IBT Staff Reporter

Stock index futures were little changed on Friday, with bank stocks in focus after bailed-out British lender Lloyds Banking Group Plc said it would return to profitability in 2010.

Most investors confuse money and currency, but they are not the same thing. Money is defined as a medium of exchange, a unit of account and a store of value.

Stock index futures were little changed on Friday, with bank stocks in focus after bailed-out British lender Lloyds Banking Group Plc said it would return to profitability in 2010.

A government watchdog faulted the Federal Aviation Administration for allowing Southwest Airlines Co to fly jets that had not undergone mandatory maintenance work, violating stipulated safety rules, the Wall Street Journal said.

Australia's Arrow Energy Ltd asked for trading in its shares to be suspended on Friday, stoking speculation that Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina would sweeten their joint $3 billion offer for the coal-seam gas producer.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed opening on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.02 percent, Dow Jones up 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 down 0.01 percent at 1008 GMT (6:08 a.m. ET).

Google Inc may make an announcement next Monday about whether it will pull out from China, the China Business News reported on Friday, quoting an unnamed Google employee.

China on Friday said it was sending an envoy to Washington to try to ease trade frictions as its currency regime comes under fire, warning that threats from U.S. legislators could stifle room for progress.

Technology powerhouses Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics reinforced market optimism that strong demand recovery is in place, while cautioning that competition from global rivals is heating up.

European shares rose modestly on Friday, lifted by gains in banking stocks, but concerns over Greece's large debt burden remained, keeping the euro on the back foot against the dollar.

Asian stocks rose for a sixth straight week on Friday, their longest string of weekly gains since a global bull market began a year ago, with consumer-related shares leading the way on hopes of a steady economic recovery.

China's quality control watchdog said an investigation into Hewlett-Packard Co showed the company had sold some faulty laptop computers, and ignored consumer protection regulations.

A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday barred the financial news service Theflyonthewall.com from issuing immediate news about analyst research from several Wall Street banks, often before recommendations are shared with clients.

Google Inc could win a widely expected victory next week in Europe's top court and still face many more battles over keyword advertising, the backbone of its Internet business model.

Extreme Obesity problem for the majority of children in America.

Horseback riding in Australia to be used as a charity event for campaigns against breast cancer

Viacom Inc accused Google Inc of turning a blind eye to illegal video clips on its YouTube site in a bid to attract viewers, according to court documents released on Thursday.

The Australian Dollar opens marginally lower today at 0.9204 and spent most of yesterday's local session consolidating around the US92 cent mark.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc fired new allegations at Barclays Capital Inc on Thursday, saying the British investment bank got a $13 billion windfall profit from its deal to buy Lehman's U.S. brokerage in September 2008.

The momentum of the rally pushed the stock market to close up slightly as Thursday's data indicated that the job market is stabilizing, inflation is subdued, and the manufacturing sector is expanding.

Jerry York, a long-time adviser to billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian and executive whose career spanned the auto and technology industries, has died, Apple Inc said on Thursday.

The Dow industrials rose for an eighth consecutive session on Thursday, lifted by a rise in Boeing's stock, while a mixed group of economic figures kept the broader S&P 500 in check.

The Dow industrials advanced for an eighth consecutive session on Thursday, lifted by a rise in Boeing's stock, while a mixed group of economic figures kept the broader S&P 500 in check.

Sony is teaming up with European movie-rental firm Lovefilm to offer TV viewers in Britain instant access to films from the Web, as a land grab for space on Internet-connected televisions gets under way.

Four top Federal Reserve officials urged Congress on Thursday not to strip the U.S. central bank of the authority to supervise small banks, saying they would lose an important finger on the pulse of the economy that helps them guide monetary policy.

President Barack Obama canceled his trip to Asia and Australia to monitor a critical vote on the health care bill, White House's spokesman Robert Gibbs said during a press briefing Thursday.

Labor market and consumer prices data on Thursday showed the U.S. economy is on a moderate growth path and inflation pressures are contained, backing up the Federal Reserve's vow to keep benchmark interest rates ultra-low for some time.

Google Inc accused Viacom Inc of secretly uploading its videos to YouTube even as the media conglomerate publicly denounced the online video site for copyright infringement, according to court documents made public on Thursday.

Aviation regulators on Thursday proposed their second fine in a week against American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp , for alleged maintenance violations.