SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Trade Commission piled on new antitrust charges against Intel Corp. yesterday, seeking to end what it described as a decade of illegal sales tactics that have crippled rivals and kept prices for computer chips artificially high.

The FTC's lawsuit contains the most wide-ranging allegations yet against the world's largest chipmaker, which is also fighting a record $1.45 billion antitrust fine in Europe and separate cases in South Korea and New York state.

It comes despite Intel having recently settled similar complaints brought by rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., whose lobbying of regulators led to their charges.

If the FTC prevails, the case could have a broad impact because it concerns two key markets that are dominated by Intel, instead of just one in the other cases.

The FTC is raising new charges of manipulation in the market for graphics processing units, or GPUs, which primarily handle video and other images. Until now, Intel has faced allegations only regarding central processing units, or CPUs, which are the "brains" of personal computers.

FED PLEDGES TO HOLDRATES AT RECORD LOW

WASHINGTON — The economy is growing, but only weakly. Layoffs have slowed, yet jobs remain scarce. And interest rates will need to rise — but not anytime soon.

That was the mixed picture sketched yesterday by the Federal Reserve, which pledged to hold rates at a record low to reduce unemployment and sustain the recovery. And the assessment was reinforced by government data on inflation, home building and U.S. trade.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues did sound a more optimistic note by pointing to the slowdown in job losses. But they made clear the recovery is far from strong: Consumer spending remains sluggish, the job market weak, wage growth slight and credit tight. Companies are still wary of hiring, they said.

MICROSOFT TO ALLOWCHOICE OF BROWSERS

BRUSSELS — After a decade of complaints leading to 1.7 billion euros in fines against Microsoft Corp., European regulators have ended their last pending antitrust case against the U.S. software maker as the company agreed to let European computer users choose from a menu of Web browsers that compete with its Internet Explorer.

Microsoft said it will start sending updates in March to Windows computers in Europe so that when PC users log on, they will see a pop-up screen asking them to pick one or more of 12 Web browsers to download and install. People who buy new PCs will see the screen when they start up for the first time.

SEC SEEKS GREATERDISCLOSURE ON PAY

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators voted yesterday to require companies to reveal more information about how they pay their executives amid a public outcry over compensation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 4-1 to expand the disclosure requirements for public companies.

Company policies that encouraged excessive risk-taking and rewarded executives for delivering short-term profits were blamed for fueling the financial crisis.

The SEC also changed a formula that critics say allowed companies to understate how much their senior executives are paid. At issue is how public companies report stock options and stock awards in regulatory filings. Such awards often make up most of top executives' pay.

PROPOSAL LIMITS USE OF LUNG-CANCER DRUG

WASHINGTON — Federal health advisers yesterday recommended against expanding approval of an OSI Pharmaceuticals lung-cancer drug to patients who are already responding to chemotherapy.

The drugmaker's shares fell almost 7 percent in afternoon trading.

A spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration said the agency's panel of cancer experts voted 12-1 against using Tarceva as a follow-up therapy in patients who have already undergone successful chemo-therapy.

The drug is already approved as a treatment for patients whose cancer has spread despite chemotherapy treatment.