The IntercontinentalExchange is probing trades in U.S. dollar index futures that briefly showed a massive 9% jump on Friday morning.

  Ann Taylor Stores Corp. said Friday that it swung to a third-quarter profit, helped by inventory control that reduced discounts as sales declined more than Wall Street expected.

  Treasury prices rallied again on Friday, sending yields on 2-year notes to the lowest this year, as investors step away from riskier assets to lock in profits as 2009 winds down.

  D.R. Horton Inc., one of the nation’s largest home builders, says its quarterly loss narrowed from the year-ago period as net sales orders rose 26%.

  Hong Kong asset prices could inflate into a bubble next year, disconnecting from economic fundamentals, the head of the city’s central bank says.

  Among the shares expected to see active trade in Friday's session are Dell, Nokia, and J.M. Smucker.

  U.S. stock futures on Friday point to a weaker start, hurt by Dell’s worse-than-forecast profit drop as traders move toward safer securities like bonds.

  A roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters.

  Weakness in commodity-sector stocks weighs on British indexes Friday.

  European stocks turned lower on Friday, with losses from banks offsetting gains for fertilizer makers and food producers.