The company will sell its library reference and other properties for $7.75 billion to a private equity group and a pension plan. Shares rose $1.46 to $42.02.

ThyssenKrupp AG will build a $4.19 billion steel plant in a project that could create thousands of jobs.

The Thai government scrapped plans to sue Google after it agreed to remove from a Web site video clips deemed insulting. Shares in Google rose $5.27 to $466.74.

Some 10,000 employees walked off their jobs Friday, starting the first major strike against Europe??™s biggest telecommunications company since it was privatized more than a decade ago. Shares rose 29 cents to $17.27.

A mysterious auction Friday provided a dramatic end to the politically charged, four-year demise of the what once was Russia??™s biggest oil producer.

China??™s monthly trade surplus more than doubled in April to nearly $17 billion, ahead of talks with Washington on its swollen trade gap.

Ss has upgraded the bond rating of Xerox Corp. to investment grade, lifting it out of junk bond status. Shares rose 24 cents to $17.93.

Fast-food giant??™s status as a top sponsor for the Olympics prevents it from pushing Chicago, where its headquarters are, as the 2016 host. Shares rose 65 cents to $50.65.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. sweetened its offer Friday for the Chicago Board of Trade??™s parent company, CBOT Holdings Inc., in an attempt to end a bidding war. Shares in CME rose $38.35 to $536.30. Shares in CBOT Holdings rose $7.35 to $201.35.

Studios are stockpiling scripts and rushing production on shows and movies in preparation for a possible strike by writers later this year.

Source: [url=http://www.thestate.com/101/story/61793.html]The State[/url]