Mid-Atlantic area showed onThursday only marginally less weakness while the CongressionalBudget Office said the economy will

Mid-Atlantic area showed onThursday only marginally less weakness, while the CongressionalBudget Office said the economy will likely start growing againin the second half of 2009, but with the jobless rate peakingat more than 10 percent against 8.9 percent now.[ID:nN21256165] Hopes for the global economy are also being tempered byconcerns about corporate profits. Shares in Chinese personalcomputer maker Lenovo (0992.HK) slumped 9.4 percent a day afterposting a second consecutive quarterly loss. [ID:nTP371236] In Japan, exporters' shares such as Canon (7751.T) fellamid worries about the strengthening yen eating into profitsearned abroad, leaving the Nikkei average .N225 flat on theday. The MSCI index for Asian stocks outside Japan.MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.8 percent, though it was still on trackfor about a 3.3 percent gain for the week.

The gauge hit a seven-month high on Wednesday, marking a 55percent gain since the yearly low in early March. "We're seeing some consolidation after the markets rose abit too fast. What's been happening this week globally is thatmarkets have gotten a bit of a reality check on the state ofthe overall economy," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfoliomanager at Daiwa SB Investments But among other riskier assets, U.S. crude futures CLc1rose 42 cents to $61.47 a barrel, recouping some of its 1.6percent slide on Thursday when investors had grown wary aboutrecent gains. Oil had hit a six-month peak above $62 a barrel onWednesday, when weekly U.S.

government inventory data showed asteep drop in crude and gasoline stockpiles ahead of the U.S.Memorial Day weekend that marks the start of the summer drivingseason. Stocks Currencies Japan. (Recasts with futures, adds company items, updates snapshot) PARIS, May 22 (Reuters) - European equities were set to open higher onFriday, following a 2.1 percent drop in the previous session, as heavyweightmining and energy shares find support in rebounding commodity prices. By 0622 GMT, futures for the DJ Euro Stoxx STXEc1, for Germany's DAXFDXc1 and for France's CAC FCEc1 were up between 0.2 percent and 0.5percent On Thursday, U.S. stocks fell in a broad sell-off as investors, worryingover the U.S. budget deficit, exited dollar-denominated assets across the board.Markets came under selling pressure after an outlook downgrade for the UK'striple-A credit rating fuelled fears that the United States, with its increasingbudget deficit and weakened economy, could face a similar fate. The dollar reached a five-month lows against a basket of major currencies onFriday.

[ID:nLM167777] "Wall Street managed to stem its slide ahead of the close last night andalthough the major US indices all finished in the red, there was a markedreversion mid-afternoon as sentiment started to improve," Matt Buckland, dealerat CMC Markets, wrote in a note. assets come under pressure [ID:nLM620153] * Oil steady above $61, off 6-mth peak on weak US data [ID:nSP474788] * METALS-Copper rebounds on weak dollar, demand worry weighs[ID:nSHA72031 * Gold steady, weak dollar supports; ETF unchanged [ID:nSP476860] COMPANY NEWS: AUTO SECTOR The U.S. Treasury Department has no plans to push General Motors Corp GM.Ninto a bankruptcy filing next week and the outcome of the automaker'srestructuring efforts may not be known until a June 1 deadline, a sourcefamiliar with the situation said early on Friday. Earlier, the Washington Postreported that the Treasury would steer GM into bankruptcy next week under a planthat would provide the company just short of $30 billion in new federal loans,citing unnamed sources. For details, see: [ID:nN22327776] BHP BILLITON (BLT.L), RIO TINTO (RIO.L) BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus suggested Rio Tinto's tie-up with China'sChinalco may not be in Australia's national interest, the Daily Mail said. SPANISH BANKS The Bank of Spain is studying relaxing its strict provisions rules forSpanish banks to help them get through the economic crisis, El Pais reported,citing unnamed market sources. UBS (UBSN.VX) Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX) confirmed on Wednesday a restatement of its 2008accounts which raised its full year loss by a further 405 million Swiss francs($366 million).

For related news click on [UBSN.VX] GLAXOSMITHKLINE (GSK.L) The UK drug company is battling the U.S. Internal Revenue Service over apotential $1.9 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties, according to TheWall Street Journal. [ID:nN21323731] NOVARTIS AG (NOVN.VX) Pharmaceuticals company Novartis said on Thursday its QAB149 drugsignificantly improved lung function when compared with two other approvedrespiratory disease medicines in late stage clinical trials. For related news, click on [NOVN.VX] BRITISH AIRWAYS (BAY.L) The company slumped to a record loss and nearly doubled its debt pile duringthe year to end March, and said the tough conditions made it impossible to giveany guidance for the current period. [ID:nLM237754] FIAT (FIA.MI) The car maker's chief executive sees his company in pole position to win inthe race for Opel but a German magazine said parent company General MotorsGM.N favoured other bidders over the Italian carmaker. [ID:nLL142192] AREVA (CEPFi.PA) French nuclear reactor maker Areva sold its stakes in utility group GDF Suez(GSZ.PA) and oil major Total (TOTF.PA) to raise cash and finance plannedinvestments, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. For details, see:[ID:nLM84792] ERICSSON (ERICb.ST), NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS [NSN.UL] (NOK1V.HE) China's Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] took the No.