IBT Staff Reporter

World stocks held near the previous day's 7-1/2 month high on Friday and crude oil rebounded, sticking with a rally in riskier markets this week due to robust economic data from both sides of the Atlantic.

United Parcel Service said it was in constructive talks to buy Dutch rival TNT Express and reiterated its intention to make an offer, having last month proposed a 9 euros per share deal worth 4.9 billion euros ($6.4 billion).

Several banks including Goldman Sachs have shown an interest in buying American International Group Inc's complex and troubled assets tied to the insurer's bailout, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Britain is poised to cooperate with the United States on a release of strategic oil stocks that is expected within months, two British sources said, in a bid to prevent fuel prices choking economic growth in a U.S. election year.

Asian shares steadied on Friday while the dollar took a breather after its recent broad rally spurred profit-taking, with some investors wondering if a fresh batch of encouraging economic data would put further upward pressure on U.S. yields.

The Goldman Sachs resignation letter heard around the world has increased pressure on U.S. regulators to quickly put in place a tough version of the Volcker rule, that forces Wall Street to stop betting aggressively for its own bottom line.

Asian shares edged higher on Friday while the dollar took a breather as its recent broad rally spurred some profit taking, with a fresh batch of encouraging U.S. economic data further underpinning investor sentiment.

Economic growth showed signs of becoming more self-sustaining as the number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell back to a four-year low last week and manufacturing activity in the Northeast picked up this month.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday released a new economic analysis that will be used to justify a critical final rule that will determine which companies will face new regulations of their derivatives trading.

LOS ANGELES, March 15 (TheWrap.com) - Rush Limbaugh joined Twitter on Thursday, posting the first two tweets from his personal account in response to the scandal plaguing his show.

Facebook Inc is taking the next step on its IPO journey and has summoned research analysts from Wall Street banks to its Menlo Park headquarters early next week for a pre-roadshow briefing to discuss the finer points of its business and books.

Boeing Co said it will move production of the horizontal tail of its 787-9 Dreamliners from Seattle to Salt Lake City, Utah, and to Alenia Aermacchi of Italy by late 2012.

United Parcel Service and TNT Express are unlikely to announce a deal on Friday when they need to update the market about the status of their merger talks, but a deal could come soon after that, sources close to the talks said.

German software maker SAP AG says it intends to become a major provider of database software in a move that would heat up its long-running rivalry with Oracle Corp, led by Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison.

Britain is poised to cooperate with the United States on a release of strategic oil stocks that is expected within months, two British sources said, in a bid to prevent fuel prices choking economic growth in a U.S. election year.

Apple's new iPad uses chips made by Qualcomm, Broadcom, Samsung Electronics and other semiconductor makers, according to a firm that cracked open one of the devices.

A consultant at A.T. Kearney on Thursday pleaded guilty to trading on confidential information about private-equity firm Carlyle Group's planned acquisition of vitamin company NBTY, Inc.

Apple's new iPad uses chips made by Qualcomm, Broadcom, Samsung Electronics and other semiconductor makers, according to repair firm iFixit, which cracked open one of the devices.

PayPal, the payments service owned by eBay Inc, jumped into the nascent mobile payments arena on Thursday with a new device that helps businesses accept credit and debit cards via mobile devices, taking on early-moving start-up Square Inc.

The trustee liquidating MF Global's broker-dealer is asking a bankruptcy court for permission to distribute an additional $600 million to U.S. exchange customers whose accounts were frozen when the futures broker collapsed.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, with the S&P 500 topping the 1,400-mark for the first time since the financial crisis on a strong run of economic data.

Britain has decided to cooperate with the United States on a release of strategic oil stocks that is expected within months, two British sources said, in a bid to prevent fuel prices choking economic growth in a U.S. election year.

Cisco Systems has reached a $5 billion deal to buy NDS, which makes set-top box software for cable and satellite TV companies, a move the network equipment maker said would accelerate its expansion into the video communications market.

U.S. economic growth showed signs of becoming more self-sustaining as the number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell back to a four-year low last week and manufacturing activity in the Northeast picked up this month.

The S&P 500 index hit 1,400 for the first time in four years on Thursday as a strong run of economic data continues to cement a strong uptrend in equity markets.

A Chicago-based consultant on Thursday pleaded guilty to trading on confidential information about private-equity firm Carlyle Group's planned acquisition of vitamin company NBTY Inc.

China has suspended the purchase of 10 more Airbus jets, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, raising the stakes in a potentially damaging trade row over European Union airline emissions charges.

Britain has decided to cooperate with the United States in a bilateral agreement to release strategic oil stocks, two British sources said, in an effort to prevent high fuel prices derailing economic growth in a election year.

Britain should not delay too long kick-starting the sale of its shares in Royal Bank of Scotland , the chief executive of RBS said, as speculation grows that the government could sell an initial stake at a loss.