* North, South Korea agree to high-level military talks - Financial Times (blog)

* Bright Food walks away from GNC talks

* North, South Korea agree to high-level military talks

* Hu defends Beijing's currency policy

* Occidental wins Shah gas fields contract

* Aussie firms plan to sue Indian CWG organisers

* Samsung buys Dutch group in return to M&A

* Ouattara calls for action on Ivory Coast

* Shiseido aims to raise China sales 15 per cent yearly

* Markets, mixed
Bright Food walks away from GNC talks
China's Bright Food has walked away from talks to buy GNC, a US retailer of nutritional products, the FT reports, underlining the difficulties of sealing deals with emerging market buyers.The news on Bright Food, which in December was said to be close to buying GNC in a transaction worth $2.5bn-$3bn, comes shortly after the Chinese dairy group ended discussions with the private equity owners of UK-based United Biscuits.

North, South Korea agree to high-level military talks
South Korea accepted a proposal from North Korea to hold high-level military talks, a move that signals a possible breakthrough between the rivals following deadly clashes. But Seoul warned that the North also must promise not to stage any further provocative acts against the South, the WSJ reports.

Hu defends Beijing's currency policy
Hu Jintao, China's president, defended Beijing's currency policy, telling a business audience in Washington that the Chinese economy had helped create 14m jobs around the world through its growing imports. Speaking on Thursday after US congressional leaders pressed complaints about the Chinese currency being undervalued, Mr Hu also said that the export of "quality and inexpensive" products had saved US consumers $600bn, the FT reports.

Occidental wins Shah gas fields contract
Abu Dhabi has awarded the lead contract to develop its troubled Shah sour gas project to Occidental Petroleum, the fourth-largest oil company in the US, the United Arab Emirates news agency has announced. Occidental will take a 40 per cent position in the Abu Dhabi Gas Development Company Limited alongside the state-controlled Abu Dhabi National Oil Company with 60 per cent, the FT reports.

Aussie firms plan to sue Indian CWG organisers
India's new sports minister Ajay Maken , was confronted with reports that the Australian firms that had supplied various equipment and wares for the October 2010 Commonwealth Games, planned to sue its organisers for the recovery of their dues. The issue was taken up earlier in the day by Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudd in his meeting with his Indian counterpart SM Krishna. Maken issued a 10-day ultimatum to the Organising Committee to sort out the payment issues, the Economic Times reports.

Samsung buys Dutch group in return to M&A
Samsung Electronics has bought a Dutch maker of display technology for e-readers in the latest sign the world's biggest technology company by sales is overcoming a long aversion to mergers and acquisitions, the FT reports. The deal to buy Liquavista illustrates Samsung's move away from insistence on making components in-house and a recognition that it will need to grow through international acquisitions.

Ouattara calls for action on Ivory Coast
Tougher action, possibly including force, is the only way to make Ivory Coast incumbent Laurent Gbagbo step down after mediation failed, rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara said on Thursday. But Ouattara stressed that international economic sanctions should target only Gbagbo and his allies rather than the civilian population of the world's top cocoa grower, which is gripped by a violent power struggle between them, Reuters reports.

Shiseido aims to raise China sales 15 per cent yearly
Shiseido, Japan's biggest cosmetics maker, seeks to increase sales in China by 15 per cent or more every year as rising incomes in the world's fastest- growing major economy spur demand for consumer products. Shiseido aims to boost overseas sales to 50 per cent of its total by 2017 as demand in Japan drops amid sluggish wage growth and an aging population, Bloomberg reports.

Markets

Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index down -0.35% at 1,139

Americas
DJIA down -0.02% at 11,823
S&P 500 down -0.13% at 1,280
Bovespa down -0.71% at 69,562

Asia
Nikkei 225 down -0.87% at 10,347
Topix down -1.05% at 917.47
Hang Seng up +0.49% at 24,122
Shanghai Composite up +1.55% at 2,719
MSCI Asia ex-Japan down -0.63% at 568.26
S&P CNX Nifty Index up +0.36% at 5,712

Currencies
€/$ 1.35 (1.35)
$/¥ 82.99 (82.98)

Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.08 at 96.50
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.04 at 89.63
100 Oz Gold (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 1,347