IBT Staff Reporter

Turkish helicopters ferried more troops to the border with Iraq on Friday as diplomatic efforts got underway in Ankara to avert a major offensive against Kurdish guerrillas based in northern Iraq.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is worried about Iran's nuclear program but hopes a stand-off with the international community can be resolved through dialogue, he said in comments published in Italy on Friday.

Oil rallied to a fresh record high above $92 a barrel on Friday as the dollar tumbled to a record low, Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran and gunmen shut more oil production in Nigeria. Oil's bullish momentum has pulled in increasing amounts of speculative investment and waves of technical buying have been triggered as U.S. oil pierced successive lines of resistance.

Four burned bodies found in the path of California's fierce wildfires raised the death toll to at least 12 people, even as firefighters won the upper hand and officials turned on Friday toward assessing the damage.

Asian stocks rose to an all-time high on Friday thanks to upbeat earnings from blue-chip firms such as Sony and Honda Motor, while a rally in oil prices to a record high above $91 a barrel fuelled gains in energy shares.

A senior Democrat in charge of tax writing at the U.S. House of Representatives released his $1.3 billion proposal to overhaul the tax system, raising taxes for the rich, cutting rates for many middle-income Americans and eliminating the alternative minimum tax.

British oil giant BP agreed to pay $373 million in fines and penalties on Thursday to settle charges related to manipulating U.S. energy markets, a Texas refinery explosion and a pipeline spill in Alaska, according to U.S. prosecutors.

The ongoing 30 hour railroad strike that is executed by the German train driver's union GDL is slicing the capacity of the passenger travel effectively to half.

New's Corp's proposed $5 billion acquisition of Dow Jones is coming under fire as the federal communications regulator said the deal raises competitive issues and may not be in the best interest of the public.

Chip giant Intel opened up the first of four 45nm fabrication plants today in Chandler, Arizona representing a $3 billion investment for the company.

Advanced Micro Devices gained market share on its larger rival Intel Corp. as third quarter results emerged.

The technology stocks fell on Thursday despite strong profit showings by big firms including Microsoft and EMC.

Japan's largest language school franchise filed for court protection from creditors as its debt swelled to nearly 50 billion yen.

Financial stocks declined on Thursday as difficulties in the credit market continued to weigh on the minds of investors.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as financial leaders such as American International Group and Merrill Lynch declined, fueling concerns that credit market losses will continue to hit financial shares.

President George W. Bush, visited San Diego and had an aerial view and tour of the damages caused by wild fires that have wrecked havoc across southern California, forcing more than 500,000 to flee their homes.

Microsoft Corp lifted its full-year estimates on Thursday after posting a 23 percent rise in quarterly profit on strong demand for both computers running its operating system and Halo 3, sending its shares up 12 percent. The world's largest software maker beat even Wall Street's most bullish forecast with a net profit of $4.29 billion. Revenue rose 27 percent to $13.76 billion.

California's largest bank, Bank of America (BofA) said that it will contribute to relief efforts in the Southern California fires by donating $1 million through its Charitable Foundation.Bank of America said that this donation is the first in a series of steps it will take to help fire victims and responders; and is now working with city leaders in San Diego and Los Angeles to determine the amount of assistance and resources needed in this endeavor."Southern California families, business and entire communities are in urgent need of immediate aid and we wanted to begin to begin to address that need as quickly as possible," said Janet Lamkin, President of Bank of America California.Chevron, based in San Ramon has also today announced a $500,000 to support fire relief efforts. It said that $400,000 will be given to American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and $100,000 will be directed towards local charities and relief efforts in the communities where Chevron operates.Chevron is also providing bottles of water and meals to evicted families.

The United States will consider further sanctions against Sudan if it continues "dragging its feet" over accepting a U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force, a top U.S. official said on Thursday.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will soon urge Indian officials not to move forward with a planned pipeline project that would bring Iranian natural gas to India, a senior Treasury official said on Thursday.

Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. may look to sell its 20 percent stake in Bloomberg LP to raise capital after writing down $8.4 billion of assets last quarter, some investors have said.

The dollar's drop is addressing problems - including a big trade deficit and slowing economy - with few ill effects.

Oil major BP will pay $373 million to settle U.S. charges stemming from a deadly Texas refinery explosion and an Alaska oil spill, as well as allegations it manipulated propane markets, the government said on Thursday. The settlement comes as the company seeks to set a new course with a restructuring aimed at improving its record on safety and the environment.

PetroChina, China’s largest oil producer, has set the price range of its A-share Initial Public Offering (IPO) between 15 to 16.7 yuan per share, the company announced on the HKEx on Wednesday.

Sony Corp said Thursday that its net profit for the second quarter soared on turnaround in its electronics operations.

Stocks were little changed on Thursday as a batch of weak economic data offset positive earnings from tech companies, including Motorola Inc. Data showed orders for durable goods declined unexpectedly in September. Another report showed a fall in initial jobless claims was smaller than expected. Finally, sales of new homes in September were below expectations.

Investors looking to gauge economic sentiment drew upon several government reports on Thursday indicating the state of home sales, durable goods investments and jobless claims.

The pace of new home sales rose in September from a weaker August number, and orders for long-lasting manufactured goods dropped, according to data released on Thursday that showed a slow-growing economy. Stocks rose after the home sales data suggested that the stumbling housing market was no worse than feared.

U.S. Treasuries eased on Thursday, after data on new housing sales came in just short of expectations and added little to existing chances of a modest Federal Reserve interest rate cut next week.