AFP - The slowdown in the US economy is not as bad as previously estimated, the International Monetary Fund said Friday, lifting its growth estimates slightly for 2008 and 2009.

Reuters - Stocks extended their losses on Friday after Standard and Poor's said it may cut the credit rating of the Big Three automakers, compounding banking-related jitters also driving the market lower.

Reuters - The fate of the world's largest leveraged buyout hangs in the balance ahead of Friday afternoon's decision by the Supreme Court of Canada on whether BCE Inc treated its bondholders unfairly in agreeing to a $34.8 billlion ($34.5 billion) takeover.

Reuters - Merrill Lynch & Co shares fell 5.5 percent Friday on rumors that the investment bank may issue a profit warning and take additional write-downs on its mortgage holdings, traders said.

Reuters - Ford Motor Co said on Friday it would slash output and delay a new version of its top-selling F-150 pickup truck due to a deepening slump in U.S. sales it warned would weigh on results this year and next.

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.