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WASHINGTON - Construction of new homes posted the biggest increase in more than two years in April, a rare spot of good news amid the worst downturn in housing in more than two decades.

LONDON (AFP) - The price of oil rocketed to a record high point of 127.43 dollars per barrel on Friday, as US President George W. Bush prepared to urge Saudi Arabia to pump more crude, analysts said.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States should cut barriers to its markets to help it tackle economic turmoil, and boost exports to deal with its current account deficit, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose in light trading on Thursday, pushing the S&P 500 to its highest close since January, as a pullback in oil prices eased concerns about inflation and a battle to control Yahoo Inc helped the tech sector.

Oil prices soared more than $3 a barrel, surpassing $127 for the first time Friday and putting more pressure on already lofty gasoline and diesel prices ahead of the summer driving season in the northern hemisphere.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - General Electric Co. said Friday that it plans to sell or spin off its iconic appliance business, which has provided refrigerators, air conditioners and ovens for millions of U.S. homes.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc intends to prepare and serve food in its planned small-format stores, the Financial Times said on Friday, as it competes with British retailer Tesco's Fresh & Easy markets.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Construction starts on new U.S. homes rose by a surprisingly strong 8.2 percent in April and applications for new building permits turned up for the first time in five months, the Commerce Department said on Friday in a report showing the hard-hit housing sector still had some spring vigor.

LONDON (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) has pulled out of the bidding in Royal Bank of Scotland's 7 billion pound ($13.62 billion) auction of its UK insurance business, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - T. Boone Pickens' Mesa Power LLP placed a $2 billion order for 667 wind turbines with General Electric to build the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle, the Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.

TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd plans to launch a touch-screen version of the wireless e-mail device in the third quarter as an answer to Apple Inc's iPhone, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Lance Young of Advanced Internet Solutions announces the first major breakthrough in Web 2.0 search engine optimization. It is called the Keyword Competitive Index, or KCI. In short the index or number, between 0 and 10, is a snapshot of the competitive quality of any keyword as viewed from the Web 2.0 perspective.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Inflation is too high but may be slowing and the economy is suffering a "pronounced and serious downturn," Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Directors and officers of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial must answer shareholder accusations of insider trading and failure to monitor lending practices that led to the company's collapse, a federal judge in California has ruled, the New York Times reported.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Top Federal Reserve officials on Thursday cited progress in alleviating months of turmoil in financial markets, but said a full return to normalcy was still some time away.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fannie Mae, the nation's largest source of home financing, said on Friday it is lowering the amount of downpayments required on mortgages it purchases even in areas where home prices are falling.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Macy's Inc and FAO Schwarz said on Friday they signed an agreement under which the specialty U.S. toy retailer's toy stores will be opened in about 685 Macy's locations over the next two years.

LOS ANGELES - More U.S. homeowners fell behind on mortgage payments last month, driving the number of homes facing foreclosure up 65 percent versus the same month last year and contributing to a deepening slide in home values, a research company said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), billionaire Warren Buffett's investment company, no longer held any Ameriprise Financial Inc stock as of March 31, according to a U.S. regulatory filing on Thursday.

SEOUL (Reuters) - Shares in South Korea's LG Display (034220.KS) fell more than 8 percent after Lehman Brothers downgraded its rating on the liquid crystal display maker and several rivals, heightening worries about oversupply and slowing profits.

WASHINGTON - Fannie Mae says it is doing away with higher minimum downpayment requirements for borrowers in distressed real estate markets.