Business News - Reuters

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Two weeks after Microsoft Corp abandoned its pursuit of Yahoo Inc , a proxy fight launched by activist investor Carl Icahn has put Microsoft in the driver's seat.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures added to gains on Friday on optimism about the housing market after the government said construction starts on new U.S. homes rose in April and applications for new building permits turned up for the first time in five months.

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) - General Electric Co said on Friday it may sell or spin off its century-old appliances unit in a bid to lower its exposure to the slumping U.S. housing market.

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) - 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.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Teen apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co reported higher quarterly profit on Friday, topping Wall Street estimates, as a lower tax rate and better gross profit helped offset the impact of lower same-store sales.

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) - Fannie Mae is lowering the amount of downpayments required on mortgages it purchases, replacing rules set in December that mandated higher downpayments in markets where home prices are falling, the largest source of U.S. home financing said on Friday..

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) reported a threefold increase in fourth-quarter profit, rebounding from massive losses at its consumer finance unit a year earlier, and it forecast modest growth ahead.

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.

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.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Embattled Yahoo Inc has struck an advertising partnership deal with WPP Group that will let WPP buy ads on Yahoo's online ad exchange, the companies said late on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee said on Thursday they have agreed to the underpinnings of a housing rescue plan that will create a federal backstop for failing loans.

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.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp won a potential $3.6 billion contract to start building a new generation of global positioning satellites that will boost accuracy for worldwide users, the Air Force said Thursday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group reported a 5 percent rise in annual profit as bond sales helped offset subprime losses, and it forecast modest growth this year.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - CBS Corp said on Thursday it would buy web media company CNET Networks Inc for about $1.8 billion to boost the television broadcaster's reach across the Internet.

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.