Oil falls ahead of Opec meeting

Opec ministers will gather in Cairo on Saturday, as oil prices remained below $55 a barrel amid fears that global demand is set to fall further.

US light, sweet crude ended down a cent at $54.43 a barrel on Friday. In London Brent was up 20 cents at $53.49.

Ministers from Iran and Qatar dampened expectations that a cut in production would be announced this weekend.

Opec member Venezuela favours a cut in output of a million barrels a day to try to boost prices.

The Iranian Oil minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari said a cut may be announced at the Opec meeting in Algeria on 17 December.

"Here we will prepare some data and maybe the final decision will be in Algeria," he said.

His view was backed up by the Qatari energy minister, Abdullah al-Attiyah.

Added Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammed al-Olaim said:"I don't think a decision will be taken at the meeting in Cairo. A decision could be taken at the meeting in Algeria."

Balancing demand

Falls in demand in the US, the world's top energy consumer, and other industrialised countries, have helped drive prices down from a record peak of more than $147 a barrel.

Opec, which accounts for 40% of global oil production, cut output by 1.5 million barrels a day last month, but the move failed to stop prices from declining.

While cartel members have not ruled out making another output cut, some say the impact of the existing cuts still have to be felt.

"Combined with weakening non-Opec supplies, the projected...output curtailment suggests that the oil market could actually tighten moving into 2009," Barclays Capital said in a research note.

Russian rates up as rouble falls

Russia's central bank increased its key interest rate to 13% from 12% in an attempt to help stop currency losses.

The rouble headed for its largest weekly fall in five years, and has fallen approximately 1.9% this week.

For the second time this week, Bank Rossii, the country's central bank, widened the rouble's trading band by about 1% or 30 kopeks.

Russia's has spent $148bn (£96.4bn) of its foreign currency reserves since August to stop a fall of the rouble.

The central banks aims to keep the rouble stable against a two-currency basket that is made up of 55% US dollars and 45% euros. Against the dollar, it is down 16% since August.

Steady Devaluation

The current situation for the rouble is not as dire as it was back in 1998 when the currency lost over 70% of its value against the dollar.

Russia finds itself in the position of hiking rates to stop investors fleeing the currency when the large majority of countries around the world are cutting them to deal with the global financial crisis.

Many observers see the central bank finally allowing the currency to head towards a steady devaluation by widening the trading bands this week.

Russia's currency had soared on the back of high oil prices, the country's leading export, and it has been hard-hit by the fall in oil prices.

Russia's main benchmark oil, Ural crude, has been trading consistently below $50 a barrel this week and in late afternoon trading was at $48.61.

RBI extends time period for concessional credit to exporters

The Reserve Bank on Friday extended the time period for credit facilities given to various sectors including exporters to help them tide over credit crunch and battle the economic slowdown.

In view of the difficulties being faced by exporters on account of the weakening of external demand, RBI decided to extend the period of concessional pre-shipment credit from 90 days to 180 days.



The facility would come into effect from 1st December, RBI release in Mumbai said on Friday.



At present, exporters receive concessional credit at 2.5 per cent below the benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) for pre-shipment activities.



The decision was taken after a review meeting convened by RBI Governor D Subbarao with select public and private sector banks.



In addition, the RBI has also clarified that the refinance facility for the mutual funds, NBFCs and housing finance companies would be available "for renewal/rollover, on maturity of existing facility."



The apex bank has been providing liquidity support to the NBFCs HFCs and MFs through refinance route to help them tide over the credit crunch.



It further said the refinance facility under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) has been extended to 30th June, 2009.



This facility helps the banks to borrow one per cent of the deposits at the repo rate from the central bank.



Besides, the Forex swap facility to the banks for meeting overseas funding requirement in dollars has been extended to 30th June.



Under this facility, the central bank provides forex liquidity to public and private sector banks through forex swap of tenors up to three months.

Drug firms 'block cheap medicine'

Drug companies are blocking or delaying the entry of cheaper generic medicines into the EU, pushing up medicine bills, the European Commission has said.

Their actions cost EU healthcare providers 3bn euros ($3.9bn; £2.5bn) in savings between 2000 and 2007, it said.

It added that drug firms used legal action and multiple patents to stop rivals getting to market.

Drug firms said the "perfectly lawful" measures were justified to protect investment in research and development.

Market access

Generic drug companies - which sell cheaper versions of drugs once the patent has expired - have long complained that it is difficult to get their drugs to market in Europe.

The Commission said that innovators filed multiple applications to stop generic drugs getting to market - in one case, there were 1,300 patents for a single drug.

The report found that owners of original drugs often intervened in national approval procedures for generic medicines.

There were nearly 700 cases of reported patent litigation and more than 200 settlements between brand name drug companies and generic companies.

More than 10% of these settlements limited the entry of the generic drug to the market.

Fine threat

"Market entry of generic companies and the development of new and more affordable medicines is sometimes blocked or delayed, at significant cost to healthcare systems, consumers and taxpayers," said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

"It is still early days but the Commission will not hesitate to open antitrust cases against companies where there are indications that the antitrust rules may have been breached," she added.

The Commission could impose large fines on drug companies if they have engaged in unfair practices.

In 2005, AstraZeneca was fined 60m euros for blocking cheaper rivals to Losec, its heartburn and ulcer pill.

Pressure mounts

Drug firms use "perfectly lawful practices - such as patent portfolios, patent litigation and the release of improved medicines," the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) said.

"These [practices] are essential for innovators to protect their huge investment in R&D [research and development]," it said, adding that the 17% of turnover industry spent on R&D exceeds any other sector in Europe.

The EFPIA - which said the Commission's report missed the opportunity to tackle the real issues facing the industry - called for a more competitive market for generic drugs, pointing out that Europeans pay more for generic drugs than US citizens.

In response to claims that the delayed or blocked sale of generic drugs was pushing up healthcare costs, the EFPIA said: "A single member state, the Netherlands, achieved greater savings - up to 400m euros - in one year, on only 33 medicines, simply by promoting greater price competition between generics."

The Commission report increases the pressure on the global pharmaceuticals industry.

Barack Obama, the US President-elect, is also expected to try to cut costs as part of the reform of healthcare coverage in the US.

Markets overcome terror strike, week ends in the green

Showing greater resilience, Indian bourses concluded the terror-struck week on a positive note as key indices bounced back from their three-year lows after the US proposed fresh rescue plans for the financial sector as well as the country's 7.6 per cent GDP growth in the second quarter.

The bounce at mid-week was triggered by growing optimism that many governments, including India, would follow a rate-cut by China and fresh steps by the US to heal the ailing financial markets and stem the economy from longer recession.



After closing at a three-year low of 8,695.53 on Tuesday, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer recovered smartly and ended the week at 9,092.72, a net rise of 177.51 points or 1.99 per cent, over last weekend's close.



The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also gained 61.65 points, or 2.29 per cent, to end the week at 2,755.10 from its previous weekend's close.



The US government unveiled a fresh rescue package of USD 800 billion with a view to augment consumer loans after a multi-billion-dollar bailout package to troubled banking giant Citigroup.



The latest package was in addition to the USD 700-billion rescue plan, which was cleared after several rounds of intense debate in the US Congress.



Analysts said the American government's new steps and China's fresh rate-cut during the week raised anticipation of another set of monetary measures by the Reserve Bank at home.



The markets, however, withstood a violent terror strike on the country's commercial capital Mumbai, forcing the authorities to keep bourses shut for a day on Thursday.



This resulted in postponement of the expiry of the Futures and Options to Friday, 28th November.



The Indian economy notched a reasonable growth rate of 7.6 percent in the second quarter of the current fiscal.



IT sector was the biggest gainer of the week. As a result, the BSE IT index spurted by 101.39 points or 4.13 per cent to conclude the week at 2,558.94 from its last weekend's close.



Small-cap and mid-cap shares, however, registered widespread losses, holding the market breadth into negative.



The capital goods and realty sectors also remained under pressure largely due to the global slowdown.



The broad-based BSE-100 Index also advanced by 72.42 points or 1.60 per cent to end the week at 4,600.45 from its last weekend's close of 4,528.03.



The BSE 200 Index and the Dollex-200 were quoted higher at 1,062.35 and 353.03 at the weekend compared to their last weekend's close of 1,048.86 and 348.62 respectively.



On the NSE, the S&P CNX Defty recovered smartly by 39.30 points or 2.11 per cent to finish the week at 1,905.30 from its previous weekend's close of 1,866.00.



The CNX Nifty Junior, however, was flat at 3,848.85 against 3,841.80 at the previous weekend.



However, the BSE small-cap index dropped by 86.15 points, or 2.54 per cent, to close the week at 3,304.61 and the BSE mid-cap index ended the week lower by 30.90 points, or 1.06

per cent, at 2,885.76.



The BSE Realty index tumbled by 84.41 points, or 5.13 per cent, to 1,561.01 at the weekend from its preceding weekend's close of 1,645.42

EU calls for aid to poor nations

The European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has called for a 'human rescue' package to help poor countries.

Speaking at the opening of a high-level UN conference on aid, Mr Barroso said it would be 'obscene' to neglect the human cost of the global slowdown.

The UN Conference on Financing for Development is meeting in Doha, Qatar to track progress on development aid.

There are fears that rich countries will cut back on development aid as a result of the looming recession.

Mr Barroso said that climate change, energy security and trade would add to the potential problems facing poor countries as result of the financial crisis.

The World Bank has said that developing countries are facing a 'perfect storm', with the convergence of slowing growth, a withdrawal of private capital, and higher interest rates on their debt.

The Bank says that growth in developing countries will fall by two percentage points to 4.5% next year, as the volume of global trade contracts for the first time since 1982.

But aid agencies have criticised the fact that neither the head of the World Bank or the IMF, or many other world leaders from rich countries, have come to the talks.

"The fact that so few world leaders have chosen to travel to Doha is a real cause for concern," said Ariane Arpa of Oxfam.

Promises, promises

Six years ago, rich countries pledged to double their aid efforts to ensure that the poor countries reach their millennium development goals of halving poverty by 2015.

But UN figures show that the developed countries have only committed $20bn of the $50bn they promised at the G8 summit in 2005, leaving them far short of the $130bn that will be needed if the millennium development goals are to be met.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick said he would accelerate the disbursement of $42bn it has available to support low-income (IDA) countries over the next three years.

But Christian Aid and ActionAid are concerned that the present financial crisis will be used by rich countries as an excuse to renege on aid commitments.

The mood of the meeting is likely to be in sharp contrast to the first Financing for Development summit in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2002, when President George W Bush unexpectedly promised to double US development aid.

Developing countries are also looking to play a bigger role in discussions designed to restructure the world financial system.

The G20, which met in Washington earlier in November, includes some major emerging market countries, but does not represent the very poorest nations.

Some developing countries and aid agencies would also like the meeting to tackle the issues of tax evasion by multinationals and capital flight.

Meanwhile, discussions will be taking place in Geneva about plans to re-launch the world trade talks, which stalled in the summer because of a dispute over farming tariff protection for poor countries.

WTO boss Pascal Lamy has said it is essential that world leaders show their commitment to developing country growth through aid and trade.

China's first home-made jet flies

China successfully flight tested its first home-grown commercial airliner.

The ARJ-21's maiden flight lasted one hour and the aircraft did not rise above 900 metres in altitude due to safety reasons.

The 90-seat jet flew out of a local Shanghai airport and its manufacturer expects it to fly distances up to 3,700km.

Each jet will cost $27m (£22.6m) and first deliveries are expected to take place within 18 months.

Secured Orders


The jet was normal and the flight was smooth

Zhao Peng, Pilot

The plane is being manufactured in Shanghai.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China say they have secured over 200 orders and last month gained five firm orders from GE Commercial Aviation Services who have an option for a further 20 jets.

It's general manager Jin Zhuanglong said: "With less fuel consumption and longer flight hours, the ARJ-21 will reduce air fares by 8% to 10% for Chinese airlines, most of whom currently use large aircraft above 140 seats on short and medium routes."

One of the three pilots on board, Zhao Peng, said "The jet was normal and the flight was smooth."

The jet will face competition from international manufacturers such as Bombardier, Embraer, Airbus and Boeing.

Economy boost for Spain and Italy

Spain and Italy have announced plans worth billions of euros to kick-start their economies.

Italy approved an 80bn euro ($102bn;£66bn) emergency package that included tax breaks for poorer families, public works projects and mortgage relief.

Spain unveiled an 11bn euro plan aimed at creating 300,000 jobs.

The announcements are the latest in a series of attempts by EU governments to shore up their economies as the financial crisis bites.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called on to Italians to keep on spending.

"We have helped citizens, the less well off, so that they can continue to consume," he said.

"The intensity and duration of the crisis depends on all of us."

Spain's Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said the money will be mainly invested in infrastructure and public works.

Spain's unemployment reached 12.8% in October - the highest in the eurozone.

Construction crisis

The Spanish government said it would invest 0.8bn euros in the ailing car industry, which has been through a severe downturn and seen sales plummet 54.6% since the beginning of the year.

The construction industry has also been severely hit by the financial crisis, with property prices falling and companies slashing thousands of jobs.

The Spanish economy shrank by 0.2% in the third quarter, putting an end to 15 years of continuous growth.

The European Commission has demanded that each EU member must spend about 1.2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or economic output, to fight the economic slowdown.

Spain's plan is worth 1.1% of its GDP.

Germany launched a similar 50bn euro package, while next week France is expected to unveil economic measures worth 20bn euros.

Opec discusses falling oil price

Opec ministers are meeting in Cairo to discuss the recent steep fall in the price of oil.

The price of a barrel of oil has tumbled to below $55 after peaking at a record $147 dollars in mid-July.

Cartel members have lost hundreds of billions of dollars as global demand for oil drops in the face of the economic downturn.

But ministers have dampened expectations that a cut in production would be announced this weekend.

Opec member Venezuela favours a cut in output of a million barrels a day to try to boost prices.

But several oil ministers have suggested an announcement at these informal talks in Cairo is unlikely and that a meeting in Algeria in December will be more important.

The Iranian Oil minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari, said a cut may be announced at the Opec meeting in Algeria on 17 December.

"Here we will prepare some data and maybe the final decision will be in Algeria," he said.

His view was backed up by the Qatari Energy Minister, Abdullah Attiyah, and the Saudi Oil Minister, Ali Naimi.

"This meeting is a preparatory meeting for a more resolved and firm decision in Algeria," Mr Naimi said on Saturday.

Balancing demand

Falls in demand in the US, the world's top energy consumer, and other industrialised countries, have helped drive prices down from a record peak of more than $147 a barrel.

Opec, which accounts for 40% of global oil production, cut output by 1.5 million barrels a day last month, but the move failed to stop prices from declining.

While cartel members have not ruled out making another output cut, some say the impact of the existing cuts still have to be felt.

"Combined with weakening non-Opec supplies, the projected...output curtailment suggests that the oil market could actually tighten moving into 2009," Barclays Capital said in a research note.

Wal-Mart worker dies in sale rush

A shop worker has died after being knocked to the ground by bargain-hunters who stormed into a superstore in New York's suburbs as it opened.

The 34-year-old man, along with several other workers and shoppers, was trampled in the rush at the Wal-Mart store in Valley Stream, Long Island.

US stores opened early and offered steep discounts on Friday.

The day after the Thanksgiving holiday is seen as the start of the Christmas shopping season.

It is regarded as an important test of how willing consumers are to spend.

Crowds of shoppers turned up at dawn at stores across the US to snare the best deals.

Wal-Mart, along with electronics retailer Best Buy and department stores Kohl's and Macy's, opened their doors at dawn.

Toys R Us offered up to 60% discounts from 0500 to 1000.

Several major retailers indicated that crowds were at least as large as last year's, but deep discounts are likely to hurt retailers' profit margins.

Many retailers have suffered as the US economy nosedives although value chains like Wal-Mart have fared better.

US retail sales recorded the biggest monthly decline since 1992 in October as consumers cut back on spending.

Russia to host next BRIC summit

Russia will host the first stand-alone summit of the world's fastest emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, President Dmitry Medvedev has announced.

"Next year we will hold the summit in Russia," Medvedev was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti after talks with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

The first summit of these nations, clubbed as the BRIC, was held in July 2008 in Hokkaido, Japan on the sidelines of the G-8 summit.

Earlier in May last, Russia had hosted a meeting of BRIC foreign ministers, in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

Medvedev said Russia's ties with Brazil and other BRIC members are particularly important in the context of the global financial crisis.

The term BRIC was first used in 2003 in a forecast published by the Goldman Sachs investment bank that named Brazil, Russia, India and China as the fast emerging economies likely to assume key global role.

According to the Kremlin, the dates and venue of the summit will be agreed through diplomatic channels

PC World owner reports £30m loss

The owner of Currys and PC World, DSG International, has reported a half-year loss of £29.8m, blaming a "tough and volatile" trading environment.

The loss, for the 24 weeks to 18 October, compared with a profit of £52.4m in the same period last year.

The company said that sales in stores open longer than a year were down 7% during the period.

It said that its computer business had held up well, but sales of electrical goods had been weak.

DSG added that the outlook for the Christmas trading period and 2009 was uncertain, but it said that the company was prepared for a recession.

To conserve cash, the firm said it would not pay shareholders a dividend. It had already announced plans to reduce investment by £30m.

"We are focused first on trading through the current tough economic environment in which we are prioritising cash generation," said chief executive John Browett.

As well as running the Currys and PC World chains in the UK, DSG trades as Elkjop in the Nordic region and UniEuro in Italy.

Oil rises as Russia threatens cut

Oil prices have risen after Russia said it might join producers' cartel Opec in cutting output, and following a fall in the US dollar.

China's interest rate cut also boosted prices on hopes the move might prevent a slowdown in the country's growth.

The developments helped counter more dour economic news and larger-than-expected fuel stockpiles.

US light, sweet crude climbed 83 cents to $51.60 a barrel. Brent crude rose 58 cents to $50.93 a barrel.

On Tuesday oil prices had fallen by more than $3.50 a barrel.

The dollar declined on Wednesday against the yen after new economic data from the US suggested the downturn was deepening.

Demand fears

Analysts say that the latest steps taken by governments to boost the global financial market and economy have had little effect on oil prices.

"There's been a lot of money thrown at the system and it hasn't done a lot yet," said Mark Pervan at ANZ bank in Melbourne.

Oil markets fear that the global economic downturn will dramatically reduce demand for crude.

The price of oil has fallen sharply from its record of more than $147 a barrel in July.

Opec, which accounts for about 40% of global oil production, cut output by 1.5 million barrels a day last month, but the move failed to stop prices from declining.

Russian output

Some of the cartel's members have been calling for a new cut at an Opec meeting in Cairo on 29 November.

And Russian energy minister Sergei Shmatko said his country would "co-ordinate with Opec to defend its interests."

Russia has been criticised by some analysts for increasing output for several years while Opec was cutting production to support oil prices.

Russia, one of the world's leading oil exporters, is not a member of the cartel.

Russia's Ural crude oil costs now less than $50 per barrel, while the Russian budget assumption for this year is $75 a barrel and for $95 a barrel in 2009.

The country's oil output stood at 491 million tonnes (3.7 billion barrels) in 2007 and will stay at the same level in 2008, according to a revised government forecast.

Porsche set to delay VW takeover

German luxury carmaker Porsche has pushed back its planned takeover of Volkswagen because of falling sales.

Porsche said it might not take majority control of VW this year, and that it would not pay "ridiculous" prices.

Porsche also reported pre-tax annual profits of 8.57bn euros (£7.2bn; $11.1bn), helped by a huge one-off profit from moves in VW's share price.

However, it said there were signs of a "serious slump" in the car industry, especially its important US market.

Falling sales

Porsche said its earnings for the four months to November would be 15% lower than a year ago because of the downturn.

"Worldwide, signs of a serious slump in the automobile industry are clearly visible," Porsche said in a statement.

Porsche's chief executive, Wendelin Wiedeking, declined to give a full-year profit forecast, saying that "it cannot be done reliably now".

On Monday, Porsche said it had stopped assembly lines for one day at its main plant and would be halting production for seven more work-days up to the end of January because of weaker demand.

Elsewhere, in further signs of falling car sales, the Japanese car firm Toyota said it would be closing a factory in France for two weeks in December, and would slash production at the plant from next year.

VW plans

Porsche said it was standing by its plan of building up its stake in VW to 75% in 2009.

However, Mr Wiedeking said Porsche might not exceed the 50% ownership mark by the end of this year as it had planned.

"In view of the current economic environment, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that we will reach this target in this calendar year. We are under no time pressure," he said.

Porsche already has effective control over the company, and would like to take full control over strategic decisions and VW's profits next year by raising its stake.

However, German law and VW's own statutes give VW's home state of Lower Saxony the right for now to veto these plans with its own 20% stake.

Porsche's finance chief, Holger Haerter, said Porsche was not willing to acquire shares for "economically ridiculous" prices.

'Manipulation' denial

Analysts have said Porsche is likely to have made huge profits in October after it triggered a squeeze on short-sellers of Volkswagen shares by announcing it had secured access to 74% of VW votes.

It meant that just under 6% of the company's shares were freely trading on the market, and VW's share price climbed stratospherically.

Although Porsche said the announcement would let short-sellers unwind their positions "without haste or considerable risk", VW's share price rocketed to over 1,000 euros - and briefly made VW the world's most valuable corporation.

It prompted scrutiny by German securities watchdog and a complaint from the head of the country's largest retail fund management firm, who accused Porsche of breaking the law.

The firm's chief financial officer, Holger Haerter, flatly denied manipulating the share price, saying Porsche "strictly abides by the law".

"Let me emphasise and make it quite clear that our decision to acquire a stake in Volkswagen was and is based solely and exclusively on our industrial logic and not on the wish to make money at the expense of a third party," he said.

Ex-Fed chief named Obama adviser

US President-elect Barack Obama has named former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker to chair a new panel advising him on the economy.

Mr Volcker, 81, who advised Mr Obama on the economy during the election campaign, led the Fed under presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Regan.

The President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board is part of efforts to tackle problems in the ailing economy.

Mr Obama has pledged to focus on the US economic slowdown as his top priority.

He as also said he will cut billions of dollars in "wasteful spending".

This is designed to partially offset costly stimulus packages aimed at reviving the US economy.
Historic proportions'

The panel's staff director will be the University of Chicago economist, Austan Goolsbee, another Obama economic advisor.

It will bring in outside expertise so that the president-elect can build a consensus as he seeks to stabilise the financial markets.

Mr Obama said he hoped the new board would provide fresh thinking and detailed reports about what was happening across the country.

"It has become increasingly clear in recent months that we are facing an economic crisis of historic proportions," Mr Obama said.

"At this defining moment for our nation, the old ways of thinking and acting just won't do."

New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner has already been named as the President-elect's treasury secretary.

Deepening problem

The Federal Reserve this week said it would inject another $800bn (£526.8bn) into the US economy in a further effort to stabilise the financial system.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the stimulus package aimed to make more lending available to consumers.

About $600bn will be used to buy up mortgage-backed securities while $200bn is being targeted at unfreezing the consumer credit market.

Financial institutions are reluctant to lend, deepening the economic slowdown.

The latest rescue plan is in addition to the $700bn bank bail-out that was passed by Congress in October.

China tycoon's arrest confirmed

Police have confirmed that one of China's richest men, Huang Guangyu, is being held in custody while they investigate him for "economic crimes".

Mr Huang went missing last week and shares in his company Gome have been suspended from trading.

Officials gave no further details, but Chinese media point to alleged irregularities in the share price of a company controlled by his brother.

The billionaire electrical appliance tycoon is worth some $6bn (£4bn).

"We can confirm for you the news that Wong is being held for investigation by Beijing police in connection with economic crimes," a police spokesman said, referring to Mr Huang by his other name Wong Kwong-yu.

It was the first official confirmation of widespread reports that the founder and chairman of Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings - which sells one in six of the electronic products bought in China - is being questioned for alleged share trading violations or other crimes.

Correspondents say the 39-year-old entrepreneur is something of a legendary figure, a living example of a rise from rags to riches.

The delay in official confirmation of Mr Huang's detention prompted a rare rebuke in a commentary carried on Xinhua, the official news agency.

The agency complained that in the face of many rumours, media questions had gone answered, prompting people to feel "lost".

The BBC's Chris Hogg says some in China see the investigation as an indication the authorities need to remind the country's tycoons who is really in charge, despite the former leader Deng Xiaoping's claim that to get rich is glorious.

The company says its operations are not affected by Mr Huang's situation, but has refused further comment.

Indian markets shut after attacks

Financial markets in India have been closed after the attacks in Mumbai, the country's business capital.

But India's central bank said it would continue to make cash available on the interbank lending markets.

Analysts say the attacks could have a short-term effect on business and foreign investment in India in an already uncertain financial climate.

Since the start of 2008, the main stock index has fallen 50% while the rupee has fallen 20% against the dollar.

"In the short term, will have an impact. It will take time to heal. [But] I don't think it will have an effect on portfolio investments in the country," said Ranu Vohra at Avendus Advisors PVT.

Difficult times

Previous attacks in India were barely noticed by financial markets, analysts said. But current tough market conditions will exacerbate the impact of the attack on the economy.

"Clearly, it will be negative for the sentiment towards India at this point of time, the time when the world is already looking to be highly uncertain in terms of its growth prospects," said Joseph Tan at Credit Suisse, speaking about the Mumbai attacks.

"This will be negative for the rupee versus the dollar, but again I want to stress that the impact will be short-lived," he added.

"Business sentiment will be affected. It doesn't bode well for business," said Amar Lulla at Cipla, the drug company.

Chinese cut

Elsewhere in Asia, markets rose after China cut its interest rates to 5.58% from 6.66% on Wednesday. This was the country's largest rate cut in a decade.

Japan's Nikkei index rose 1.9%, Seoul's Kospi index was up 3.3% and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong added 2.7%.

However, analysts remain cautious.

"The key ingredient that's driving the gloomy outlook is actual demand, especially from advanced economies," said Suan Teck Kin at United Overseas Bank in Singapore.

"These [China's rate cuts] would help spur some investment and spending activities and support the fiscal initiatives but the main driver would still be from actual spending," he added.

Oil only slightly higher despite fresh US bailout

World oil traded only slightly higher in Asia on Wednesday despite pledges of billions of dollars in fresh cash by US and European officials trying to battle a global credit crunch.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, rose 42 cents to USD 51.19 a barrel from a drop of USD 3.73 on Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where the contract closed at USD 50.77.



Brent North Sea crude for January rose 35 cents to 50.70 after falling USD 3.58 dollars to 50.35 on Tuesday in London.



Prices could track sideways in the short-term but revised US GDP figures left the market "reeling", raising fresh

worries about the economic state of the world's biggest energy consumer, said Mark Pervan, senior commodities analyst at ANZ bank in Melbourne.



The US economy shrank at a 0.5 per cent pace in the third quarter, the government said in a revised estimate for gross domestic product that many analysts say is the start of a steep downturn.



Last month the Commerce Department, in its first estimate, had pegged the downturn in GDP at 0.3 per cent.



Also on Tuesday the US Federal Reserve, the central bank, said it would pump USD 800 billion more into the economy to try to stabilise the financial system.



Up to USD 600 billion will go towards purchases of mortgage securities, with another USD 200 billion for asset-backed securities to help get credit

to consumers, officials said.



In Brussels, draft legislation set to be unveiled on Wednesday called for a "significant" two-year stimulus campaign to jolt embattled European Union economies out of recession.

Ex-UBS bosses forgo $27.7m pay

Three former bosses at Swiss bank UBS are to forgo 33m Swiss francs ($27.7m; £18.1m) in salary and other payments.

Ex-chairman Marcel Ospel, former vice president Stephan Haeringer and ex-chief financial officer Marco Suter oversaw huge losses at the bank.

The Swiss government launched a bailout package for UBS last month, which was worth about $60bn.

UBS welcomed the voluntary gesture by the former bosses who left after the scale of the subprime losses emerged.

The three said they "want to make it clear that they are acing up to reality" said UBS, which has had to write-down almost $49bn since the sub-prime crisis started.

"The move to forfeit the remuneration is entirely voluntary and should in no way be construed as an admission of guilt in a legal sense," the bank added.

'Inconceivable'

Excessive bonuses paid to executives of financial institutions that have lost billions of pounds during the credit crunch have been widely criticised.

Indeed, governments across the world have insisted that excessive bonuses be addressed as a condition of bank bail out packages.

Mr Ospel said that after the government bailout he realised he must take "decisive action".

"I hope that my action will help to resolve a situation that was inconceivable to me until a short time ago."

Mr Haering and Mr Suter said that "as executive board members we helped shape the strategy of UBS over the years".

"From the start there was no question that in this difficult situation we would express solidarity to each other and be loyal to UBS."

Former chief executive Peter Wuffli, who left UBS in July 2007, said he would not take 12m Swiss francs he was to receive.

UBS has already said that it would stop paying a bonus to chairman Peter Kurer from next year. He has already forgone any bonus for 2007 and 2008.

Borders Inc ' no longer for sale'

US-based bookseller Borders has said it is no longer for sale despite reporting widening third-quarter losses.

It posted a net quarterly loss of $175.4m (£113m), or $2.90 per share, as against $161.1m, or $2.74 per share, in the third quarter of last year.

But it said applying a range of restructuring measures in the past year will allow the company to stand on its own despite the downturn.

"We have smiles on our faces", Borders chief executive George Jones said.

Like-for-like sales dropped 12.8% in Borders superstores, with revenue falling to $693m from $765m during the same quarter last year.

The news sent Borders share down 52% in after-hours trading.

The Michigan-based bookseller is still considering selling its stationery business to Pershing Capital Management for $65m.

In March, Borders said it had been evaluating a sale of its core business after facing increasing difficulties in accessing funds.

Since then it has cut staff, sold some business units and dramatically reduced unsold stock.

Borders sold its Borders and Books Etc branches in the UK and Republic of Ireland to private equity group Risk Capital Partners in 2007.

US Fed announces $800bn stimulus

The Federal Reserve is to inject another $800bn (£526.8bn) into the US economy in a further effort to stabilise the financial system.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the stimulus package aimed to make more lending available to consumers.

About $600bn will be used to buy up mortgage-backed securities while $200bn is being targeted at unfreezing the consumer credit market.

Financial institutions are reluctant to lend, deepening the economic slowdown.

The situation has been exacerbated as the credit crisis has worsened.

Meanwhile US President-elect Barack Obama said budget reform was "imperative" with the economy in crisis.

"It is not an option. It's a necessity," he said.

'Troubling'

Key lending such as credit cards, car loans and student loans had essentially come to a halt in October, Mr Paulson said. He added that the new measures were aimed at getting these types of lending back to more normal levels.

"It will take time to work through the difficulties in our market and our economy and new challenges will continue to arise," he said.

"We are committed to using all the tools at our disposal to preserve the strength of our financial institutions and stabilise our financial markets to minimise the spill-over into the rest of the economy."

The announcement came as Commerce Department figures showed US economic output shrank between July and September at a faster pace than initially predicted, which the White House described as "troubling".

GDP fell at an annual rate of 0.5% in the third-quarter - from the 0.3% estimated a month ago - as consumers cut spending by the largest amount in 28 years.

"This is why we are having to take such bold actions," a White House spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller national home price index slumped by a record 16.6% during the quarter from the same period a year ago - taking prices down to levels not seen since early 2004.

Bail-out details

Under the latest rescue plan - which is in addition to the already-announced $700bn bank bail-out - the Fed is to buy up to $100bn in debt from the troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The central bank said it would also buy another $500bn in mortgage-backed securities - pools of mortgages that are bundled together and sold to investors.

The Fed said that the $600bn effort to support the mortgage market was being taken to reduce the cost of home mortgages and increase their availability.

Iceland inflation soars to 17.1%

The annual rate of inflation in Iceland has escalated to a record high of 17.1% as the country battles the worst financial crisis in its history.

The Icelandic statistics agency said prices rose in November alone by 1.74% compared to the previous month.

Food prices increased fastest, up 30.6% over the year, as the country's currency plummeted.

The agency warned that inflation rate could rise beyond 20% in the future, threatening the economy.

At its last meeting, at the beginning of November, the Icelandic central bank left interest rates unchanged at 18%, the highest level in Europe, in an effort to fight inflation.

Prices of imported goods have risen fast after the local currency, the Icelandic krona, plunged amid global financial turmoil.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently approved a $2.1bn (£1.4bn) loan for Iceland, after the country's banking system collapsed in October.

Iceland's government seized control of all three of the nation's major banks in a bid to keep the country's financial system afloat.

Europe announces 200bn-euro plan

The European Commission has unveiled an economic recovery plan worth 200bn euros (£170bn) which it hopes will save millions of jobs across the region.

Its president Jose Manuel Barroso said he thought the plan was "timely, temporary and targeted".

The EC expects member states to contribute 170bn euros while the European Union will give 30bn euros.

Mr Barroso said it was important that EU members acted together in a period of "exceptional crisis".

"Measures that member states are introducing should not be identical, but they need to be coordinated," said Mr Barroso.

"It's the best way to restore citizens' confidence and counter fears of a long and deep recession," he added.

The European Commission president said the bigger part of the package would be implemented in 2009 and some measures would continue into 2010.

The proposed plan will need to be approved at the next EU summit in December.

Germany's warning

The 27 member states need to decide whether to sign up to the plan.

Mr Barroso said he had been in touch with member states about the package and a consensus was emerging.

"I expect this package to receive strong support", he said.

Earlier, Chancellor Merkel express concern about getting "into the race for billions" by unveiling huge stimulus packages.

"We should walk a measured path and keep to the middle ground, which is made-to-measure for the situation in Germany," she told the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.

A number of member states, including Germany, France and Italy, have already announced their own measures designed to stimulate their economies, including multi-billion injections into key industries and tax cuts.

Mr Barroso said that the plans already unveiled by member states were part of the Commission's recovery plan.

Earlier, France and Germany's leaders called on the EU to ease its fiscal rules to allow nations to spend more to boost their economies.

The requirement to hold public deficits below 3% of GDP in individual EU countries should be eased, France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel said.

The two leaders made their comments in a joint newspaper article in France's Le Figaro and Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, saying that governments had to head off a "recessionary spiral" at home.

VAT 'to be cut in rescue package'

Gordon Brown has refused to comment on reports the government will cut VAT by 2.5% as part of an emergency package aimed at kick-starting the economy.

But the PM said "substantial" measures would be in the pre-Budget report on Monday to pump money into the economy.

And he denied increasing borrowing to fund tax cuts was a "gamble", saying it was "responsible and necessary".

Tory leader David Cameron has warned the government's plans will lead to a future "tax bombshell".

Mr Brown refused to speculate on the contents of Chancellor Alistair Darling's statement on Monday, but he said there was a consensus around the world that any "fiscal stimulus" had to be "substantial to have an impact".

Experts say the government will have to increase borrowing to record levels of £100bn or more, which the country will have to pay back later in higher taxes - and there is no guarantee tax cuts will get consumers spending again.

APEC leaders vow to unlock WTO trade talks next month

In a strong political message to revive the Doha Round of trade talks, 21 Asia-Pacific leaders pledged that they were "committed" to make a breakthrough next month in the long-running free trade talks under the WTO to counter the impact of the deepening global economic crisis.

"We are committed to reach agreement on modalities next month on the basis of progress made to date" on the stalled WTO negotiations, the leaders said in a special statement, released after the first-day session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit in Lima in the Peruvian capital.

"We and our ministers are intensifying our engagement with World Trade Organisation counterparts to create the convergence necessary to achieve this outcome," it said.

In a rare move, Peru, the chair of the summit, revised the statement to further strengthen the message on the WTO negotiations, which was made available about 12 hours after the initial release, a news agency reported.

The revised statement added a phrase saying that the leaders "direct our ministers to meet in Geneva in December" to achieve the target.

The revised version also said, "We are convinced that we can overcome this crisis in a period of 18 months," referring to the deepening global financial crisis.

It did not give a reason as to why they are convinced. A Japanese senior official said he has not been told why the period 18 months is specified.

The APEC leaders decided to use the word "commit" to signal their full determination to strike an outline deal by the year's end on key trade terms for a successful conclusion of the Doha Round of trade talks, senior officials said.

ArcelorMittal warns of layoffs at US plant

ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, has warned that as many as 2,444 employees at a steel plant in northwestern Indiana could be laid off indefinitely in January.

The company announced that it had notified the United Steelworkers labour union and other interested parties about the possibility of an "indefinite layoff" at its Burns Harbor plant in the second half of January.



The recent drop-off in global steel production and the company's previously announced plan to reduce production in North American by 40 per cent factored into the decision, the company said.



"Potential work force reductions are a direct result of the extraordinary economic environment we are facing, and the company hopes to return workers to their jobs as market conditions warrant," ArcelorMittal said in a statement on Friday.



Jim Robinson, director of United Steelworkers District 7, said the union is negotiating with ArcelorMittal to minimise the number of layoffs.



Union leaders at the international level "certainly knew what was going on," Robinson said. "They see the fact there aren't any orders. We're not making a lot of steel."



Robinson said the global economic crisis that has resulted in the cut in steel production calls for action by elected officials.



"They need to step up to the plate and quit worrying about investment bankers and CEOs and start acting on behalf of average, middle-class American workers," Robinson said.


Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal SA, which operates 21 plants in the United States, employs more than 320,000 people in over 60 countries

Cobra Beer mulls sale or alliance

Cobra Beer, a "less gassy" brand of lager aimed at Indian restaurants, has been put up for sale by its founder, Lord Bilimoria.

It has appointed Rothschild to assist with either a sale or a "strategic partnership", the company's spokesman has said.

Cobra is sold in 6,000 restaurants in the UK and wants to expand in India.

In September the firm raised £15m ($22m) from its investors after failing to sell a stake to drinks giant Diageo.

Cobra Beer hopes a sale or partnership would help achieve its goal of taking 10% of the Indian market by 2012.

It is thought that any sale would value the company at around £200m.

Lord Bilimoria set up the company in 1989, after graduating from Cambridge.

Cobra Beer has been brewed in the UK since 1997.

It was produced initially in Bangalore, India, and imported to the United Kingdom.

The company reported 37% volume growth and retail sales of £178m in October, in line with expectations, despite what it called a "tough economic environment".

Oil prices rise above USD 50 on Obama economy team

Oil prices rose above USD 50 a barrel on Monday in Asia as investors gained some confidence from reports that US President-elect Barack Obama has chosen an economic team to tackle what could be the worst slowdown in decades.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery was up 37 cents to USD 50.30 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore.

The January contract Friday rose 51 cents to settle at USD 49.93.

News that Obama plans to name New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary, Lawrence Summers as director of the National Economic Council and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as commerce secretary helped boost US stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.5 percent Friday but Asian markets on on Monday were mostly lower with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 1.5 per cent and South Korea's Kospi down 2.4 per cent.

Oil futures have followed stock markets recently, using equities as a proxy for economic outlook and investor sentiment.

"The lack of clarity as to who exactly is in charge of steering the US economy is really hurting the equity markets," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore

US rescues ailing Citigroup bank

The US government has announced a rescue plan for troubled banking giant Citigroup after its shares plunged by more than 60% last week.

The US Treasury is set to invest $20bn (£13.4bn) in return for preferred shares in Citigroup.

The Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp will also guarantee up to $306bn (£205bn) of risky loans and securities on Citigroup's books.

The plan follows a $25bn injection of public funds in the bank last month.

Citigroup's market value fell to $20.5bn on Friday, compared with $270bn in 2006.

Last week the company announced 52,000 job losses worldwide, on top of 23,000 job cuts previously announced. It employs around 12,000 people in the UK.

Citigroup has lost more than $20bn in the past year because of the global financial crisis, suffering four straight quarterly losses.

Citibank UK deposit holders are covered by the Financial Services Authority. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme guarantees up to £50,000 per Citibank account holder, should the bank go bust.

'Protecting taxpayers'

The action plan was announced after emergency talks over the weekend between the bank and the treasury department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Citigroup is one of the leading US banks and has operations in more than 100 countries.

Many analysts had calculated that the huge financial institution was too big to allow to fail.

"With these transactions, the US government is taking the actions necessary to strengthen the financial system and protect US taxpayers and the US economy," the three agencies said in a statement.

"We will continue to use all of our resources to preserve the strength of our banking institutions, and promote the process of repair and recovery and to manage risks," they added.

The cash injection will come from the $700bn financial bail-out fund created last month.

Saudi Arabia cuts interest rate

Saudi Arabia has cut a key interest rate and taken steps to encourage lending as it faces the slowdown.

The central bank reduced the repo interest rate from 4% to 3%, in an attempt to boost liquidity.

It also reduced the cash reserve requirements for banks, seen as a way to improve the availability of credit.

The move came a day after the benchmark Tadawul All Share Index fell to its lowest level in five years, hit by the global slowdown and falling oil prices.

The index shed 9.2% on Saturday, the start of its trading week. Since the start of the year the index is down more than 60%.

The Gulf region has been hard hit by a huge fall in oil prices, a key export.

Oil prices are around two thirds lower than they were in July when they hit a record above $147 a barrel.

Honda Swindon closing for 50 days

Honda has announced plans to cut production at its plant in Swindon, which will close for 50 days next year.

Honda said it plans to make 61,000 fewer vehicles in Japan and Europe as it struggles to cope with slowing global demand.

It will make 21,000 fewer vehicles at the Wiltshire plant, home to the popular Civic model.

The 50-day shutdown will mean the Swindon plant will close for the whole of February and March 2009.

The company said that there are "no plans for redundancies" at the Swindon plant.

"This is unexpected bad news," said Jim D'Avilia, labour union Unite's regional officer.

"The union, staff and the company need to work together to minimise any financial hardship and to find ways to protect pay and long-term job security," he added.

The car maker had already announced plans to stop production at the plant for 13 days during the two months. The extension of this period means that no vehicles will be produced in Swindon during February and March.

Dramatic cuts

Earlier this year, Honda announced that it would cut output at Swindon by 32,000 units. With Friday's announcement of further production cuts, the Swindon plant will now produce 175,000 vehicles this financial year, down 23% from an original forecast of 225,000 vehicles.

Friday's announcement also means that Honda will have reduced its overall global annual vehicle production by 150,000 vehicles.

Rival Japanese carmaker Toyota is also suffering from the economic slowdown. It announced on Friday plans to cut its domestic temporary workforce in half.

"We will not be renewing contracts for 3,000 of our temporary workers at the end of March 2009," the company said.

Mazda, another of Japan's largest car markers, announced on Thursday that it would cut 1,300 jobs and cut production for the current year by 48,000 units.

Isuzu, one of Japan's biggest truck makers, also announced on Thursday that it would cut 1,400 domestic jobs and cut production for the year by 10%.

Tough economic conditions and banks' unwillingness to lend money mean global demand for cars is slowing dramatically.

In the US, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are seeking a cash injection from the government after a collapse in sales.

Russian oil giant circles Repsol

Spanish savings bank La Caixa may sell its 14% stake in struggling Spanish-Argentine energy firm Repsol to Russian firm Lukoil, it said.

The sale is tied to the acquisition by Lukoil of a 20% stake held in Repsol by construction group Sacyr Vallehermoso.

If Lukoil strikes deals with La Caixa and Sacyr Vallehermoso, it would become Repsol's largest shareholder.

Spain's industry minister Miguel Sebastien has said Repsol should remain "Spanish and independent".

He said the government should do "everything possible" to achieve this.

Spain's Prime Minister Jose Rodriguez Zapatero said it respected Repsol's right to bring partners in the firm, stressing that Lukoil was a private company with more than one shareholder.

US oil firm Conoco Philips holds a 20% stake in Lukoil.

Controversy

Builder Sacyr Vallehermoso, struggling with large debts and a falling property market, said in September it was ready to sell its 20% stake in Repsol.

Spanish media has speculated that Lukoil wants, at most, a stake of 29.9% in Repsol as, under Spanish law, a shareholder must launch an offer for the whole company if it passes the 30% threshold.

Repsol, which operates in 30 countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa, has been facing increasing competition lately. It saw a 5.8% drop in third-quarter profits.

EU warns against car subsidy race

EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes has told France and Germany not to start a "subsidy race" with the US to save the car industry.

She said the European Union's existing mechanisms could help automakers, hard hit by falling demand.

General Motors has been seeking support from the German government for its local subsidiary, Adam Opel GmbH.

On Thursday the Congress told US carmakers to present a recovery plan if they want a $25bn (£17bn) rescue.

Poorly-handled subsidies would not solve the car industry's problems, Neelie Kroes said.

However, she added that auto makers could benefit from the European Union's funds for research and environment.

European car makers have been reportedly seeking loans of up to 40bn euro (£33.6bn) , at preferential interest rates, to support production.

GM is demanding state aid from the five German states where it manufactures its European brand, Opel, which sells under the Vauxhall badge in the UK.

New car sales in Europe fell by 14.5% in October, the sixth monthly fall in a row, according to Acea, the European carmakers' association

US shares up on 'Treasury choice'

US shares have risen sharply, following a report that US President-elect Barack Obama has chosen his treasury secretary, reassuring investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 494 points or 6.5% to end at 8,046.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 climbed 6.3%.

The NBC television network reported the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Timothy Geithner, would be nominated as treasury secretary.

Mr Obama is expected to announce his economic team on Monday.

The NBC report was welcomed by investors in what has been yet another volatile week of trading amid ongoing fears over the scale of the economic contraction.
It is a bit of good news in that it takes the uncertainty out," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading.

Mr Geithner has worked closely with outgoing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in addressing the credit crisis and finding ways to boost the economy.

The 47-year-old played a crucial role in talks with Lehman Brothers before the investment bank went bankrupt.

He was also instrumental in the deals involving insurer AIG and JP Morgan, another bank.

The NBC report was enough to counter concerns over the finance sector and in particular the future over banking giant Citigroup, which saw its shares plummet 20% as board members met.

Rising commodity prices helped boost mining and energy firms.

Aluminium company Alcoa added 23% while Exxon climbed 10%, after the price of oil recovered from its lowest level in more than three years.

Clash over $700bn bank bail-out

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has clashed with members of Congress over the $700bn US financial bail-out plan.

Mr Paulson told a Congressional committee that injecting cash into banks was the most effective way to stabilise the financial system.

However critics on the committee said that more of the money should be used to help struggling homeowners avoid losing their homes.

Mr Paulson said the bail-out would not be "a panacea" to cure economic woes.

"It will take a while to get lending going and repair our financial system, which is essential to an economic recovery," Mr Paulson said.

Mr Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Mr Bernanke were giving evidence to the House financial services committee about the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) scheme.

The scheme was approved by Congress last month to shore up the US banking system and prevent financial collapse.

Earlier this month, the White House abandoned the original strategy behind the rescue.

Instead of buying up the banks' toxic mortgage debts, as first proposed under the deal, the bail-out fund is being used to buy shares in banks to help boost their balance sheets.

'Financial stabilisation'

Mr Paulson told the committee it was vital the administration be nimble in assessing changing conditions and adapting the bail-out strategy accordingly.

"If we have learned anything throughout this year, we have learned that this financial crisis is unpredictable and difficult to counteract," Mr Paulson said.

About $290bn of the first $350bn authorised under the programme already has been used or committed for use, and Mr Paulson said he wanted to reserve the balance of it for the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama, who takes office on 20 January.

HP's profits exceed expectations

The world's biggest PC maker, Hewlett-Packard (HP), has beaten forecasts by posting a better-than-expected net profit in the fourth quarter.

HP said it made a $1.03 (£0.68) net profit per share excluding charges, 3% higher than the Wall Street analysts expected.

Hewlett-Packard shares rose 10% on the news.

HP chief executive Mark Hurd said the company was gaining market share despite "a challenging marketplace".

He added that HP was in a better position than its rivals thanks to its global reach, broad customer base and ongoing cost cuts.

Hewlett-Packard's sales rose 19%, to $33.6 billion, also exceeding expectations.

In September HP announced it would lay off over 24,000 employees following its acquisition of Electronic Data Systems.

"HP is gaining market share in an extremely strong competitive position. They've got share gains, combined with very aggressive cost reduction", said Shannon Cross, analyst at Cross Research.

Hewlett-Packard shares have lost a third of their value in the past two months on fears that the economic slowdown would hit the market for personal computers.

Last year, HP overtook Dell to become the biggest seller of PCs.

The company will reveal its full results on 24 November.

InBev completes Budweiser merger

Belgium-based brewer InBev has said it had closed its $52bn (£35bn) takeover of the US's Anheuser-Busch to create the world's largest brewer.

"Effective today, InBev has changed its name to Anheuser-Busch InBev," InBev said in a statement.

The new company will be one of the leading consumer products firms in the world.

Anheuser makes Budweiser - the most popular beer in the US - while InBev produces Stella Artois and Beck's.

InBev agreed to sell its Labatt USA business and associated licenses to get approval from the US Justice Department on anti-trust grounds.

46 billion litres of beer

Some US politicians had expressed anger at the prospect of Anheuser-Busch being taken over by a foreign company.

InBev, itself formed by a giant merger of Brazil's AmBev and Belgium's Interbrew several years ago, has promised that Budweiser's headquarters would remain in St Louis, Missouri while none of Anheuser-Busch's US breweries will be closed.

The combined business will have annual sales of $36.4bn, equivalent to 46 billion litres of beer a year.

The two firms have said the deal will generate annual savings of $1.5bn but have suggested that job losses will be kept to a minimum because there is little current overlap between the two businesses.

Anheuser-Busch controls nearly half of the US market, while InBev is strong in Western European and Latin American markets.

It also owns stakes in Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo and Chinese brewer Tsingtao.

The deal should give Budweiser a platform to boost its growth in Europe where, apart from a number of markets like the UK, it has been relatively weak.

Mazda buys own shares from Ford

Japanese carmaker Mazda Motor has spent 17.8bn yen ($184m; £123m) to buy back almost 7% of its shares from troubled US carmaker Ford Motor.

The Japanese company made the announcement the day after Ford decided to cut its stake in Mazda from 33.4% to just over 13%.

Ford has been hit by falling global sales and is seeking to raise cash along with its Detroit competitors.

Shares in Mazda fell 2.1% on Wednesday on the news.

According to media reports on Tuesday, the rest of Ford's stake in Mazda might be bought by trading houses Sumitomo and Itochu, Japanese insurance companies and car parts maker Denso.

Earlier this week General Motors sold its 3% stake in Japanese carmaker Suzuki for $230m (£156m).

Declining value

The possible sale of a 20% stake in Mazda was first reported more than a month ago.

At that moment, the stake was valued at $850m. However, based on Mazda's share price on Tuesday, the value of the holding has fallen to $543m, a quarter of what the stake was worth a year ago.

Ford first bought a stake in Mazda in 1979. It took control of the Japanese carmaker in 1996, saving it from potential bankruptcy.

The "Big Three" US car firms Chrysler, Ford and GM are seeking a total $25bn in emergency US government loans.

Global liquidity crisis 'is over'

The head of Japan's largest brokerage, Nomura Holdings, has suggested the global liquidity crisis is over.

Nomura chief executive Kenichi Watanabe said the main problem now was how to revive the real economy.

"The next issue depends on how the nations of the world apply financial support," Mr Watanabe said.

He also said that the stronger yen was not necessarily bad for Japanese firms, as it could enable companies to seek overseas acquisitions.

"There are many Japanese firms that consider the yen's strength against the euro, pound and dollar as an opportunity," he said.

According to official data, the Japanese economy is now in recession for the first time since 2001.

Nomura is buying bankrupt Lehman Brothers's European, Asian-Pacific and Middle Eastern operations for $2bn (£1.34bn).

But Mr Watanabe said the company was not planning any significant job cuts.

Last month the brokerage reported its third quarterly net loss in a row because of the global financial crisis.

Opec 'lost $700bn on cheaper oil'

Opec members have lost about $700bn (£467bn) because of falling crude prices, the oil cartel's president Chakib Khelil said in an interview.

Oil prices have fallen 60% from their $147 peak, prompting speculation Opec will cut output again to boost prices.

However, speaking to Algerian newspaper El Khabar, Mr Khelil said Opec was unlikely to make a decision this month.

He said the following meeting on 17 December would be "the most important" as the cartel would get necessary data.

The data will show whether Opec's previous output cuts have been applied by its members.

The cartel, which controls 40% of the world's oil supply, agreed on a 1.5 million barrel-a-day reduction last month.

On Wednesday, US light, sweet crude stood at $54.47 a barrel, while Brent crude cost $51.84 a barrel.

"The Cairo meeting [on 29 November] is considered as an internal debate, while the meeting scheduled in Oran [on 17 December], will be more important in a sense that we will obtain, by that time, more information about the oil market trend," El Khabar quoted Mr Khelil as saying.

"All members... are very concerned about the economic situation which has worsened in the United States and Europe who have entered into a recession, followed by Japan," the Opec president said.