STOCKS NEWS US-Nokia files new patent suit against Apple

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1144 EST 5Jan2010
Nokia files new patent suit against Apple

Nokia, has launched another court case against Apple for alleged patent violations, in an increasingly fierce legal battle between two leaders of the smartphone market.

Nokia, the world's top cellphone maker, filed the case at a Delaware court in the United States on Dec. 29 seeking damages for Apple's alleged infringement of seven Nokia patents in most of its products, court documents showed.

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Shares of Apple rose 0.4 percent to $214.93 while U.S.-listed shares of Nokia were down 0.8 percent to $13.24.

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1132 EST 5Jan2010
Salix Pharma gains after brokers up targets

Shares of Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc rose on Tuesday after a pair of brokers raised their price targets on the stock, citing potential from the company's drug Xifaxan.

While Roth Capital raised its target to $30 from $27, Piper Jaffray doubled its target to $58 and said the stock is its 'top small-cap specialty pharma pick in 2010.'

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The stock gained 6.6 percent to $27.78.

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1123 ET 05Jan2010
Las Vegas Sands gains after Barclays note

Las Vegas Sands Corp shares rose 7.5 percent to $17.86 on Tuesday after Barclays Capital initiated coverage of the stock with an 'overweight' rating and $24 price target.

The firm believes the casino operator has one of the most attractive development pipelines and said its casinos set to open in Macau in Singapore are well positioned to revenues for the next several years.

In Asia, shares of Macau casino operators rose on reports that gambling revenues in the enclave rose 48 percent in December from the prior year.

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1055 ET 05Jan2010
Traders favor Delta calls after Continental data

Delta Air Lines Inc call options heated up, with more than 11,800 February $12 calls crossing the tape Tuesday morning. Its shares jumped 8.3 percent to $12.15. The ARCA Airline Index rose nearly 5 percent after data from Continental Airlines Inc showed revenue improvements in December. For details, see. One top trade in that strike was 2,248 contracts at a $1 premium on the International Securities Exchange and an opening customer buyer, according to ISE data, said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy. Delta's overall option volume was three times the recent average daily turnover, with about 28,000 calls and 8,606 puts traded, according to Trade Alert. Joe Kunkle, a founder of OptionsHawk.com also noted offer side buying in large blocks.

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1039 EST 5Jan2010-Noble Energy shares up on Rockies oil
gas deal

Shares of Noble Energy Inc rose on Tuesday after the company said it would buy the Rocky Mountains oil and gas assets of Petro-Canada Resources Inc and Suncor Energy America Inc for $494 million.

Noble estimates the total proved reserves to be 53 million barrels of oil equivalent, with 80 percent within the Wattenberg field, Noble's largest onshore U.S. asset.

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Noble gained 2.3 percent to $74.93, while Suncor rose 45 cents to C$38.75.

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