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Serbs gear up for mass rally to vent anger on Kosovo

Serbia rallied its people on Thursday for a mass protest against Kosovo's declaration of independence to show the world its anger at the loss of its religious heartland. Organizers expect hundreds of thousands to attend the People's Rally in the capital Belgrade, in what would be the biggest demonstration since half a million filled the streets in 2000 to oust nationalist autocrat Slobodan Milosevic.

Rexam profits drop in 2007

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Global consumer packaging company Rexam Plc has announced its full year results for 2007, posting an 11 per cent rise in sales from continuing operations, taking the total value of its annual sales to £3,566 million.
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ASDA to create 9,000 jobs

Supermarket chain ASDA has announced it will be creating 9,000 new jobs in what it calls its biggest jobs programme in a decade. The jobs will be created through new store openings, extensions and business expansion.
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Platinum falls 3 percent on profit-taking

Platinum ended a record-setting streak on Wednesday after 14 straight days of gains as profit-takers stepped in, but analysts said it was likely to recover after a pause because of persistent supply problems.
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Inflation gathers steam, housing slides

Inflation accelerated in January in a worrying sign for the Federal Reserve's campaign to bolster the flagging economy, while a separate report on Wednesday showed more troubling signs for beleaguered housing market.
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Inflation and credit woes rattle investors

Inflation fears and delays in debt payments by an affiliate of private equity giant KKR spooked financial markets on Wednesday, battering stocks and driving the cost of corporate debt insurance to all-time peaks.
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Oil falls from record above $100 a barrel

Oil retreated on Wednesday, a day after hitting a record high above $100 a barrel, as investors focused on a U.S. inventory report expected to show crude stockpiles rose for a sixth week.
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China Mobile posts record monthly user gain

China Mobile Ltd signed up a record number of users in a single month in January, as the world's top cellular carrier built on its dominance in the world's largest wireless market.
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Angst grows over double-dipping W recovery

Investors who have written off 2008 as a year of an economic slowdown and depressing stock market returns, are already gearing up to face a cocktail of new problems next year.
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Majority of Americans expect a recession: poll

Fifty-four percent of Americans expect a recession in the next year as the housing downturn deepens, inlfation rises and credit conditions worsen, according to a new poll released Wednesday. As economic anxiety grows, nearly half said they planned to use their government tax rebate checks to pay down debt or pad savings.
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A&L writedown hits profits, funding costs jump

British bank Alliance & Leicester on Wednesday suffered a double blow from the impact of financial market turmoil, warning of sharply higher funding costs to add to a big writedown on the value of risky assets. Britain's seventh largest listed bank is estimating higher funding costs as it seeks to avoid a crisis that hit rival Northern Rock last year.
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Platinum's Record High's Continue, Gold Gains Nearly 3%

Gold futures rallied near 3 percent on Tuesday, gaining the most in almost seven weeks on speculation of a weaker dollar while platinum surged more than 4 percent to another record high of $2,174 on persisting stockpile concerns from South Africa, the metals top producer.
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Crude Oil Climbs Above $100, Setting New Record

Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday above $100 a barrel to set a new record before falling slightly on speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may diminish oil output next month and after an explosion shut off operations in a U.S. refinery.
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Toshiba's HD DVD Ousted, Sony Shares Gain

The end of the format battle is finally here. Toshiba said overnight that it would withdraw from the HD DVD business causing U.S.-listed shares of Sony Corp rallied to a 3-week high on Tuesday on optimism about sales of its PlayStation 3 video game consoles and Blu-ray DVD players.
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Oil hits record over $100 on OPEC supply concerns

Oil prices surged more than 4 percent on Tuesday to hit a record over $100 a barrel on expectations OPEC will keep production levels steady when it meets next month. News Nigerian oil delta rebel leader Henry Okah had died raised worries about supplies from the OPEC country, but a spokesman for the government later said he was alive and in custody.
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FX Summary - Feb 19

The dollar is weaker against the euro and Aussie as the US market returns from holiday, falling to its lowest level in 3-months versus the Aussie at 0.9236 and a 2-week low against the euro at 1.4756.
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Dollar Falls on Fed Rate Cut Expectations, Australia minutes

The dollar fell on Tuesday amid continuing speculation that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, and minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia indicating that it had wanted to raise its interest higher than it did earlier this month.
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U.S. stocks Rise on Wal-Mart Gains

U.S. stocks gained on Tuesday for the first time in three days after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. released higher-than-expected fourth quarter results and energy stocks climbed led by oil which surpassed $98 a barrel.
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Credit Suisse reveals $2.85 bln write-downs

Credit Suisse has written $2.85 billion off the value of its asset-backed investments and found mismarking and pricing errors on its books, it revealed on Tuesday, sending its shares plummeting. The bank said the write-downs would wipe $1 billion from its first-quarter net income, after taking into account tax credits and cancelling some staff bonuses, but it still expected to stay in profit in the quarter, despite the charge.
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High-yielding currencies gain led by Aussie dollar

High-yielding currencies, led by the Australian dollar, rose on Tuesday as investors added to risky trades amid strong gains in commodity prices and expectations of further interest rate increases in Australia.
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Global stocks climb despite bank writedowns

The promise of a solid open on Wall Street after Wal-Mart signaled the U.S. consumer is still keen to spend helped set aside worries about hefty bank writedowns on Tuesday while oil and metal prices rose unabated.
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Penny-pinching shoppers boost Wal-Mart profit

Wal-Mart Stores posted better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday as penny-pinching U.S. shoppers scoured its discount stores for low prices on necessities like food to offset tough economic conditions. We know that the economy remains a critical factor in this new fiscal year, said Lee Scott, CEO of the world's largest retailer, in a statement. Customers were more cautious in their spending in January.

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