US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said congressional proposals to audit the Fed and strip it of regulatory powers as part of post-crisis reforms could damage prospects for economic and financial health.

Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE and one of the world's top oil exporters, will "pick and choose" how to assist Dubai, a senior Abu Dhabi official said  Saturday.

Stocks rallied at the beginning of the week, then sold off on Dubai worries Friday, leaving the Dow within 10 points of where it started the week.

Stocks pared their losses Friday, after a sharp drop at the open amid worries about Dubai defaulting on its debt.

Banks outside the Gulf played down on Friday their exposure to Dubai debt, after fears the emirate could default and even derail world economic recovery prompted a sell-off in global markets.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower open for a holiday-shortened session Friday, mirroring losses in European and Asian markets after Dubai announced the first step of restructuring some of its debt.

When Lori Fowlkes first saw robotic Zhu Zhu Pets toy hamsters in September, she remembers her kids started jumping up and down and saying "Please! Please! Can we buy them?" Seeing a fully stocked shelf, she decided to hold off until Christmas.

Americans headed to stores in droves to kick off the holiday shopping season Friday, though many said they were being more selective about what they buy and paring back what they spend.

Australia's government has boosted compensation to big carbon emitters, coal companies and electricity generators under a revised carbon-trade scheme aimed at securing vital parliamentary support in a vote this week.

Oil prices dropped more than 2 percent on Friday as fears of possible defaults in Dubai convulsed financial markets and boosted safe-haven demand for the U.S. dollar.

The dollar rebounded from a 14-year low against the yen on Friday, as fears of a possible Dubai debt default boosted safe-haven demand for the U.S. and Japanese currencies.

The dollar fell to its lowest level in 14 years against the yen on Friday and the yen crosses also fell, with one trader saying investors were shunning risk trades on concern about debt problems in Dubai.The dollar fell as far as 85.84 yen on trading platform EBS, its lowest since 1995.

The U.S. will need to eventually enact national value added tax in order to raise revenue and decrease its deficit, Paul Donovan, MD & deputy head of global economics at UBS, said Thursday.

Oil fell towards $77 on Thursday in line with falls across financial markets and as weak demand for fuel offset potential support from a weak dollar.

The dollar gained sharply in holiday-thinned trade on Thursday as renewed risk aversion prompted investors to shed riskier assets.