(Reuters) - The economy grew slower than initially estimated in the fourth quarter as government spending contracted more sharply and consumer spending was less robust, a government report showed on Friday. Gross domestic product grew at annualized rate of 2.8 percent, the Commerce Department said in its second estimate, marking a downward revision from its initial 3.2 percent estimate.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The world can weather a spike in oil prices, U.S. President Barack Obama said, as Saudi Arabia offered some respite to fears over Middle East oil supplies by indicating it can cover export cuts resulting from Libya's civil war. After a surge in Brent oil prices to 2- year highs near $120 a barrel, South Korea, the world's fifth-biggest crude importer, warned that its inflation situation was getting tougher.

• Read more

(Reuters) - On Christmas Eve 2008, in the depths of the global financial crisis, Katanga Mining accepted a lifeline it could not refuse. The Toronto-listed company had lost 97 percent of its market value over the previous six months and was running out of cash. Needing to finance its mining projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- a country which has some of the world's richest reserves of copper and cobalt -- Katanga's executives had sounded the alarm and made a string of calls for help.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Shares of Boeing Co (BA.N) gained 4 percent in premarket trade on Friday after the company won a $30 billion contract for 179 new U.S. Air Force refueling planes a day earlier. The win for Boeing came as a surprise to many industry watchers who expected rival EADS (EAD.PA) to win the contract. Boeing shares traded at $73.66, up from a closing price of $70.76 on Thursday, but equity analysts have predicted a muted impact on the stock

• Read more

(Reuters) - The Treasury has told American banks to closely monitor transactions that may be related to unrest in Libya for any possible signs that state assets were being misappropriated. The advisory issued late on Thursday by the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network stopped short of freezing assets or imposing other financial sanctions on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi or other senior officials in his regime.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Volkswagen's record year results beat expectations, showing Europe's largest carmaker has enough financial firepower to complete its planned takeover of Porsche. "Fiscal year 2010 was the best year in the history of the group. Volkswagen already provided impressive proof of its robustness during the crisis and our group is now following that up by leading the field during the economic recovery," Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said on Friday. Credit Suisse analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said the results "made Volkswagen stand out from the crowd of global carmakers," after lackluster earnings from Daimler as well as VW's lower-margin French peers Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has raised oil output about 8 percent to above 9 million barrels per day (bpd) to make up for a near halt in Libyan exports, an industry source said, helping prices fall further from the highest since 2008. Some European oil firms said they were looking to buy more crude from Iran and the West's energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, said Friday there was no need for an immediate strategic stock release.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Britain's economy suffered an even sharper slump than expected at the end of last year and would have shrunk slightly even without December's bad weather, official data showed on Friday. The figures dented market expectations of any early rise in interest rates by the Bank of England, though analysts said a May increase was still on the cards.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 edged higher while the Nasdaq added to gains Thursday morning as the market bounced back from a two-day sell-off. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 7.07 points, or 0.06 percent, at 12,112.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX added 2.24 points, or 0.17 percent, at 1,309.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC jumped up 21.11 points, or 0.78 percent, at 2,744.10.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Oil surged more than 7.5 percent to its highest since August 2008 on Thursday on concern that uprisings in Libya could spread to other major oil producers in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia. Brent crude oil for April spiked up $8.54 a barrel to a peak of $119.79 before easing to around $114.40 by 9:50 a.m. EST. U.S. crude futures for April rose as high as $103.41, the highest September 2009. They were up $1.70 at $99.80 at 8:50 a.m. EST.

• Read more