Business Today: Stock futures drop before last-ditch effort at "cliff" deal

		Click to View in Browser 12/28/2012 Stock futures drop before last-ditch effort at "cliff" deal NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures fell on Friday as President Barack Obama and top lawmakers planned to make a last-ditch effort at budget talks to prevent the United States from going over the "fiscal cliff." Insight: Under siege, Japan central bank wakes up to political reality TOKYO (Reuters) - Within a day of Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party sweeping to power in elections this month, elite bureaucrats in Japan's central bank rushed to ready what amounted to a surrender offer. Euro doomsayers adjust predictions after 2012 apocalypse averted BERLIN (Reuters) - Back in May, as the euro zone veered deeper into crisis, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman penned one of his gloomiest columns about the single currency, a piece in the New York Times entitled "Apocalypse Fairly Soon". Apple loses another copyright lawsuit in China: Xinhua SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese court has fined Apple Inc 1 million yuan ($160,400) for hosting third-party applications on its App Store that were selling pirated electronic books, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. Autonomy's Lynch defends record as HP confirms Federal probe LONDON (Reuters) - Mike Lynch, the founder of the software firm sold to Hewlett-Packard last year in a deal tainted by accusations of accounting fraud, said he would defend the company's accounts to U.S. Federal investigators. Spain's PM says does not rule out asking for European aid MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday he did not rule out tapping the European Central Bank's bond-buying program for troubled euro zone governments but said Spain did not expect to have to ask for aid for now. Weak Japan economic data bolsters new PM's hand on stimulus TOKYO (Reuters) - Poor Japanese manufacturing data on Friday gave new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe more ammunition to push for big spending and easy money to salvage the world's third-largest economy from decades of deflation and its fourth recession since 2000. Ex-Audi designer becomes first foreign president of Kia Motors SEOUL (Reuters) - Peter Schreyer, known for his design contributions to the iconic Audi TT, became the first foreign president of Kia Motors Corp as the South Korean carmaker enters the next phase of its branding transformation. Analysis: Euro zone bond clause highlights rich nation default risk LONDON (Reuters) - When 10 wealthy countries first demanded legal provisions making it easier to restructure government bonds in a crisis, they never thought this would apply to their own debt. Porsche faces more VW lawsuits after court win FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Porsche SE shares surged on Friday after it won a dismissal of a U.S. lawsuit by 26 hedge funds, one of several legal actions over its purchase of shares in Volkswagen , Europe's largest carmaker. Related Video U.S. Morning Call: Stock futures steady; fiscal cliff eyed Scottish independence could turn it green Economic News Expectations low for White House "fiscal cliff" meeting Consumer sentiment weakens as fiscal crisis looms A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today   The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today   » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook Forward to a friend