IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks rose on Friday on a report the U.S. Treasury will soon unveil a plan to help stem the subprime mortgage crisis and on comments by Fed chief Ben Bernanke that added to expectations of an interest-rate cut.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce could have up to C$10 billion ($10 billion) in hedged exposure to the U.S. subprime mortgage sector, a newspaper said on Friday.

Royal Bank of Canada reported a five-percent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Friday, as earnings growth in Canadian retail banking and wealth management offset weaker U.S. banking and capital markets results.

J.C. Flowers upped the stakes in the rescue battle for Northern Rock, offering to improve its bid but also warning it would walk away if the government won't talk, a person close to the U.S. buyout firm said.

Major drug makers AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer Inc said on Friday they were upbeat about their prospects in the Japanese market, citing a sea change in the regulatory environment and mild generic competition.

Fujitsu Ltd said on Friday it was in talks with the Taiwan government about cooperating in the development of WiMAX chips, used in high-speed wireless networks.

Mobile phone maker Motorola Inc said on Friday that Chief Executive Ed Zander will step down on January 1 and be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Greg Brown.

Sharp currency moves and a dollar slump have prompted many retail investors to turn to foreign exchange to yield returns in troubled markets.

Labor negotiators for the major Hollywood studios presented striking screenwriters on Thursday with a new set of proposed pay formulas for digital media, but the writers' union immediately rebuffed the offer as far too stingy.

In retrospect, once all the Oscar-season fireworks are over, it's often possible to view the eventual winner as an exemplar of the prevailing zeitgeist. Chicago (2002) seemed to ride a growing wave of cynicism about the interplay between celebrity, the media and the justice system.

Sony Corp said it plans to sell auto-related programs such as the BBC's Top Gear series to users of its PlayStation 3 via the Internet, strengthening the game machine's appeal as a gateway to the Web.

Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 outsold Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii game console in Japan in November for the first time, raising the prospect that Sony might regain its dominance in the global videogame market.

Google Inc was set to announce on Friday it will bid on coveted airwaves to launch a U.S. wireless network, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

CEO pay in the hard-hit U.S. home-building sector is high compared with most other industries, and a big chunk of the compensation is from annual bonuses that aren't tied to long-term performance, a new study has found.

Big Lots Inc on Friday reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on improved cost controls, but the closeout retailer said it now expects same-store sales to fall in the holiday quarter amid weak demand for toys and home goods.

Newmont Mining Corp, the world's No. 2 gold producer, on Friday said it agreed to sell its royalty assets and other non-core investments to Franco-Nevada Corp in a deal worth about $1.3 billion.

The Colombian government broadcast videos on Friday of kidnapped politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans in the first proof since 2003 that the high-profile rebel hostages were still alive.

An economic recession could hammer those media and entertainment companies that rely heavily on advertising next year, curtailing experimentation when the industry needs it most.

U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday stepped up pressure on lawmakers to pass his Iraq war funding request, while a senior Democrat said a deal might be possible.

Facebook is good for keeping up with high-flying buddies, MySpace is for teenage offspring and the BlackBerry is a full-time addiction, according to top media executives who were quizzed on their personal media habits at this week's Reuters Media Summit.

Gold firmed in narrow ranges on Friday, struggling to recapture the key $800 mark and taking refuge from sharp swings in oil and currency markets.

European stocks opened at a two-week high on Friday while the yen slipped, as expectations grew of U.S. interest rate cuts that could stem the slowdown in the world's largest economy.

Iraqi security forces arrested dozens of people, including the son of a leading Sunni Arab politician, in a pre-dawn raid on Friday after a car rigged with explosives was found near the lawmaker's office.

China's main stock index fell 2.6 percent on Friday, led by index heavyweights such as PetroChina, ending November with a loss of 18 percent -- its biggest monthly drop since July 1994.

Iran pledged to pursue its disputed atomic program as Europe's top diplomat met Tehran's main nuclear negotiator on Friday in a last effort to avert tougher sanctions.

Oil tumbled more than $2 to a one-month low below $89 a barrel on Friday as attention returned to next week's OPEC meeting that is expected to boost output.

The yen fell broadly on Friday and high-yielders gained after comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cemented expectations of easier monetary policy, which may help the U.S. economy to avoid a recession.

A Turkish domestic airliner crashed in the mountains in southwest Turkey on Friday, killing all 57 people on board, officials said

The Bush Administration is close to agreeing on a pact with major financial institutions that would temporarily freeze interest rates on certain subprime loans, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the negotiations. The plans' details, which could be announced as soon as next week, are still being ironed out, the Journal said.