Reuters - Shares of General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co plummeted after credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's said it may cut the U.S. automakers' ratings.

Reuters - Oil rose towards $133 a barrel on Friday after plunging nearly $5 in the previous session on China's unexpected fuel price rise.

Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve's recent tough talk on inflation served notice to financial markets that the central bank was serious about tamping down price pressures, but it has hit the economy in one of its tenderest spots -- housing.

Reuters - Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (8316.T) may invest about $926 million in British bank Barclays , people familiar with the matter said on Friday, as subprime-hit Western lenders increasingly turn to Asia for funding.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp's CEO said the company will not seek to make a spate of other Internet acquisitions in the wake of its failed bid for Yahoo Inc , the Financial Times reported on Friday.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc is considering a reorganization to centralize its mail, search and homepage divisions into a global product organization, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, quoting people familiar with the matter.

AFP - Retail sales surprisingly soared in Britain during May to show the biggest monthly gain for 22 years, official data showed Thursday, as consumers shrugged off the credit crunch to spend more on clothing and food.

AP - A private business group says its index of leading economic indicators inched higher for the second month in another sign that higher fuel and food prices, tighter credit and a depressed housing market are stifling the economy.

Reuters - China raised retail gasoline and diesel prices on Thursday by up to 18 percent, a move that threatens to stoke domestic angst over decade-high inflation less than two months before Beijing hosts Olympics games.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc could take substantial write-downs for subprime mortgages, leveraged buyout loans and other assets in the second quarter, the company's chief financial officer said on a call with investors on Thursday.

Reuters - The Nasdaq rose on Thursday as top technology companies and other exporters benefited from tumbling oil prices, seen as easing strains on global economic growth.

Reuters - Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were arrested and indicted on securities fraud charges on Thursday following a federal criminal probe into the collapse of two funds they oversaw.

AP - China's economy is weathering the global slowdown better than expected, the World Bank said Thursday as it raised its growth forecast for the Asian giant to 9.8 percent from 9.4 percent.