NEW YORK, March 28 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes headed upward Friday after the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 120 points on Thursday.
In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 23.69 points to 12,326.15, up 0.19 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 2.65 points to 1,228.14, up 0.2 percent.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.41 percent to 2,290.14, up 9.31 points.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 10/32 to yield 3.488 percent.
The dollar gained ground. The euro traded at $1.5759 Friday from Thursday's $1.5775, while the dollar traded at 99.92 yen from Thursday's 99.76 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average gained 215.89 points to close the week at 12,820.47, up 1.71 percent.
Consumer price index gains speed in Japan
TOKYO, March 28 (UPI) -- Japan's consumer price index rose 1 percent on the year, February to February, the fastest clip in more than 13 years.
It was the fifth consecutive month of increases, largely pushed by increases in energy prices, Kyodo reported. Gasoline prices have risen 18.2 percent over February 2007, while heating oil costs have risen 28 percent.
The core index, which excludes food and energy costs, declined in February, down 0.1 percent, for the 26th consecutive month of declines, the report said.
China law could influence Yahoo! takeover
SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 28 (UPI) -- A new law in China could interfere with the largest corporate takeover in history and influence mergers and investments in the future.
The law, which takes effect Aug. 1, allows regulators in China to review takeovers and acquisitions on anti-monopoly concerns if the deal involves Chinese companies. Since Yahoo! Inc. purchased 40 percent of China's Alibaba.com in 2005, the $44 billion hostile bid proposed by Microsoft Corp. earlier in February could be affected.
Chinese regulators could demand that the Microsoft-Yahoo! merger sell its $1 billion investment in Alibaba.com, The New York Times reported Friday.
"Multinational corporations will need to develop strategies for all the markets they operate in," one anti-trust expert said. "And China is a big market."
The expert, Nathan G. Bush with O'Melveny and Myers in Beijing, told the Times that China's regulatory influence would match those of "Brussels and Washington."
California board reduces clean car quotas
SACRAMENTO, March 28 (UPI) -- California's Air Resources Board cut the state's quota for emissions-free vehicles, but added gasoline-electric hybrid cars to the mandate.
Analysts said the move was a severe blow to environmentalists.
Major car companies doing business in California will be required to produce 7,500 electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles for sale in the state each year from 2012 to 2014. The previous commitment was for 25,000 emission-free vehicles.
But, the board now requires 58,000 hybrid cars to be made available in the same period, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
"It's my view that both plug-in hybrids and (emission-free vehicles) are a tremendous stretch for the industry," board member Daniel Sperling said.
Executive Director of Plug In America Chelsea Sexton said the board, "sent the message to the car makers that they can always get what they want from the board."
Ford Motor Co. spokeswoman Jennifer Moore told the Times the company would "take some time and study" the new standards.
The board also delayed implementation of the new zero-emissions vehicle quotas from 2011 to 2017 for 10 other states involved in the Zero Emissions Vehicle program, the report said.
