`FEEDING FRENZY': World oil prices firmed on Friday on the back of new refinery outages, although market anxiety could ease after the Memorial Day holiday
Prices for crude oil and gasoline rose on Friday on supply concerns ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, the start of the US summer driving season. Strikes and violence in Nigeria also propped up the oil market.

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REGIONAL ROUNDUP: In Taiwan technical concerns outweighed gains in the NT dollar as cautious traders waited for further developments on the global front
Asian stocks continued to consolidate on Friday with most benchmarks closing lower as investors fret over whether China will face a major correction.

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European shares posted mixed results on Friday after trading in negative territory for most of the day, with many investors focused on a takeover bid for Scandinavian stock exchange operator OMX by the US NASDAQ market.

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Wall Street has pulled back from a run toward new records and appears to be hesitating amid indications that the US economy is showing fresh vigor -- perhaps too much for those looking for interest rate cuts.

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The US dollar weakened against the euro on Friday amid renewed concerns about US economic strength after an industry survey showed new home sales fell to their lowest levels in almost four years.

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SETTING UP SHOP: Executives of NYSE Euronext, NASDAQ, the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borse hope to use local branches to build closer ties with firms in the PRC
Overseas stock exchanges including NYSE Euronext and NASDAQ Stock Market Inc said they plan to open offices in China for the first time, amid efforts to woo Chinese companies to their bourses.

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AFTERSHOCK: A year after the 6.3-magnitude quake, assistance still has not reached all the industries affected, despite the UN and other agencies' efforts
Pottery maker Ariyati looks over the clay jars, vases and animals crammed into her small workshop in central Indonesia and fears for her future.

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The US has raised new serious objections to a proposed global warming declaration prepared by Germany for next month's G8 summit, the Washington Post reported yesterday.

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China's education ministry has advised college students trying to cash in on the nation's booming stock market to stay away, the Xinhua news agency said.

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Qualcomm Inc, the world's second-biggest maker of mobile-phone chips, will have to wait until June 7 to discover whether a US trade agency will block handsets using its chips.

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The part of the American dream that says a man's children will be better off than he was, has become a dream, not reality, according to an analysis of census data released on Friday.

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■ Water
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