The British pound rose sharply after the Scottish independence vote indicated Scotland would remain in the United Kingdom, while Wall Street's overnight gains and Alibaba Group's red-hot initial public offering underpinned Asian shares.
Industry
Yahoo options volume hits record on Alibaba's market debut
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's record public offering of shares on Friday further spurred already elevated activity in Yahoo Inc's options, pushing volume on the U.S. Internet company to a one-day record high.
Other automakers to challenge Tesla in over-the-air software upgrades
Electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc on Friday announced it is rolling out a software upgrade over-the-air to its current Model S owners, a unique ability that other automakers are expected to offer within a few years.
Wall St. flat as Oracle takes air out of Alibaba debut
U.S. stocks closed little changed on Friday after Alibaba's strong debut was offset by falling technology shares as Oracle and Yahoo stumbled, but the Dow managed to edge higher to set a record for a second straight session.
Vivendi, Telefonica seal $9.3 billion Brazilian broadband deal
French media group Vivendi has finalised an agreement to sell its Brazilian broadband business GVT to Spain's Telefonica for cash and shares worth around 7.2 billion euros ($9.29 billion), the companies announced on Friday.
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Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) will close its Silicon Valley research-and-development operation as part of 2,100 layoffs announced on Thursday, as it moves toward its new CEO's goal of cutting 18,000 staff, or about 14 percent of its workforce.
Hyatt Hotels Corp (H.N) said it will sell as franchises 38 select service hotels to a company organized by Lone Star Funds for about $590 million.
Private banking hub Luxembourg sought to lure more wealthy investors on Wednesday by opening a high-security center designed to look like a jewel box, where collectors can store and trade valuables without paying customs or sales tax.
Qualcomm Inc executives showed off robots made with smartphone technology at an annual developer conference on Thursday, but they steered clear of talking about China, a key growth market where the chipmaker is entangled in an antitrust investigation.
The Bank of Japan bought one-year government bills at negative yields in market operations on Friday, traders said, setting a new milestone as it pushes its aggressive asset purchase scheme.
Cerner Corp and Athenahealth Inc, two leading U.S. electronic health record providers, said on Thursday they are working with Apple Inc to develop applications that leverage Apple's mobile health service HealthKit.
Singapore will be counting on its marquee Formula One race to help make up for a 30 percent drop in Chinese tourists this year.
German business software maker SAP (SAPG.DE) said on Thursday it has agreed to acquire U.S.-based expense management software maker Concur Technologies Inc (CNQR.O) in an all-stock deal valued at $7.3 billion that expands its presence in internet-based software or so-called cloud computing.
JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) on Thursday named Robin Hayes, its current president and a former British Airways executive, to succeed Dave Barger as chief executive, sending the airline's shares up in after-market trading.
