NEW YORK - US STOCKS eked out modest gains on Friday after stronger-than-expected profit reports from bellwethers Citigroup and General Electric, as Wall Street's winning streak extended to a sixth week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 11.47 points (0.14 per cent) to 8,136.90 at the final bell, notching the highest close for the blue-chip index in over two months.

DETROIT - General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson said on Friday that a bankruptcy filing is 'probable' because of the restructuring goals GM must meet to get more government loans, but that isn't the company's preferred option.

In a conference call with reporters, Mr Henderson said GM is working on two parallel plans: one that involves bankruptcy and one that doesn't.

TOKYO/FRANKFURT - VOLKWAGEN may have overtaken Toyota to become the world's top-selling carmaker in the first quarter.

Although overall VW deliveries to customers fell 11 per cent to around 1.39 million vehicles, the German carmaker dramatically increased its share of the global passenger car market by 130 basis points to 11.0 per cent.