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NEW DELHI : India's inflation rate accelerated to a 44-month high of nearly eight percent on Friday, dealing a fresh blow to the government which fears a voter backlash.
Annual inflation climbed more than two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.83 percent for the week ended May 3 from 7.61 percent the previous week, according to the Wholesale Price Index, India's closest watched cost monitor.
The rise, which exceeded analysts' expectations of around 7.5 percent, was mainly due to price increases of staple foods like fruits and vegetables and manufactured goods.
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt : US President George W Bush said on Saturday that a hike in oil output by Saudi Arabia would not solve American energy problems.
"It's not enough, it's something but it doesn't solve our problem," Bush told reporters in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
"Our problem in America gets solved when we aggressively go for domestic exploration. Our problem in America gets solved if we expand our refining capacity, promote nuclear energy and continue our strategy for the advancing of alternative energies as well as conservation," he said. - AFP/ms
DETROIT, Michigan : The United Auto Workers said Saturday it had reached a tentative agreement with a key auto parts supplier to end a long and crippling strike that forced General Motors to close six assembly plants.
"We do have a tentative agreement" with American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc (AAM), UAW spokesman Roger Kerson told AFP shortly after midnight.
The union released no details of the deal pending ratification meetings, union officials said.
TEHRAN : Major crude oil producer Iran said on Saturday that any output hike by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries as requested by the United States would not affect skyrocketing prices.
"This would only increase inventories," Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari told reporters in reaction to US President George W Bush pressing OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia to raise oil output.
"The market is oversupplied and increasing production will not affect prices," the oil minister said when asked whether an OPEC output hike would lower prices which hit nearly 128 dollars per barrel on Friday.
Saudi Arabia said global supply was balanced with demand but revealed that it had hiked production by 300,000 barrels per day this month.
SAN FRANCISCO : A deadline for Take-Two Interactive Software shareholders to agree to a buyout by video game giant Electronic Arts has passed with neither firm commenting on the takeover bid's fate.
EA took its two-billion-dollar offer directly to Take-Two shareholders after the board of directors rejected the bid, saying it undervalues the company behind blockbuster video games including the hot "Grand Theft Auto" franchise.
EA set Friday as the expiration date for its offer to buy shares of Take-Two stock for 26 dollars each. Take-Two shares were priced slightly above that amount in after-hours trading.
NEW YORK - The dollar lost ground Friday as a weak reading on US consumer confidence offset a surprisingly robust report on housing starts.
The euro fetched 1.5582 dollars at 2100 GMT, up from 1.5445 late Thursday in New York.
The dollar was meanwhile trading at 104.07 yen after 104.74 on Thursday.
The greenback met selling pressure after the University of Michigan consumer confidence index was reported to have fallen to 59.5 in May from 62.6 in April, a lower reading than had been expected by the market.
NEW YORK - Oil rocketed to a new high near 128 dollars a barrel in New York Friday after a key investment bank hiked its forecast, adding to buying fervor.
Goldman Sachs, the most active investment bank in energy markets, predicted a jump to 141 dollars for the second half of the year for crude.
After peaking at a record 127.98 dollars, New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, closed at an all-time high of 126.29 dollars, up 2.17 dollars from Thursday's close.
In London, Brent crude contract for June spiked to an all-time high of 126.34 dollars, before settling at 124.99, up 2.36 dollars.
NEW YORK - Wall Street wobbled to a mixed close Friday as fresh highs for crude oil and a weak reading on consumer confidence took the luster off data showing a surprise rebound in US housing starts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 5.86 points (0.05 percent) to 12,986.80 at the closing bell, recouping early losses of as much as 100 points.
The Nasdaq composite shed 4.88 points (0.19 percent) to 2,528.85 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index eked out a gain of 1.78 points (0.19 percent) to close at 1,425.35.
FRANKFURT : The European Central Bank said Friday it was launching a 28-day liquidity-providing operation with an intended volume of 25 billion dollars, in line with an announcement on May 2.
The operation is being carried out together with the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, and is part of a series of steps to provide liquidity to encourage lending between banks in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and an ensuing credit crunch.
The ECB said on May 2 it would increase its participation in such initiatives from 15 to 25 billion dollars and has said it plans a further operation also valued at 25 billion dollars.
WASHINGTON : US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday he believes the financial crisis is winding down, but that it would take some time to fully emerge from the malaise.
"In my judgment we are closer to the end of the market turmoil than the beginning," Paulson said in a speech in Washington to business leaders.
"Looking forward, I expect that financial markets will be driven less by the recent turmoil and more by broader economic conditions and, specifically, by the recovery of the housing sector," he said in remarks prepared for delivery.
WASHINGTON : US homebuilding showed a surprisingly strong jump in April, signalling a ray of hope amid the rubble of the worst housing slump in decades, according to government data released Friday.
Housing starts and permits hit their highest levels since February, and new home construction rebounded from a 17-year low in March, the Commerce Department data showed.
Starts rose 8.2 percent in April from March to an annual rate of 1.032 million units. It was the strongest gain since January 2006 and sharply higher than analysts' consensus forecast for a cutback to 940,000 units.
NEW YORK : General Electric said Friday it has begun a review of its appliance-making business that could involve a sale, spin-ff or partnership with another company.
The US conglomerate could as a result get out of the appliance business for which GE is identified, for the first time in over 100 years.
"This review is consistent with the strategy we have been executing to transform our portfolio for long-term growth, " GE chairman and chief executive Jeff Immelt said.
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