SAN FRANCISCO - Denying the threat of a troublesome buyout battle that could hit its unstable stock, Internet pioneer Yahoo Inc. restated its refusal, to sell to Microsoft Corp. for less than $45 billion, on Monday.

Yahoo’s boldness was quite obvious in a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, marked the latest twist in a struggle pitting two high-tech icons trying to create a more difficult confront to online search and advertising leader Google Inc.

The edgy struggle now appears to have reached a turning point after more than two months of generally behind-the-scenes manipulation.Ballmer heated up the issue on the weekend by setting April 26 a deadline for Yahoo to accept Microsoft’s offer.

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