LONDON (Reuters) - Oil briefly traded at its lowest in 18 months and European stocks fell on Friday, while the safe-haven dollar rose as weak German and U.S. data and a downgrade to some of the world's major banks unnerved investors.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - BHP Billiton is likely to cut the first stage of its estimated $10 billion iron ore port expansion in half, analysts and investors said, as it looks to slash capital spending due to rising costs and an uncertain market outlook.

WARSAW (Reuters) - Adidas will use a tough keep-fit trend and retro products to grow sales at Reebok to 3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) by 2015, after the unit was hit by a fraud scandal in India and the loss of its NFL American football contract, its CEO said.

PARIS (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.45 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.25 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.4 percent at 0916 GMT.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve acted to aid the fragile economy with stimulus measures that were in line with market expectations but went no further.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Apple Inc was fined A$2.25 million ($2.29 million) by an Australian court on Thursday for misleading advertising of its latest iPad.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory sector contracted for an eighth straight month in June, with export orders and prices turning in their weakest showing since early 2009, a private-sector survey showed on Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pilot union leaders at American Airlines have rejected the carrier's final contract offer, leaving it to a judge to decide whether to grant the company's request to vacate the labor group's collective bargaining agreement in bankruptcy court.

(Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co has signed a deal with Fair Oaks Farms Brands to distribute the Core Power range of high-protein energy drinks in the United States, as the soft drink giant moves into the dairy products market.

SYDNEY/MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Global miner Xstrata Plc has put up for sale a stake in the Frieda River copper project in Papua New Guinea, potentially worth more than $2 billion, as part of a review of its development projects worldwide.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc has long used its commercial might to forge a global supply chain with ruthless efficiency. It now has a new target: U.S. wheat fields.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday delivered another round of monetary stimulus and said it was ready to do even more to help an increasingly fragile economic recovery.