UNITED STATES

Americans headed to stores in droves to kick off the holiday shopping season on Friday, though many said they were being more selective about what they buy and paring back what they spend.

Major U.S. stock indexes pointed to a drop of about 2 percent at the open on Friday as a possible debt default at a Dubai state-owned conglomerate sparked fears of renewed global financial turmoil.

U.S. stock index futures were sharply lower on Friday, a day after markets were shut for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, as a possible debt default at a Dubai state-owned conglomerate sparked fears of renewed global financial turmoil.

Britain is past the worst of the recession and should return to growth in the fourth quarter, two Bank of England policymakers said, in remarks which support government forecasts the economic downturn is nearly over.

Dubai's debt troubles have exposed the fallacy of its once much-vaunted model of raising shining cities in the desert with foreign residents, finance and labor.

The United States' pattern of consumption funded by credit has an impact on its currency's exchange rate, ECB's governing council member Nout Wellink said on Thursday.

U.S. stock index futures were sharply lower on Friday, a day after markets were shut for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, as a possible debt default at a Dubai state-owned conglomerate sparked fears of renewed global financial turmoil.

U.S. stock index futures were sharply lower on Friday, a day after markets were shut for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, as a possible debt default at a Dubai state-owned conglomerate sparked fears of renewed global financial turmoil.

U.S. stock index futures were sharply lower on Friday, a day after markets were shut for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, as a possible debt default at a Dubai state-owned conglomerate sparked fears of renewed global financial turmoil.

Dubai debt default concerns continued to send shockwaves across the world on Friday, with heightened risk aversion pushing global equities sharply lower and prompting investors to take refuge in government bonds.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a sharp drop when Wall Street reopens on Friday for half a session following Thanksgiving, as fears over Dubai's debt woes knocked stock markets around the world.

Oil prices sank to a six-week low below $73 a barrel on Friday as fears of debt default in Dubai convulsed financial markets and the dollar rose as investors moved into safer assets.

The Bank of Japan stepped closer to currency intervention on Friday than at any time in the last five years by checking exchange rates with commercial banks as the yen rallied to a 14-year high against the dollar.

Fears about a global contagion from Dubai's debt crisis triggered a broad sell-off of world shares, oil and other assets on Friday, fuelling flows into the low-yielding yen and safe-haven government bonds.

Oil prices extended their decline from the previous day to a six-week low of below $74 a barrel on Friday, as nervous investors, roiled by debt problems in Dubai, pared positions and shifted to safe-haven assets.

Investors recoiled from risky assets on Friday and dumped shares in Asian banks and builders, fearing a Dubai debt default could reignite the financial turmoil of the credit crisis.

Asia stocks slumped on Friday as shockwaves from Dubai's debt crisis hit the region, shaking banking shares and boosting the yen to a fresh 14-year high against a struggling dollar as investors unwound risky trades.

Japan's finance minister raised the prospect of a Group of Seven joint statement on currencies to cool the yen's rally as the dollar tumbled to a 14-year low against the yen on Friday.

Americans headed to department stores in droves in the dead of night on Friday to kick off the holiday shopping season, though many said they had pared back how much they would spend on family members and on themselves.

Asian stocks slumped on Friday as the Dubai-debt shockwaves hit the region, shaking banking shares and pushing the yen to a fresh 14-year high against a struggling dollar as investors unwound risky trades.

Japanese consumer price index excluding volatile food and energy prices slid in the year to October at the fastest rate since 2001 with increasing signs that weak demand is weighing on prices, while a tumbling dollar adds to price pressures.