CHINA

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Sunday that external calls for yuan appreciation were unhelpful, vowing that Beijing would stick to its own course for currency reform while also warning of global economic risks.

Crude oil prices tread water for the week as uncertainty about demand continued to weigh on the market. Prices were down slightly on the week, with the benchmark West Texas Intermediate settling on Friday at $81.24 a barrel, compared with $81.50 a week ago. Not even relatively bullish forecasts for oil demand, such as the International Energy Agency's report on Friday raising its forecast by 70,000 barrels a day for 2010, or the decline in the dollar could propel oil prices forward.

Senator Charles Schumer said on Friday he plans to move forward soon on legislation aimed at stopping China from manipulating its currency.

Talks with China over censorship have reached an apparent impasse and Google, the world's largest search engine, is now 99.9 percent certain to shut its Chinese search engine, the Financial Times said on Saturday.

Twitter co-founder Evan Williams said the company plans to move into areas where censorship and technology is limited.

Nissan Motor launched its much-awaited, low-cost compact car on Friday, aiming to become a major force in the fast-growing segment with a global sales target of one million units a year by 2013.

Nokia Oyj lowered it share of global handset sales after recalculating the size of the market and the scale of the growing grey sector in unlicensed and counterfeit phones.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday, a day after the S&P hit a 17-month closing high and as retail sales rose unexpectedly in February.

China-friendly Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou faces a new test of public confidence ahead of tense year-end elections after the sudden resignation of his justice minister and the health minister's threat to quit.

U.S. stock index futures were higher on Friday, a day after the S&P hit a 17-month closing high and ahead of reports that could give clues about the strength of the American consumer.

China warned Google, the world's largest search engine, against flouting the country's laws on Friday, as expectations grow for a resolution to a public battle over censorship and cyber-security.

U.S. stock index futures were modestly higher on Friday, a day after the S&P hit a 17-month closing high and ahead of reports that could give clues into the strength of the American consumer.

Google, the world's largest search engine, is welcome to expand its market share in China, the country's Minister of Industry and Information Technology said on Friday.

The United States should not make a political issue out of the yuan, a Chinese central banker said on Friday, as the two countries lurched toward a potential bust-up over Beijing's currency regime.

Flat-screen maker LG Display will spend $1.3 billion to raise output and help meet robust customer demand and is betting on booming premium LCD TV sales to drive strong growth this year.

The S&P 500 hit a 17-month closing high as rising bank shares led a late rally that lifted stocks on Thursday, more than offsetting worries China may move to cool its overheating economy.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell only slightly last week, indicating a sluggish return to jobs growth. The U.S. trade gap shrank as oil imports fell.

The U.S. stock market recovered from losses caused by China's inflation data and an underwhelming U.S. unemployment claims report to trade positive for the day.

Worries that China may move to cool its overheating economy weighed down U.S. stocks on Thursday, but rising bank shares kept the market near break even.

U.S. stocks edged lower on Thursday as China inflation data raised worries about reduced demand from one of the world's largest economies, but gains in big-cap technology shares limited losses.

EUR/USD has been range-bound since the beginning of the U.S. session on Wednesday as it failed to break out of the range when the unemployment claims report was released at 8:30 am Thursday morning.