IBT Staff Reporter

Most major global equity indexes fell and safe-haven Treasuries rose on Friday as concerns lingered before the weekend that troubles in U.S. credit markets might spread.

Lear Corp., which has faced criticism for accepting billionaire Carl Icahn's $36-per-share buyout offer, delayed a shareholder vote on the deal until July 12, the auto parts maker said on Friday.

Furniture retailer Pier 1 Imports, Inc. reported a wider than expected fiscal first quarter loss Thursday. It also said it may need to close down more stores than originally planned.

Shares of AES Corp. rose on Friday after they received an upgrade to buy from hold from Citigroup, which said the power company's weak recent share performance and good outlook provide an entry point for investors.

Goldman Sachs’ (NYSE: GS) real estate fund, Whitehall, has agreed to acquire hotel owner Equity Inns, Inc. (NYSE: ENN) in a deal worth $1.27 billion, not including debt, the companies announced Thursday.

Media companies fear that video recording software will facilitate piracy and rob them of lucrative advertising revenue just as they are making more TV shows, movies and video available online.

Researchers at a U.S. company trying to push the margins of stem cell research said on Friday they had grown human embryonic stem cells using a non-controversial method that did not harm the embryos.

A dispute over the place of competition policy in a European Union reform treaty was resolved at a summit on Friday after free-marketeers reached an agreement with France.

Pearson Plc (NYSE: PSO) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) dropped plans on Thursday to propose a bid that would have rivaled News Corp.’s $5 billion offer for Down Jones & Co., Inc. (NYSE: DJ), publisher of the Wall Street Journal.

Yahoo Inc. said Thursday that it will acquire the college and high school sports website Rivals.com, bolstering its current top rated sports offerings.

Shares of Cognos, Inc. (TSX: CSN) fell more than 2 percent on Friday, a day after Canada’s largest software developer forecast a second fiscal quarter profit short of analysts’ estimates.

Congo is ready to cancel more than half its timber contracts to protect the world's second biggest tropical forest but it wants more aid from foreign governments to help do so, the environment minister said.

UK oil major BP Plc agreed to sell its interest in the Siberian Kovykta gas field to state-controlled Gazprom at a knock-down price on Friday, as the Kremlin continues to tighten its grip over Russia's oil and gas industry.

Asia is set to overtake Europe's early lead in adopting mobile television broadcasting as Europe struggles to find available airwaves for broadcasts, industry executives at an Asian trade fair said this week.

Cablevision Systems Corp. said on Thursday it will have the capability to carry more than 500 channels of high definition television programming by year-end as competition mounts from satellite TV and telephone operators.

Bear Stearns Cos., trying to prevent the collapse of two of its hedge funds, may take over about $3.2 billion of the funds' loans to prevent creditors from seizing more assets, Bloomberg reported on its Web site on Friday.

Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. said on Thursday it has suspended plans to sell Manhunt 2 after the title was slapped with restrictive ratings for its extreme violence.

Key trade representatives from the U.S. , EU Brazil, and India could resume talks.

Nigerian unions threatened to disrupt power and water supplies on Friday after talks collapsed on the third day of a general strike to protest against a rise in fuel prices.

Archer Daniels Midland Co., the largest U.S. ethanol producer, is considering a purchase of Brazil's Cosan SA as ADM prepares to enter Brazil's sugarcane ethanol business, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Friday.

Zimbabwe's currency plunged to new depths on Friday as the U.S. ambassador to Harare predicted galloping inflation will force President Robert Mugabe from office before the end of the year.

Jones Apparel Group Inc. is near a deal to sell the Barneys New York high-end clothing chain for $825 million to Dubai's private equity firm Istithmar, The New York Times reported on Friday.

The yen weakened further on Friday, hitting a record low versus the euro and a 4-1/2 year trough against the dollar as investors chased high return assets at the expense of the low-yielding Japanese currency.

Blackstone Group LP priced its initial public offering at the top end of the range on Thursday, even as lawmakers pushed for its delay, raising $4.13 billion in the largest U.S. IPO since 2002.

Blackstone Group LP's (NYSE: BX) initial public offering raised billions of dollars for its employees, but the private equity firm's shares might have performed even better if it weren't for the potential tax headaches, analysts said on Friday.

If Boeing Co. has been rocked by this week's stack of new plane deals announced by rival Airbus, it certainly isn't showing it.

Hundreds of Japanese companies have erected takeover defenses to protect themselves from hostile takeovers in recent months, but the courts may tear some of them down, breaching the walls of fortress Japan for outsiders to acquire underperforming firms.

NYSE Euronext Inc. has entered the competition for the Borsa Italiana by submitting a preliminary bid to rival the London Stock Exchange Group's offer, according to the online edition of the Wall Street Journal.

The London Stock Exchange's offer for Borsa Italiana is worth about 1.6 billion euros ($2.14 billion), sources close to the situation said on Friday, a shade above a reported rival bid from NYSE Euronext and giving Borsa heavy board representation.