IBT Staff Reporter

Sino-Forest Corp has asked a Canadian bankruptcy court to approve an agreement providing for either the sale of the embattled Chinese forestry company to a third party, or a restructuring enabling note holders to acquire nearly all of its assets.

Stocks bounced back from a string of declines on Friday, on track to close their strongest quarter in more than two years on a positive note.

Research In Motion posted a net loss and its first slump in BlackBerry shipments for its holiday quarter since 2006, as its new CEO announced the initial steps in a strategic overhaul and would not rule out an eventual sale of the company.

U.S. consumer spending increased by the most in seven months in February as households shook off a rise in gasoline prices, leading economists to raise forecasts for first-quarter growth.

Now that the Supreme Court has given a glimpse of how it will consider the healthcare overhaul, more investors in health insurance stocks are breathing easier about the eventual ruling.

Consumer spending increased by the most in seven months in February as households shook off a rise in gasoline prices, suggesting the economy may not have slowed as much this quarter as economists had thought.

China responded to U.S. claims of alleged involvement in cyberattacks by calling the accusations irresponsible and unprofessional. A defense ministry official attacked attempts to implicate Beijing without proper investigation and irrefutable evidence.

Consumer confidence rebounded to its highest level in 13 months at the end of March as optimism about jobs and income overcame higher prices at the gasoline pump, according to a survey released on Friday.

The S&P cut early gains to turn negative on Friday, putting it on track to extend a losing streak to four straight sessions.

Stocks rose modestly on Friday, rebounding after a string of declines with equities on track for their strongest quarter in more than two years.

Saudi Arabia is likely to burn less crude in its power plants this summer thanks to rising output from dedicated gas fields and gas that would be associated with any increase in oil output to make up for lower Iranian production.

Apple Inc and its main contract manufacturing Foxconn agreed to tackle violations of conditions among the 1.2 million workers assembling iPhones and iPads in a landmark decision that could change the way Western companies do business in China.

In its latest bid to slow dollar inflows in a global currency war, Brazil has dealt an unexpected blow to its own commodity exporters, choking off medium-term trade financing at a vulnerable time for the sector.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday after a string of declines, with equities on track for their strongest quarter in more than two years.

Honda Motor Co Ltd is recalling about 554,000 sport utility vehicles in the United States to inspect for faulty wiring in headlights.

Executives of U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs are due to take their Indian charm offensive to the capital, New Delhi, on Friday, sources said, after courting business leaders and holding their first annual board meeting in the country.

Stock index futures were higher on Friday as bargain hunters entered the market after a string of declines, putting equities on track to record their strongest quarter in more than two years.

Stock index futures were higher on Friday as bargain hunters entered the market after a string of declines, putting equities on track to record their strongest quarter in more than two years.

BHP Billiton's veteran iron ore chief, Ian Ashby, is stepping down after 25 years with the world's biggest miner, it said on Friday, clearing the way for a new leader to complete the company's long-term $11 billion iron ore expansion.

French airline Air France is not considering a capital increase, Chief Executive Alexandre de Juniac said on Friday, after a newspaper reported earlier this week that auditors had given executives two years to recapitalize the carrier.

Euro zone finance ministers have agreed to boost the currency bloc's debt crisis firewall to roughly 800 billion euros ($1.06 trillion), Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said on Friday.

When Chinese worker Wu Jun heard that her employer, the giant electronics assembly company Foxconn, had given employees landmark concessions her reaction was worry, not elation.

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.3 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.4 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.2 percent at 1007 GMT.

It is a marriage made in heaven for shopping addicts. Social shopping, the merger of social networking and e-commerce which has hooked millions of users in the United States, has now captured the attention of China's Internet giant.

More than $5 billion was wiped off the market value of Sun Hung Kai Properties on Friday, after the billionaire owners of Asia's largest real estate developer were arrested on suspicion of corruption.

Two U.S. clean tech companies plan to go public on Friday, as executives and bankers increasingly bet that high energy prices and more proven technology will make investors forget the sector's recent flameouts.

Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd said on Friday it was raising domestic and international fares for the second time in as many months to partially offset high jet fuel prices.

Semiconductor manufacturer Micron Technology Inc said late on Thursday it has reached a deal with software giant Oracle to settle a lawsuit filed by Oracle over price increases for memory chips.

Star natural gas trader David Coolidge is returning a quarter of Velite Capital's assets to investors, seeking to prevent his Houston-based hedge fund from growing too big for the narrow gas market as prices plunge to 10-year lows.