U.S. stocks, bonds slip on inflation talk
New York: U.S. stocks fell on Friday after two days of rise as a warning came from Federal Reserve officials on inflation. U.S. Treasury debt prices dropped, while oil and gold rallied. The dollar was mixed.

Decline in the share prices of Bank of America Corp and American Express Co. pulled the Dow and S&P indexes lower. Shares of Apple Computer Inc. fell on the news that Microsoft is preparing an iPod competitor.

Analysts said inflation continued to be the hot topic.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.64 of a point, or 0.01 percent, to end at 11,014.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 4.62 points, or 0.37 percent, to finish at 1,251.54. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 14.20 points, or 0.66 percent, to close 2,129.95.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.13 percent, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.24 percent and the S&P 500 edged down 0.06 percent.

The dollar was range-bound on Friday, helped by stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data suggesting interest rates could rise a few more times, but was still mostly flat against most major currencies.
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Shareholders' doubts grow on Arcelor-Severstal deal
Arcelor shareholder's revolt over the company's merger with the Russian steel group Severstal is spreading to core loyalists in Luxembourg, Belgium, and Spain.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which holds a 5.6pc stake in Arcelor has also silent about the merger, rushed together by Arcelor management as a defence against Mittal Steel's €21.6bn (£14.8bn) hostile bid. Jean-Claude Juncker, PM of the country also deep reservations about the tie-up, viewing it as a reverse take-over that allows a little-known Russian oligarch to obtain operating control over Arcelor.

A clause in the deal revealed this week showed Severstal's owner, Alexei Mordashov, will hold two seats on a four-man strategic committee, giving him a veto over all decisions on debt, stock issues, mergers, and major operations.

In Belgium, where the regional Walloon government owns 2.4pc of the stock, the tide appears to be turning in favour of the Mittal bid as the lesser of two evils.
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