not as dire as some in the market had feared.

Oil slipped only slightly to near $52 a barrel on Friday, after surging by nearly 9 percent the day before, as global markets viewed the outcome of the G20 summit as paving the way for some risk appetite to return.

Sunny Italy expects to more than double its installed photovoltaic capacity used to turn sunlight into power to 900 megawatt (MW) by the end of 2009 on the back of government incentives, state-run agency GSE said on Friday.

More than 58 percent of U.S. home loans modified in 2008 did not result in a decreased monthly payment, and those modifications often did not produce sustainable mortgages, according to a report released on Friday.

Stock futures pointed to a higher open on Friday on growing hopes that data pointing to an easing of the deep recession will prove to be lasting, despite what could be another dismal U.S. jobs report.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday the United States would lead by example in combating climate change so that developing nations such as India and China would follow suit.

Royal Bank of Scotland will cut more jobs, Chairman Philip Hampton warned on Friday as he called for an end to public flogging of the state-rescued bank over its past mistakes.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress on Thursday approved budget blueprints embracing President Barack Obama's agenda but leaving many hard choices until later and a government deeply in the red.

Research In Motion posted surprisingly strong quarterly earnings on Thursday and offered a rosy outlook that signaled further growth despite the global economic slowdown as consumers embrace its newest BlackBerry smartphones.

U.S. banks that have received government aid, including Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co, are considering buying toxic assets to be sold by rivals under the Treasury's $1,000 billion plan to revive the financial system, the Financial Times said.

Stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Friday, as investors were poised to book a portion of their recent hefty gains ahead of key U.S. monthly jobs data.

Google Inc may be in talks to buy internet start-up Twitter, the free micro-blogging service that allows people to send short text messages to a network of friends, the TechCrunch website said late Thursday

The struggling U.S. economy probably continued to bleed jobs at a rapid rate in March, continuing to drive up the jobless rate at a startling pace.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is the front-runner to buy Citigroup's Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial Securities in a deal that could be announced as early as May, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Business activity in European countries fell in March, but the pace slowed as efforts to revive economies took hold and pessimism ebbed after a plan by world leaders to kick start a global recovery.

The struggling U.S. economy probably continued to bleed jobs at a rapid rate in March, continuing to drive up the jobless rate at a startling pace.

Oil rose above $53 a barrel on Friday after surging by nearly 9 percent the day before, as global markets continued to see the outcome of the G20 summit as positive for an eventual recovery from economic recession.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Friday, as investors were poised to book a portion of their recent hefty gains ahead of key U.S. monthly jobs data.

World stocks slipped on Friday, handing back some of the gains made after Group of 20 leaders presented a united front to combat the financial crisis as investors grew cautious ahead of a key U.S. jobs report. At their London summit, G20 leaders pledged $1.1 trillion of additional funds to the International Monetary Fund and other institutions and to boost trade finance.

Oil slid to under $52 a barrel on Friday, retreating from the previous session's near 9 percent surge, as expectations of a continued weakness in near-term energy demand prompted investors to take profit.

AMR Corp's American Airlines is in early talks to raise cash from its credit card partner, Citigroup , by selling it frequent flyer miles, the Financial Times reported citing people familiar with the matter.