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March 12- Sheryl Sandberg's new book "Lean In" challenges men in the upper echelons of corporate America to take more women under their wing. After studying at Harvard and working at the U.S. Treasury Department, Sandberg rose to the top of Silicon Valley, jumping from Google to Chief Operating Officer at Facebook while raising two children.

*Property sinks on reported Shenzhen home-price freeze. HONG KONG, March 13- China shares headed for a fifth-straight loss on Wednesday, hurting Hong Kong markets, with the mainland financial and property sectors hit by a media report saying Shenzhen imposed a freeze on housing prices for the year.

NEW YORK, March 12- Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company, said on Tuesday it had already started nearly all the projects that would deliver 25 percent growth in oil and gas output over the next half a decade.

SINGAPORE, March 13- Shanghai copper rose to a 1-1/ 2- week high on Wednesday, tracking London's gains in the previous session and spurred by improving demand in China as it embraces a seasonal upturn in consumption of the metal.

SINGAPORE, March 13- London copper drifted on Wednesday from almost two-week highs hit in the previous session as a short-covering burst began to fade, while Chinese consumers stayed on the sidelines amid the country's ongoing policy-setting parliamentary meeting.

MADRID, March 13- Zara owner Inditex tapped fashion-hungry consumers in new markets in 2012 to grow net profit by 22 percent even as austerity-hit shoppers in Europe tightened belts. By the end of January, Inditex had more than 6,000 stores across 86 countries and said it expected to launch flagship brand Zara online in Russia over the autumn-winter season.

*OPEC sees oil demand downside risk, rising supply. SINGAPORE, March 13- Brent futures held steady above $109 a barrel on Wednesday on expectations of steady growth in global oil consumption, with a surprise fall in stockpiles in the world's top oil consumer, the United States, providing additional support.

WASHINGTON, March 13- The spring weather pattern for the United States looks greatly improved from a year ago, when drought was both widespread and severe, which is good news for agricultural producers, a private weather forecaster said on Wednesday.

Brent's premium to U.S. crude fell below $17 a barrel for the first time since late January, as the U.S. crude contract rallied after running into firm support the previous two sessions just above $90.80, near the 100- day moving average.

NEW YORK, March 11- The dollar hovered close to a recent 3-1/ 2- year high against the yen on Monday after last week's strong U.S. jobs data fanned speculation the Federal Reserve could back away from its ultra-loose monetary policy sooner than expected.

*Sterling hit by woeful UK manufacturing data. SYDNEY/ TOKYO, March 13- The yen's sell-off paused on Wednesday but expectations of radical policy easing from the Bank of Japan meant further weakness was likely, while dour UK manufacturing data consigned sterling to the dog house.

SINGAPORE, March 13- U.S. crude futures rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday on a surprise fall stockpiles in the world's largest oil consumer the United States, gaining for a fifth day in the longest daily winning streak since mid-December. U.S. oil gained 19 cents to $92.73 a barrel by 0015 GMT, after ending 48 cents higher.

*Copper, aluminum up too on hopes of more China buying. NEW YORK, March 12- Gold had its biggest gain in two weeks on Tuesday after a top European Central Bank official said the euro zone crisis was not over, and copper and other base metals rallied too, sending commodities higher for a third day in a row.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 12- Shipments of tablets running Google Inc's Android will overtake the iPad this year for the first time, research house IDC predicted on Tuesday, as Apple Inc cedes more mobile market share to hard-charging rivals around the globe.

SINGAPORE, March 13- Gold traded little changed on Wednesday, holding near a two-week high hit in the previous session when Germany's central bank expressed concerns about the euro zone crisis and the risk of the European Central Bank's moves to stem the crisis.

*Property curbs dent outlook for China steel demand. SHANGHAI/ SINGAPORE, March 12- China's daily steel output surged to a record in February as big mills ramped up production, but rising inventories and concerns over Beijing's latest property curbs have raised doubts about the strength of demand.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 12- EBay Inc, operator of one of the largest online marketplaces, questioned the value of Google Inc's main advertising service in a recent study.

*Analysts say Costco increased its market share. March 12- Costco Wholesale Corp lured shoppers with low prices on everything from produce to gasoline in the latest quarter, gaining market share at a time when other retailers saw shoppers pull back due to higher taxes and rising fuel prices. Shares of Costco were up 1.4 percent at $103.82 in afternoon trade.

NEW YORK/ LONDON, March 7- Raw sugar futures on ICE surged more than 3 percent on Thursday as active short-covering pushed the market to its biggest one-day gain in 3-1/ 2 months, while Liffe robusta coffee jumped to a five-month high due to dry conditions in top grower Vietnam. "Brazil is going to be very enthusiastic about making ethanol at current price levels.