A round-up of today's other stories in brief

US economic data positive on consumption prospects for 2011

The US economy has reached a crossroads as a flurry of new data showed consumption may recover fast enough to sustain growth in 2011, in spite of weaker business investment and a poor housing market.

Growth in jobs, wages and consumption must pick up soon if the US recovery is to continue because temporary sources of strength are fading out.

New claims for unemployment benefit fell sharply last week to 407,000, according to official data released yesterday. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010)

SAP may seek settlement over fine

SAP said it would "consider all available options" and hinted it would seek a settlement after a US jury imposed a $1.3 billion fine on the German group for illegally downloading rival Oracle's software.

The decision, dubbed Oracle's "toxic Christmas present" by one analyst, is a significant setback for SAP's new management just as it had started to boost morale at the world's largest maker of business applications software. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010)

UK economy grows 0.2% on trade

The UK economy grew at a robust 0.8 per cent in the third quarter as a surprise boost from trade offset a slowdown in consumer spending and investment.

The pace of recovery in the third quarter was unrevised from the initial estimate a month ago and suggests that, throughout the middle of this year, the economy bounced back rapidly.

However spending figures in the UK during the quarter still leave a question mark over some parts of the economy.

Most promisingly, net trade offered a surprise boost to the economy in the third quarter, making up 0.4 percentage points of growth. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010)