* Sharp in talks to sell Chinese TV plant to Lenovo - Financial Times (blog)

* Bahrain's Gulf Air to cut jobs and routes

* Global regulators ground Dreamliners

* FXCM looks to China for growth

* Militants seize gas workers in Algeria

* Default alarm rings as trust loans jump sevenfold: China Credit

* Sharp in talks to sell Chinese TV plant to Lenovo

* Talk to us, Venezuela's Capriles urges Chavez

* Brazil keeps rates on hold

Markets: mixed

Bahrain's Gulf Air to cut jobs and routes
Bahrain's lossmaking Gulf Air will slash costs this year by cutting routes and making redundancies. Amid tough competition from regional supercarriers, such as Dubai's Emirates, Abu Dhabi's Etihad and Qatar Airways, the region's oldest airline has been hit by the unrest that has destabilised the tiny Gulf kingdom.
http://on.ft.com/S5qxtU

Global regulators ground Dreamliners
The safety crisis surrounding Boeing's 787 Dreamliner deepened on Thursday with virtually all of the aircraft grounded after aviation regulators worldwide ordered indefinite suspensions of flights.
http://on.ft.com/11Ak12t

FXCM looks to China for growth
FXCM, the US foreign exchange agency broker, is expecting China to be its biggest growth market this year, boosted by huge numbers of mobile-savvy retail traders.
http://on.ft.com/10AFglp

Militants seize gas workers in Algeria
Gunmen believed to be Islamist militants kidnapped dozens of expatriate workers on Wednesday at a natural gas facility in southeastern Algeria jointly operated by BP and Statoil. Reports said up to three people, one of them British, were killed in the raid.
http://on.ft.com/VkP1is

Default alarm rings as trust loans jump sevenfold: China Credit
A seven-fold jump in last month's lending by China's trust companies is setting off alarm bells for regulators to guard against the risk of default.
http://bloom.bg/Wg8Zcx

Sharp in talks to sell Chinese TV plant to Lenovo
Sharp Corp may sell its Chinese TV assembly plant to Lenovo Group as the cash-strapped Japanese TV maker looks to sell assets to bolster its finances, sources said.
http://reut.rs/13F7OJi

Talk to us, Venezuela's Capriles urges Chavez
Venezuela's opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, called on Wednesday for a proof of life from ailing President Hugo Chavez, who has not been seen publicly since cancer surgery in Cuba five weeks ago.
http://reut.rs/WfBVkV

Brazil keeps rates on hold
Brazil's central bank kept rates on hold late on Wednesday night, acknowledging arecent worsening of inflation but signalling that monetary policy would remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.
http://on.ft.com/10AF8CE

Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index down -0.28% at 1,068

Americas
DJIA down -0.17% at 13,511
S&P 500 up +0.02% at 1,473
Bovespa up +0.10% at 61,787

Asia
Nikkei 225 down -1.00% at 10,495
Topix down -1.06% at 878.68
Hang Seng down -0.37% at 23,271
Shanghai Composite down -1.11% at 2,284
MSCI Asia ex-Japan down -0.43% at 554.48
S&P CNX Nifty Index up +0.34% at 6,022

Currencies
€/$ 1.33 (1.33)
$/¥ 88.20 (88.38)

Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.17 at 109.51
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.40 at 93.84
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -6.20 at 1,677