IBT Staff Reporter

Exxon Mobil's no-holds-barred legal fight against Venezuela

Copper rose on Friday as demand increased and supplies dropped the most since October 30.

Norwich Union International, the Dublin based offshore business of Aviva Plc has reported sales growth of 60 per cent in 2007, worth a total of £521 million.

Lord Digby Jones, the Trade and Industry Minister has said that Government plans to tax non-domiciles could damage London's top position in global finance, saying it could discourage top investors and business people from coming to the capital.

A man connected to Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel is being held by the French police.

Compass Group Plc has reported a strong first quarter and said that global revenues had increase organically in line with last years levels.

The Atlantis space shuttle, which was launched yesterday, continued to sail smoothly as it headed towards the International Space Station for the long-awaited delivery of a European laboratory.

Google's Android mobile operating system may be the face of the show at the world's biggest wireless fair next week as the firm expects many companies to demonstrate their prototype devices using its Android OS.

Gold futures closed with strong gains Friday, rising as the dollar traded lower against a basket of its major foreign-exchange counterparts. Platinum Gained.

Corn gained on Friday after the U.S. government forecasted low production in Argentine and Mexico, which may boost demand for U.S. grain used as animal feed.

Natural gas increased on Friday stretching its rally to 6.9 percent since Feb. 1 and 10.6 percent this year.

U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday visited Tennessee, one of the areas that were affected by the tornadoes that swept through five states earlier this week.

French trader Jerome Kerviel, accused by his former bank Societe Generale of causing a $4.9 billion euro ($7.2 billion) loss, is again in police custody as another trader is questioned to see if there is a link to alleged unauthorized deals. A court in Paris reversed a decision to let the 31-year old junior trader free during the investigation. The court was concerned that Kerviel could try to flee or contact any possible accomplices.

A major investor in Yahoo Inc has met with Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to see if he would raise a $42 billion unsolicited offer for the company, the New York Post reported on Friday. Capital Research and Management, which owns more than 11 percent of Yahoo shares and more than 6 percent of Microsoft, wants to know how much more the software maker might pay if Yahoo rejects the initial offer, the Post said, citing a source familiar with the meeting.

Dell said on Friday that it cut a majority of computers from its website which feature processors from Advanced Micro Devices, adding to the woes of chipmaker's ailing stock.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday with the Dow Jones ending its worst week in almost five years as ongoing credit market woes dragged down the financial sector increasing anxiety over the broader economy. The Nasdaq, despite being down for the week, rose as investors snatched up the biggest names in technology which have recently been left affected. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrial average, which rose in earlier trading, fell more than 60 points.

Treasuries staged a comeback as safe-haven vehicles on Friday as greater risks of a U.S. recession raised the chance of a U.S. recession.

McDonald's Corp , the world's largest fast-food chain, said on Friday that sales in the United States rebounded in January, easing investors fears after a flat December, sending its stock up more than 2 percent.

The dollar was on its way to its largest weekly gain versus the euro since June 2006 on Friday amid speculation that the European Central Bank will lower interest rates to boost a slowing economy.

Shares of media company CNET Networks Inc, currently battling dissident shareholders who want to expand its board, soared more than 7 percent on Friday, on speculation that Google Inc might be interested in acquiring a stake in it.

A major investor in Yahoo Inc has met with Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to see if he would raise a $42 billion unsolicited offer for the company, the New York Post reported on Friday.

The market share for traditional open-end mutual funds owned through professional advisers such as brokers is likely to erode over the next two years, according to a new study by Cogent Research LLC.

India's domestic car sales growth slowed sharply in January from a year ago, clocking up annual expansion of 9 percent, and analysts said only new models and cheaper loans were likely to fuel a pick up in demand.

China Investment Corporation, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund, is in talks with U.S. private equity group JC Flowers to put about $4 billion into a new fund to invest in ailing financial firms, the Financial Times said.

Japan's net national assets rose in 2006 from a year earlier for the first time in nine years partly as the euro's rise against the yen helped boost net external assets, the Cabinet Office said on Friday.

Yahoo Inc's board of directors is to meet on Friday to discuss Microsoft Corp's $44.6 billion buyout offer, the TechCrunch blog said, citing unnamed sources. Yahoo officials could not immediately be reached.

The U.S. economy has entered a recession that will be more painful and drawn out than the usual downturn, the director of the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey said on Friday. Inflation pressures will linger despite the retrenchment in consumer spending, complicating the task of policy-makers, the University's Richard Curtin said in a report, citing data from industry group The Conference Board.

While talk is axiomatically cheap, the price of debt and risk are proving prohibitively high

The Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors gathering in Tokyo on Saturday will reaffirm their determination to ensure financial stability, according to a draft G7 statement obtained by Reuters. We will continue to watch developments closely and remain committed to taking necessary action, individually and collectively, in order to secure stability and growth in our economies, the draft read.