The greenback strengthened Friday as tensions in Egypt led traders to seek out safer assets, while decisions by Britain and South Korea to leave interest rates on hold also provided support.

The Euro edged down $1.3570 in early Asian trade, from $1.3601 late Thursday in New York, while the greenback as up at 83.37 yen from 83.20 yen.

Toyota Motor will tie up with trading house Mitsui&Co and Russian automaker Sollers to assemble passenger cars in the Far East port city of Vladivostok, the Nikkei daily said Thursday.

Toyota will provide parts and production technologies, with the vehicles to be assembled by a joint venture to be built by Mitsui and Sollers, the Nikkei said.

Viewed from the ongoing pace of televised news, the tumult on Egypt's streets seems ready to engulf the entire Middle East. Indeed, only days after thousands of protestors filled downtown Cairo's main thoroughfare to demand an end to Hosni Mubarak's rule, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced he would be stepping down at the end of his term, and his son would not run for office, while Jordan's King Abdullah II fired his cabinet, appointed a new Prime Minister, and vowed political reform. Rumblings of protest also echoed in Algeria, Oman and Morocco.

Undoubtedly, the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have brought extraordinary change to Arab politics, challenging regimes to alter the way they govern, and providing new political freedoms for the people. But while many foreign investors have deemed the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region's new political uncertainty as a risk -- Moody's downgraded Egypt's credit ratings to Ba2 with a negative outlook, and other credit ratings agencies followed suit -- regional businesses and investors have taken a different approach. They believe that political changes that usher in more democratic governments in the region will pave the way for long-term stability and growth.

Nissan reported a 78 percent jump in quarterly profit and raised its full-year forecasts Wednesday as vehicle sales grew in North America, Europe and Asia, offsetting a weak performance in Japan.

Nissan's October-December net profit totaled 80.07 billion Yen ($976.4 million), up from 44.97 billion Yen a year earlier. Sales for its fiscal third quarter rose 5.3 percent to 2.103 trillion Yen ($25.6 billion).

Swiss chocolate makers sold more than 176,400 tons of chocolate last year as consumer appetites picked up with the economic recovery, the top industry body said on Tuesday.

Overall sales rose 1.3 percent in volume and 2.4 percent in value to 1.7 billion Swiss francs (649 million Euros), said Chocosuisse.

The dollar held firm against the Euro in Asia on Tuesday in the absence of fresh trading pegs after inching up in New York on weaker-than-expected German data.

The Euro bought $1.3577 dollars in Tokyo morning trade, a shade lower than $1.3581 in New York late Monday. Against the Japanese unit, the common currency was flat at 111.78.

Crude oil prices rose back above $100 on Monday on lingering concerns over the impact of political uncertainty in Egypt.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March gained 75 cents to $100.58 per barrel in late morning London trade.

Germany's Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automaker, plans to boost its workforce from 250,000 to 290,000 by 2018, with most of the new jobs to be created in China, the German auto weekly Woche reported Sunday.

Citing internal and confidential documents, the weekly said that "the number of VW employees will rise from 250,000 to 290,000 by 2018," including 35,000 new posts in China.

U.S. Internet provider AOL will buy The Huffington Post, a rapidly growing news website with nearly 25 million monthly visitors, for $315 million, the company announced Monday.

Approximately $300 million will be paid in cash, it said.

Wall Street probably will keep a close eye next week on developments in the Egypt crisis, though it did not prevent stocks from hitting their highest levels in more than two years.

Facing a thin economic calendar, investors were expected to remain glued to the massive anti-government protests seeking the immediate resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.