MARKETS / FINANCE

The top after-market NYSE Friday were MPG Office Trust, E-House (China) Holdings, Pzena Investment Management, MetLife and Key Energy Services. The top after-market NYSE losers were Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, JinkoSolar Holding Co, Blyth, KAR Auction Services and EnergySolutions Inc.

Most of the Asian markets fell in the week as investor confidence was weighed down by the intensifying tensions between China and Japan, raising concerns of economic slowdown and undermining the stimulus measures announced by the Bank of Japan.

An independent study found California's debt is likely billions of dollars more than previously reported.

The deleveraging of credit-card balances by U.S. consumers has not dampened analysts' optimism about the share prices of credit-card companies.

Honey Boo Boo and her family are seeking $10,000 an episode, more than twice their current salary.

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivered the following speech on Friday on the economic reforms that were unveiled last week.

The Chicago teachers' strike is over, but the one in Kenya continues as unions fight for a massive salary increase.

Authorities say Klein Michael Thaxton updated his Facebook page while taking a hostage inside a Pittsburgh office building

"The House at the End of the Street," starring "Hunger Games" actress Jennifer Lawrence, is getting incredibly poor reviews.

Signs that Spain's economic reforms are advancing and booming sales of Apple Inc.'s iPhone 5 contributed Friday to a global risk-on sentiment that helped lift U.S. stocks.

A French court has rejected a bid by animal rights advocates to ban bullfighting.

Labor unrest spreads in South Africa as miners began striking at AngloGold's Kopanang gold mine.

Apple's iPhone 5 phone may sell as many as 10 million units by Monday as customers flooded Apple Stores and mobile carriers.

The release of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 5 could push the company’s stock prices up to $850, analysts have predicted. The highly-anticipated smartphone from Apple is expected to push out up to 6 million units in its first weekend alone, marking what could be the largest Apple handset launch in history.

The service outage, which lasted for several hours starting in the early hours of Friday morning, came as arch rival Apple [AAPL] launched their latest iPhone.

Deutsche Bank is reportedly set to fire more than 500 employees in Germany, various financial media outlets reported Friday, but the Frankfurt-based bank is denying the reports.

Israel Defense Forces have thwarted a potential large-scale terrorist attack along the border with Egypt, killing three terrorists.

The world's largest rights-holder to music, Vivendi's Universal Music Group, has been approved by EU regulators to acquire EMI, with conditions.

General Motors Co is recalling 473,841 Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn sedans globally to fix a condition that could cause the cars to roll over when the drivers think they are in park gear, the No. 1 U.S. automaker said on Friday.

The problems started at around 8 am GMT this morning,with many Blackberry users unable to access the internet, send and receive emails or use instant messaging service BBM from their devices.

ICICI Bank Ltd, Tata Motors Ltd, AK Steel Holding Corp, Groupon Inc, Altria Group Inc, ASML Holding, Citigroup and Weatherford International Ltd. are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Friday.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Friday amid investor hopes that the stimulus measures announced this month by policymakers around the world will be able to rejuvenate global economic growth momentum.

Asian stocks advanced Friday as the commitment of the central banks to support global economic growth continued to buoy investor sentiment.

The German DAX 30 index advanced 0.40 percent or 29.68 points to 7419.17. Shares of Commerzbank AG rose 0.84 percent and shares of Volkswagen AG climbed 0.70 percent.

Moody’s has cautioned the Indian government against a roll back of diesel price hike under pressure. The rating agency’s warning came in the background of speculations that the Congress-led government may partially roll back the recent hike in diesel prices and increase the cap on subsidized cooking gas cylinders to quell the public’s opposition to the reform measures it had announced recently.

Following Samsung’s foot-steps, Finnish firm Nokia has released an infographic, in which it attempted to show that the recently unveiled Lumia 920, its first Windows Phone 8 device, is way better when compared to Apple’s newest bet, the one and only iPhone 5.

The top after-market NYSE gainers Thursday were Stone Energy Corp, Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corp, Michael Kors Holdings Ltd, XPO Logistics and Promotora De Informaciones SA. The top after-market NYSE losers were Petrobras Argentina S.A, Blackrock High Income Shares, Steelcase Inc, Monster Worldwide and AuRico Gold Inc.

Most of the Asian markets rose Friday amid investor hopes that the stimulus measures announced this month by policymakers around the world will be able to bolster the global economic growth.