UNITED STATES

U.S. stocks fell on Friday after retail sales rose less than expected and on a mixed reaction to JPMorgan Chase & Co's quarterly earnings, though the S&P was on track to notch a seventh straight week of gains.

U.S. inflation increased a marginal 0.5 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, helping annual inflation rate to rise to a seven-month high, while core prices nudged up by 0.1 percent.

Gold fell in Europe on Friday after China's central bank raised lenders' reserve requirements by 50 basis points, with softer haven demand for the metal after solid bond sales by Portugal and Spain also weighing on prices.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Corinthian Colleges, ICAgen, KLA-Tencor, and Applied Materials. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Coinstar, Kandi Technologies, Hasbro, ARM Holdings, and Qiagen.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Friday after weak retail sales and a mixed reaction to JPMorgan Chase & Co's quarterly earnings.

Brisk walking regularly not only burn off calories, but will also lessen the diabetes risk provided you walk more, say Australian researchers. The researchers say 10,000 steps daily 5 days a week would be three times more protective in insulin sensitivity than 3,000 steps a day.

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, helped by narrowing losses on bad loans that allowed it to release $2 billion of reserves.

Privately owned U.S. orthopedics group Biomet is set to begin informal talks with Smith & Nephew

U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday despite strong quarterly results from JPMorgan Chase & Co as the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 looked to close out a seventh week of gains.

U.S. stock index futures were lower on Friday despite strong quarterly results from JPMorgan Chase as the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 looked to close out a seventh week of gains.

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported fourth-quarter earnings jumped, helped by narrowing losses on bad loans.

World’s largest coffee chain Starbucks Corp on Thursday signed a pact with Tata Coffee Ltd, part of India’s Tata group conglomerate, and Asia’s largest publicly traded coffee grower, to source beans and explore opening retail stores in India.

French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis hopes to reach a takeover deal that would value U.S. target Genzyme at around $76 per share, or some $20 billion, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro said on Friday.

China's central bank raised lenders' required reserves on Friday for the fourth time in just over two months to make good on its vow that inflation fighting will be a top priority for the year.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat to lower open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.02 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.04 percent at 5:11 a.m. ET.

Apollo Group announces the launch of a school under University of Phoenix to provide ongoing education to adults and executives.

The euro was flat against the dollar on Friday, shedding early gains posted on ECB concerns about inflation as China again raised banks' reserve requirements to cool growth rates.

China said that six-party talks were more suitable than the U.N. Security Council for solving the nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday, days before a summit with President Barack Obama.

A U.S. military presence in the Pacific is essential to restrain Chinese assertiveness, Washington's defence chief said on Friday, describing China's technology advances as a challenge to U.S. forces in the region.

China will not bow to foreign demand for faster gains in the yuan and will stick to its gradualist approach in currency reform, senior officials said on Friday, indicating Chinese President Hu Jintao may push back if President Barack Obama presses him on the issue next week.

Some of the top bankers in the United States flocked to a midtown Manhattan law firm on Thursday to make a pitch for managing what could be one of the largest share sales in history -- a secondary offering of potentially $20 billion for bailed-out insurer AIG.