IBT Staff Reporter

Cyber activists striking at companies seen as enemies of WikiLeaks tried to block the website of online payment firm Moneybookers on Friday but denied their campaign was intended to damage economic activity.

Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors Co will allow drivers of their electric vehicles to share battery chargers at their 2,900 dealerships nationwide in a bid to increase the popularity and convenience of the eco-friendly cars, report said.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp on Thursday announced its plans to invest $532 million in a new Thailand plant, where it will manufacture 'global small' cars in March 2012.

Wall Street was set for a slightly higher open on Friday following encouraging data out of China and as a two-year high in the S&P 500 had investors betting on a year-end rally.

Despite having strong sales on Black Friday, most consumers are still being cautious about holiday spending, with the majority of them saying they plan to spend about the same as last year, according to a report by NPD Group.

comScore (NASDAQ:SCOR) said online holiday spending in the United States exceeded $17.5 billion for the first 35 days of the November-December shopping season. Free shipping surged to more than 50 percent of all the E-Commerce transactions.

Cyber activists striking at companies seen as enemies of WikiLeaks sought to block the website of online payment firm Moneybookers on Friday but denied their campaign was intended to damage economic activity.

Hybrids are set to sound the death knell for petrol-powered company cars, which could almost be obsolete within a decade, says a new survey.

Dell Inc's billionaire chief executive, arguing that his efforts to transform his company have gone unnoticed by some on Wall Street, wants to drive the acquisitions that will prove crucial to its long-term future.

China's central bank on Friday said it was raising lenders' required reserves by 50 basis points, effective Dec 20, its sixth increase this year.

The assault of Wikileaks forced US military to ban the usage of CDs, DVDs and USB flash drives on its internal network, SIPRNET, reports suggest. The latest move is likely to force Pentagon to revert to using a rather conventional data-transfer medium. Memos sent out earlier this week by the defense department also warn of court martial to military personnel found in violation of the order.

'Black Swan' actress Natalie Portman has been named the new face of Dior.

European central bankers told euro zone governments on Friday not to count on the ECB to solve the single currency bloc's debt crisis alone as the leaders of Germany and France met to plot strategy before a key EU summit.

One of China's largest social networking companies, Oak Pacific Interactive, has hired investment banks for an initial public offering in the United States next year, the first in a rush of Chinese Facebook clones looking to list.

One of China's largest social networking companies, Oak Pacific Interactive, has hired investment banks for an initial public offering in the United States in the first half of next year, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.

WikiLeaks said on Friday it had no links to cyber attacks on global companies seen as enemies of the website and neither supported nor condemned the online campaign.

Consumer electronics maker Panasonic Corp said on Friday it sees no strong recovery in year-end sales in North America and Europe, but expects to pull its loss-making TV unit into the black in the January-March quarter.

World stocks edged higher on Friday as investors grew more confident about the prospect for economic recovery following robust U.S. and Chinese data while Treasuries stabilized after a sell-off earlier this week.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rise 0.1 to 0.3 percent, pointing to a firmer start on Wall Street on Friday.

Chinese imports and exports jumped in November, bank lending topped forecasts and property investment powered ahead, a series of numbers that could clear the way for the central bank to raise interest rates as soon as this weekend.

Japanese stocks fell on Friday after a rise to a seven-month high earlier in the day prompted profit taking, although they outperformed the rest of Asia this week, while U.S. Treasuries steadied on the view yields had risen too high, too quickly.

Component suppliers for Apple Inc's iPad are gearing up for a new round of production in the first quarter, sources said on Friday, with one saying the product will be a revamp of the popular tablet computer including front- and back-mounted cameras.

U.S. aviation regulators are drafting enhanced inspection mandates to step up their examinations of more than 600 Boeing Co's 757 airplanes worldwide, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

A strong turnout by shoppers for Black Friday boosted U.S. video game sales 8 percent last month, marking the strongest November on record, but sales for the whole year are likely to be flat at best, according to retail research firm NPD Group.

Japanese stocks slipped from a seven-month high on Friday on profit taking, though were poised to outperform the rest of Asia this week, while U.S. Treasuries were steady on the view yields had risen too high, too quickly.

China's imports and exports were much stronger than expected in November, robust numbers that could clear the way for the central bank to raise interest rates as soon as this weekend.

TSMC, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, saw its smallest year-on-year sales growth in four months as demand slowed, while analysts say a new crop of smartphones and tablet PCs could spur demand next year.

Venezuela plans to include the Internet in a law that regulates the media, under a proposed bill presented to parliament on Thursday that the opposition claims will result in censorship.

Boeing said it could not see a compelling reason to follow European rival Airbus in upgrading its best-selling single-aisle passenger plane, its commercial aircraft chief told the Financial Times.