UNITED STATES

Oil steadied around $71 a barrel on Friday after two days of gains sparked by worries of low fuel supplies from creaking U.S. refineries and an upsurge of violence in the Middle East.

Reports showing a moderate rise in a key U.S. inflation gauge and continued manufacturing gains helped fire investor optimism on Friday, despite signs consumers' spirits were dampened by higher gasoline prices.

Treasury debt prices rose on Friday after tame inflation data eased some recent concerns over the potential for Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the world's largest energy market, is exploring a sale for about $14.3 billion, a news agency reported on Friday, as exchanges worldwide hustle for the best merger partners.

Global stocks rose on Friday, absorbing further gains in U.S. and euro zone government bond yields ahead of U.S. inflation data, while the yen sank after the Bank of Japan left interest rates on hold.

U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat to slightly higher open on Friday, with technology shares likely to underpin gains after a broker upgrade of Intel Corp. , but investors were cautious ahead of key inflation data.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. are learning that it's a tough time to be in the U.S. mortgage business. Both banks suffered from rising home buyer defaults in the latest quarter.

Volkswagen's Audi premium unit aims to raise sales in the United States to 200,000 vehicles by 2015 from last year's 90,000, Audi's sales and marketing boss told a German newspaper.

Sun Microsystems Inc. expects a double-digit rate of revenue growth in its greater China region in the next fiscal year as the computer networking firm rolls out new products, a senior executive said on Friday.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as a gain of more than $1 a barrel in oil prices boosted shares of energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., offsetting disappointment over profit reports from Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs.

Planemakers are riding high on surging demand that has pushed orders well over $100 billion a year, but cracks are beginning to show and the sprawling Paris air show which opens on Monday could reveal a slowdown looms.

Investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. Inc., one of the nation's largest mortgage bond underwriters, said on Thursday quarterly earnings fell by a third as trouble in the mortgage market hurt bond trading revenue and it wrote down assets at a stock trading venture.

A Texas company has sued Nintendo Co. Ltd. for alleged violations of a patent in making chips for use in its game consoles, Nintendo said on Friday.

Higher energy costs boosted producer prices 0.9 percent in May, but excluding volatile food and energy costs, prices paid at the factory gate were up a more moderate 0.2 percent, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. on Thursday said counterfeit 'Colgate' toothpaste that may contain a toxic chemical had been found in discount stores in four U.S. states.

The dollar hit a 4-1/2-year peak against the yen on Thursday, extending gains after strong U.S. retail sales data the previous day reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates this year.

Oil rose above $70 a barrel on Thursday, adding to sharp gains the previous session, on rising tensions in the Middle East and supply concerns in the United States.

Sanofi-Aventis shares suffered their biggest fall since 2002 after a U.S. health panel advised against approving its weight-loss pill Acomplia over concerns it may be linked to thoughts of suicide.

Gold drifted higher on Thursday on bargain hunting after a three-month low the previous day, but analysts said the metal had potential to test fresh lows.

Little-known, privately held Hyperion Resources Inc. said on Wednesday it plans to build an $8 billion oil refinery, the first in the United States since 1976, at one of several sites under consideration in the U.S. Midwest.

European shares climbed in early trading on Thursday, with leading indexes adding around 1 percent following overnight stock market rallies in the United States and Asia.