INFLATION PRESSURE: New data support the `soft-landing, Goldilocks economy,' which would allow the Fed to maintain or even cut interest rates, analysts said
Wall Street's rally is back on track after reassuring words from the US Federal Reserve and data backing the central bank's premise that the US economy is accelerating with modest inflation pressure.

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Oil prices settled above US$59 a barrel on Friday, finishing the week at its highest close for this year. Colder-than-normal weather in the US and concerns over a second round of OPEC production cuts fueled the week's rally.

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REGIONAL TRADING: Robust US consumer data had a positive effect in Asia, although caution ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday period capped gains in Taipei
Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Friday, buoyed by a record finish on Wall Street and the release of robust US consumer spending data, but gains in some markets were capped after another sharp fall in Shanghai.

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European stock exchanges moved higher on Friday on corporate news and following a US job creation report that fell short of expectations but suggested that US economic momentum would maintain a healthy pace.

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The US dollar benefited from healthy US job numbers on Friday that reinforced the Federal Reserve's appraisal of solid growth combined with quiescent inflation, traders said.

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LEGAL ACTION: PhatRat Technology is taking the two titans to court in Denver with a claim that they are using its patented biometric innovations without permission
Apple Inc and Nike Inc were sued by a Colorado company accusing them of infringing a patent covering shoes that collect data on the wearer's activity in their Nike+iPod Sport Kit.

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Apple Inc is urging some iPod and iTunes users to hold off on upgrading their computers to Windows Vista, warning that the iTunes music software may not work well with the new operating system from rival Microsoft Corp.

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IDEAL EMPLOYMENT: A survey conducted by an online manpower firm showed that most Taiwanese men want a high-tech job, while women would like to be secretaries
More than 60 percent of Taiwan's office workers selected the high-tech Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) as their "dream" manufacturing company to work for, according to the results of a survey released yesterday.

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Media company Viacom Inc, which owns the cable networks MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and the Paramount Pictures movie studio, asked Internet site YouTube to remove more than 100,000 unauthorized clips from its hugely popular video-sharing site.

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Foreigners in Beijing will be limited to buying a single home for their own use under new curbs imposed amid efforts to slow a surge in housing costs, newspapers reported yesterday.

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Lone Star Funds, the US-based buyout firm whose multibillion-dollar sale of its investment in Korea Exchange Bank was blocked by South Korean prosecutors, will recoup almost a third of its original investment in a move that drew divided reaction.

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■ Trade
Machinery firms visit Europe
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