IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Friday, extending losses from the previous session, as investors became concerned about the inflationary effects of the Federal Reserve's move to buy long-term Treasuries.

Sony Ericsson sparked fresh fear of crumbling consumer demand on Friday when the world's No 4 handset maker said it would sell barely half of the phones it sold last quarter.By Tarmo Virki, European technology correspondent

Robot fish developed by British scientists are to be released into the sea off north Spain to detect pollution.

By Chris Baldwin

By Carolyn Cohn

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will use new authority to bar lending practices by mortgage brokers who have deceived borrowers, Bloomberg said, citing the FTC's chairman.

German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp plans to cut more than 3,000 jobs or about 1.5 percent of its total staff amid a slump in demand, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

The board of Satyam Computer Services Ltd began a meeting on Friday as the deadline neared for suitors to submit their expressions of interest in acquiring a majority stake in the fraud-hit Indian outsourcer.

Stiefel Laboratories Inc, a privately held pharmaceutical maker, is considering selling itself in a deal that could be worth several billion dollars, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. The potential sale has drawn interest from a number of major drug companies, including Johnson & Johnson , Novartis AG and GlaxoSmithKline PLC

The U.S. dollar edged higher on Friday but still headed for its biggest weekly fall in 24 years on investor fears that it will lose its status as the world's reserve currency, while oil prices ceded ground after a recent rally.

By Rafael Nam

By Fayen Wong

Venezuela will go ahead with the nationalization of the local unit of Spanish bank Grupo Santander, President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday, weeks after officials said the purchase was on hold.

The U.S. House of Representatives swiftly passed a bill on Thursday to recoup controversial bonuses paid to American International Group Inc as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner tried to calm the furor by taking responsibility.

Top U.S. movie rental chain Blockbuster Inc beat Wall Street earnings estimates and said it had reached agreements with most creditors to restructure debt due in August.

Bank of America Corp was involved in accounting for fourth-quarter writedowns at Merrill Lynch & Co before it acquired the brokerage firm, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

By Stuart Grudgings

As they struggle to close ballooning budget deficits amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, many U.S. state and local governments will be tempted to follow the example of Chicago.

U.S. video game sales rose 10 percent in February to $1.47 billion, led again by Nintendo's blockbuster Wii console, as gaming continued to show resilience despite an economic downturn that has sapped consumer spending.

Hardware makers Advanced Micro Devices Nvidia have released graphics software that supports both current-generation Microsoft Windows Vista and XP operating systems as well as next-generation Windows 7.

Microsoft Corp. has released its latest edition of its Internet Explorer Web browser touting its new security features on Thursday, after almost a year of public beta testing.

UBS, one of the world’s leading financial firms, said Thursday that it is offering to buy back up to 1 billion euros ($1.30 billion) of its outstanding bonds to bolster up the bank’s Tier 1 capital ratio, using the available cash.

Terrafugia Inc., an aircraft company, announced the successful seven flights of its Transition Roadable Aircraft.

Palm Inc on Thursday said its upcoming Pre phone needs more polishing but that it was on track to start selling the high profit device in the first half of the year as it looks to grab back smartphone business from rivals.

Top U.S. movie rental chain Blockbuster Inc beat Wall Street earnings estimates and said it had reached agreements with most creditors to restructure debt due in August.

By Stuart Grudgings

Ford Motor launched its $2.95 billion asset-backed securities offering backed by auto loans under the Federal Reserve's new Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facilities on Thursday, market sources said.

Palm Inc on Thursday posted a 70 percent drop in quarterly revenue, as the poor economy aggravated already weak demand for its older phones, and shipments of its new Treo Pro phone were delayed.

General Electric Co's hefty finance arm expects to be profitable this year even though the economy may drive its profit down, nearer to $2 billion to $2.5 billion than to a $5 billion figure it gave in December, a top GE executive said on Thursday.