(Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Friday with the S&P 500 locked in a tight trading range and as the dollar gained, but encouraging data limited the downside. After breaking above a key technical level around 1,228, the S&P hit resistance at 1,235, which represents the two-year intraday high reached earlier in the week. The index climbed as high as 1,236.93 before falling back.

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(Reuters) - China's central bank on Friday raised the amount of money the country's lenders must keep on reserve for the third time in a month, following a spate of robust data that strengthened the case for policy tightening. The latest step to raise the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), aimed at mopping up excess cash in the economy, had been widely expected after Beijing announced a shift to a "prudent" monetary policy from the previous "moderately loose" stance earlier this month.

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(Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed much more than expected in October, as exports rose a robust 3.2 percent and imports declined slightly in the face of slackening demand for industrial and petroleum products, a Commerce Department report showed on Friday. The trade gap totaled $38.7 billion, down from a revised estimate of $44.6 billion for September. Analysts surveyed before the report had expected the October trade deficit to narrow just slightly to about $43.60 billion.

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(Reuters) - General Motors Co Chief Executive Dan Akerson said on Friday that the automaker is seeking "some relaxation" in the restrictions on executive pay imposed by the U.S. government. "We have to be competitive and retain talent," Akerson said in response to a question at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. "We're starting to lose them now."

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(Reuters) - Bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc (AIG.N) took another step in its restructuring this week, but it is only noticeable to those looking closely: it put the company's logo back on employee identification cards. After its September 2008 government rescue, AIG employees around the country came in for public harassment and in some cases outright attack, driven by anger at the company's behavior and the size of the bailout package (which ultimately topped $182 billion).

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(Reuters) - Germany and France pledged on Friday to better align their tax and labor policies to foster convergence in the euro zone, but rejected calls for an increase in the bloc's rescue fund and joint sovereign bonds. Earlier on Friday, European central bankers had told euro zone governments they could not count on the ECB alone to solve a debt crisis which has forced bailouts of Greece and Ireland, and heaped pressure on countries like Portugal and Spain.

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(Reuters) - European Union banking supervisors agreed on finalized mandatory guidelines for awarding bank bonuses on Friday, saying key requirements can be "neutralized" for less risky firms and staff. The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) alarmed banks in October when it published the guidelines in draft form, as they went beyond what world leaders at the Group of 20 countries agreed.

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(Reuters) - U.S. import prices in November rose at their fastest pace in a year as petroleum and food costs maintained their upward trend, according to a government report on Friday that hinted at a pick up in imported inflation. Import prices jumped 1.3 percent, the largest rise since November 2009, after advancing by a revised 1.0 percent in October, the Labor Department said.

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(Reuters) - Chevron Corp (CVX.N), the second-largest U.S. oil company, will increase spending by a fifth to $26 billion in 2011, with 85 percent going to exploration and production as the industry seeks out new sources of growth. The expanded budget, announced on Thursday, is a big step for Chevron as it enters a period of weak net production growth while it ramps up in natural gas. Massive rival Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) budgeted 2010 spending of $30 billion.

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(Reuters) - Stocks rose modestly on Thursday after encouraging labor market data renewed optimism the fragile economic recovery was track, but gains were limited by a decline in the euro. First-time claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected last week and the four-week moving average dropped to a two-year low. The government report was a positive sign after last week's disappointing payrolls report.

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