IBT Staff Reporter

Apple made a splash on Thursday unveiling new software for its venerable iPhone, making the device more assessable to software developers and enterprise customers, but investors took a mixed view of the announcement on Friday.

Boeing said late Friday that it may protest the U.S Air Forces decision to chose air tankers made by rival companies to replace its own aging fleet.

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The Federal Reserve on Friday announced emergency measures to add $200 billion into the banking system in a bid to ease persistent liquidity strains that are leading to a global credit freeze.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Friday said Delphi Corp can proceed with an exit financing deal

Apple made a splash on Thursday unveiling new software for its venerable iPhone, making the device more assessable to software developers and enterprise customers, but investors took a mixed view of the announcement on Friday.

Copper prices closed with gains on Friday despite of an earlier decline triggered by fears of an economic recession in the U.S.

Treasury prices gave back earlier gains on Friday after the Federal Reserve announced a plan to boost loans to banks, offsetting early news that the U.S. lost more jobs than expected in February.

The dollar rose after dipping to new all-time lows against the euro on Friday as a report of bigger than expected job losses took a back seat to a plan by the Fed to give additional loans to banks.

Gold futures ended a volatile trading session with a modest loss Friday after the government reported the biggest drop in nonfarm payrolls in five years, signaling the U.S. economy might already be in a recession.

Crude oil prices hit a new record in New York above $106 on concerns the U.S. Federal Reserve will add more cuts on interest rates.

Japan stocks plunged more than 3 per cent because of increasing concern for the U.S. housing market. Investors also worried for Japanese steelmakers stocks that are declining these days.

Halifax has said that house price growth is continuing to slow, with prices in the UK falling by 0.3 per cent in February, according to its latest monthly survey.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has announced a drop in pre-tax profits from £776.5 million in 2006 down to £535.6 million last year.

Soybeans declined on Friday, posting the highest loss since July 2005, after China canceled some contracts for buying soybean oil.

Cotton posted the second straight decline on Friday on concerns that U.S. recession may reduce demand, and on signs that textile mills are reducing purchases.

U.S. stocks were mixed on Friday on news of the biggest drop in nonfarm payrolls in nearly five years while semiconductor and financial shares gained. Chip maker Intel Corp rose 1.9 percent to $20.25 after falling earlier in the week after it cut its quarterly gross margin forecast, helping to boost the tech-heavy Nasdaq index. Both the Dow Jones and Standard &Poor's Index were in the red in morning trading.

Microsoft is in talks with Sony to bring the Japanese company's next generation Blu-Ray drive to its Xbox 360 game console.

Apple posted the highest growth rates in terms of shipments, among the top 6 computer vendors according to research released this week.

Whoopi Goldberg expressed concern and support for her friend Patrick Swayze after hearing of his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, while his publicist said his career is not slowing down.

Soybeans declined on Thursday amid speculations that harvests for March and April in Brazil and Argentine may reduce demand for U.S. exports.

Walt Disney Co. said Thursday it will team up with several Japanese studios to produce animated features targeting Asian markets as it moves to adapt to regional tastes, the company said.

Copper futures fell from a record high on Thursday as investors locked in profits and a report of rising U.S. mortgage foreclosures raised concerns of weakinging demand.

Treasuries rose on Thursday as concerns over the credit and housing markets sent investors to the protection of safe-haven investments, including government bonds.

The dollar found no reprieve in the Thursday session ahead of tomorrow’s closely watched February labor report – stumbling to fresh all-time lows against the euro just shy of the 1.54-mark and a 3-year low versus the yen at 102.56.

Apple Inc said on Thursday it will start supporting Microsoft Corp's Exchange product for corporate email, opening a potential new market for the popular iPhone.

Crude oil futures prices dropped as traders sold contracts to gain profits from a record high near $106. Other investors bought oil to compensate for a falling dollar.