Stock market?s strong run doesn?t appear over
Beyond the buyout news, which has lent buoyancy to the markets for months, a stronger-than-expected reading on consumer sentiment helped investors set aside some concern that consumers unnerved by higher gas prices would pare back spending and up-end the economy?s smooth slowdown.
The latest takeover news, including deals involving marquee names like General Electric Co. and Microsoft Corp., signaled that the enormous amount of liquidity that has lubricated global stock markets in recent months doesn’t appear on the verge of evaporating.
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NEW YORK (AP) ? Gasoline prices set more records at the pump Friday, while gasoline and oil futures prices turned mixed after the previous session’s big advance.
Retail gasoline prices rose 1.5 cents overnight to a national average price of $3.129 per gallon, a new high, and have risen 26 cents in the last month, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.
Analysts blame strong consumer demand and a spate of unexpected refinery outages for the high prices, and say it could be mid-summer before they ease.
Meanwhile, gasoline futures for June delivery fell 2.89 cents to settle at $2.4077 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with analysts attributing the decline to profit-taking from Thursday?s 9.96-cent increase in the June contract.
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BEIJING (AP) ? China took steps Friday to let its currency trade more freely against the dollar and to cool its sizzling economy ahead of talks in Washington over Beijing?s soaring trade surplus.
China eased controls on the yuan amid pressure from the U.S. and Europe, but cautioned against expecting sharp increases in its value. The U.S. responded that Beijing is not moving fast enough to allow its currency to strengthen and help reduce its growing trade gap with China.
The Chinese government also raised interest rates for the second time in just over two months and tightened bank credit to slow its economy.
American officials are pushing Beijing to raise the yuan’s value in hopes that will help cut the multibillion-dollar U.S. trade deficit with China by making Chinese goods more expensive.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Wolfowitz episode hobbled the World Bank?s work of aiding the poor, and Paul Wolfowitz?s resignation was just the first step in a healing process. The Bush administration hopes to quickly name a successor to take over that effort.
The new chief will need to regain trust, rebuild credibility and mend frayed relations inside the poverty-fighting institution as well as with its 185 member countries.
All of those things are critical for Wolfowitz’s successor, who will have to persuade countries to contribute close to $30 billion over the next few years to fund a centerpiece bank program that provides interest-free loans to the poorest countries.
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SAN ANTONIO (AP) ? The board of Clear Channel Communications Inc. on Friday accepted an offer from private equity buyers with a slightly higher price and a rare opportunity for shareholders to continue owning a stake in the radio and billboard company even after it goes private.
The board and the buyer?s group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners have faced stiff resistance from shareholders who didn?t think earlier offers were enough.