Venezuela step closer to Mercosur

Brazil's Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved Venezuela's request to join the South American trade bloc Mercosur.

The committee voted by 12 to five in favour of Venezuela's application, and the proposal will now go before the Senate to gain full approval.

Paraguay's parliament must also approve Venezuela's membership before it will be allowed to join Mercosur.

Venezuela has been trying to join the bloc for three years.

The country officially teamed up with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay as part of their Mercosur trading bloc in July 2006.

But, so far, its membership has only been approved by the Uruguayan, Argentine and Venezuelan parliaments.

Correspondents say a rejection by Brazil's Foreign Relations Committee would have been severely embarrassing for the Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is visiting Venezuela this week.

Mercosur was established in March 1991.

Obama signs military budget bill; Pak to get USD 2.3 billion

US President Barack Obama signed a USD 680-billion defence budget bill that provides USD 2.3 billion military assistance to Pakistan with tough condition to make sure that the funds are not squandered or diverted to affect the "balance of power in the region".

Obama said the Defence Authorisation Bill for 2010 eliminates some of the waste and inefficiency in the defence process that will better protect the nation, troops and save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.


"The bill includes a commitment to the stability of Afghanistan and Pakistan, expanded programmes to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of rogue states and terrorists, and a reformed system of defence acquisition to save taxpayer money," said House Majority Leader Steny H Hoyer.


The military aid money to Pakistan for the fiscal 2010 as mentioned in the bill has two major components USD 1.6 billion for the Coalition Support Fund and USD 700 million for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund.


For the USD 1.6 billion Coalition Support Fund, the bill would require that, before any more such money is spent, the Obama administration must certify that doing so is in the US national interest and will not adversely affect the region's balance of power.


India feels that the American assistance to Pakistan should be more focused on building counter-insurgency capabilities rather than conventional defence equipment which can be diverted for other purposes.

India's growth rate to accelerate to 6.5 pc in 2010: IMF

International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday said India's economic growth rate will accelerate to 6.5 per cent in 2010 on account of robust domestic demand and rising private investment.

"India's growth is expected to accelerate to 6.5 per cent in 2010 from 5.33 per cent in 2009, on the back of strong domestic demand," the IMF said in its regional economic outlook.

"In particular, the normalisation of financial conditions is expected to support a rebound of private investment, sustaining demand even as the fiscal stimulus wanes," it added.

In its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook released in Istanbul earlier this month, the Fund had pegged the economic growth rate at 6.4 per cent for next year.

The World Economic Outlook had projected India's growth at 5.4 per cent for 2009.

Earlier this week, RBI retained economic growth projection at six per cent with upward bias for 2009-10 in its second quarterly review of monetary policy.

Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had recently said that the Indian economy would grow by 6-6.5 per cent in the current fiscal despite being affected by the global financial crisis and drought in the country.

On account of global financial meltdown, India's economic growth slowed down to 6.7 per cent during 2008-09, from over 9 per cent recorded in the previous three years.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal, Indian economy grew by 6.1 per cent.

The IMF said emerging Asia, in particular China and India are rebounding much more quickly that the western world.

It added that the economic recovery in Asia is faster than the rest of the world and is projected to grow by 5.75 per cent during 2010.

"The region (Asia) is out pacing other parts of the world, with the "green shoots" of recovery appearing earlier and taking firmer roots than elsewhere," the IMF said.

IMF forecasts suggest Asia will grow by 5.75 per cent in 2010, higher than the 1.25 per cent predicted for the G-7 economies, but short of the 6.66 per cent average recorded for the region over the past decade.

It added that the pickup in core inflation and inflation expectations in India suggest that demand pressures are already playing a role in pushing up inflation.

Inflation rose fastest in six months to stand at 1.51 per cent for the week ended 17th October, much in line with the RBI's warning that inflationary pressures are building up in the economy.

RBI, in its monetary policy has projected inflation to touch 6.5 per cent mark with upward bias by end of the current fiscal.

Oil above USD 80 a barrel on US growth

Oil prices surged back above USD 80 a barrel in Asian trade on Friday on news the United States has emerged from a long and painful recession after posting its strongest growth in two years.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, was trading at USD 80.08 in morning trade, up 21 cents from the previous day.


Brent North Sea crude for December was up 10 cents to USD 78.14.


After four consecutive contractions, the world's largest economy grew at a seasonally adjusted 3.5 per cent in the September quarter from the previous three months, the Commerce Department said.


The rise was the biggest since the 2007 third quarter, when the subprime mortgage market sparked a global financial crisis that spilled over into the world economy.


"The good news is that the 3.5 per cent annualised rebound in the third quarter GDP (gross domestic product) confirms the most severe and longest recession since the 1930s is over," consultancy Capital Economics said.


"We expect economic growth to continue at about the same pace for the next few quarters as pent-up investment demand is released, inventories are restocked and the boost from the fiscal stimulus continues," it said.


The US is the world's biggest energy consumer and the health of its economy and the consumption patterns of Americans are key influences in the oil market.

Honda profit hit by falling sales

Honda's profits for the July to September period more than halved after car sales continued to fall during the global economic downturn.

Net profit came in at 54bn yen ($587m; £359m) for the quarter, down 56% on the 123.3bn yen recorded a year earlier.

Japan's second-largest carmaker said the strong yen had contributed to a fall in sales in overseas markets.

But the fall in profits was less than had been expected, and the carmaker tripled its full-year profit forecast.

Honda says it will now make a net profit of 155bn yen for the year to the end of March, up from its previous forecast of 55bn yen.

It also raised its full-year sales forecast, to 3.4 million cars from 3.29 million cars.

Despite the increase in projected future sales, revenue in the third quarter fell by 27% from a year ago.

This was largely due to falling car sales in overseas markets.

Sales in Japan have been less affected, largely due to government tax breaks and incentives on hybrids such as the new Honda Insight.

"Honda's numbers came in a bit better than forecast and the biggest factor seems to be the year-on-year reduction in production costs," said Andrew Phillips at KBC Securities.

Nokia 'seeking Apple royalties'

Mobile phone maker Nokia is suing Apple to try to extract royalty payments, an analyst has suggested.

Nokia said on Thursday that it was suing Apple for infringing patents on mobile phone technology for the iPhone.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates that the Finnish company might be looking to force royalty payments of 1-2% on every iPhone sold.

With more than 30 million sold, that would work out to $6 to $12 per phone sold, or as much as $400m.

That would be a relatively small amount compared with Apple's income.

Apple recently reported profits of $1.67bn (£1bn) for the three months to 26 September - partly due to a 7% growth in iPhone sales.

Nokia did not say in the lawsuit what form of penalties it was seeking.

'Uncertain' resolution

Mr Munster, a respected Apple watcher, called the maximum figure of $12 a phone "unlikely" and said even if it was enforced in court, it "would not change our positive thesis on the iPhone and Apple".

"Ultimately, the resolution is uncertain," he said.

An Apple spokesman told the BBC that the firm did not comment on pending litigation.

The 10 alleged patent infringements, which apply to all models of the iPhone since its launch in 2007, involve wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption.

Nokia accused Apple of "trying to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation".

Record recession for UK economy

The UK economy unexpectedly contracted by 0.4% between July and September, according to official figures, meaning the country is still in recession.

It is the first time UK gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted for six consecutive quarters, since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955.

But the figures could still be revised up or down at a later date, because this figure is only the first estimate.

GDP measures the total amount of goods and services produced by a country.

Sensex sheds 219 pts to dip below 17,000 level

The benchmark Sensex fell for the third straight session on Thursday losing 219 points on heavy selling in realty and banking shares by investors, who took cues from weak overseas markets.

The Bombay Stock Exchange barometer, which had lost 317 points in the last two sessions, fell by 219.43 points to close at 16,789.74 points.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 75 points to close at 4,988.60 points.



Brokers said trading sentiment turned bearish after weak Asian markets. Inflation climbing to 1.21 percent for the week ended 10th October was another negative factor, they added.



Downward march was further fueled as Moody's Investors Service downgraded the ratings of 13 Indian commercial banks after its global review of systemic support indicators for individual banking systems, brokers said.



State-run SBI lost 2.50 percent to Rs 2,325.70 and ICICI Bank fell by 4.08 percent to Rs 891.05.



The BSE realty index fell the most losing 4.59 percent to 4,524.28 points after Jaiprakash Associates and DLF registered heavy losses. Jaiprakash Associates plunged by 6.84 percent. Realty major DLF closed lower by 4.93 percent.



Among key Asian indices, Hong Kong's Heng Sang fell by 0.48 percent, while Japan's Nikkei lost 0.64 percent.



China's Shanghai Composite closed down by 0.62 percent, while Kospi dipped by 1.42 percent.



The heaviest and energy giant Reliance Industries fell 2.24 percent to Rs 2,133.55.



Capital goods index fell by 2.69 per cent to 13,644.31. Consumer durable index by 2.65 percent to 3,620.37 and banking index by 2.05 percent to 10,098.65 points.



However, select FMCG and IT counters attracted good buying support. FMCG index rose by 0.95 percent to 2,741.73, IT index by 0.79 percent to 4,437.81 and tech index by 0.61 percent to 2,996.09.



As the profit selling spilled over a wide front, midcap index fell by 2.12 percent to 6,444.27 points and smallcap index by 1.96 per cent to 7,647.77 points.

China economic growth accelerates

China has said it is on track to hit its growth target of 8% this year, after the economy grew 8.9% from a year ago in the third quarter.

The figure is up from the 7.9% rate seen in the previous quarter and is the country's fastest GDP growth since the third quarter of last year.

Separate reports show that industrial production and retail sales also accelerated in September.

The economy grew by 7.7% in the nine months to September.

Retail sales growth was 15.1% in the first three quarters of the year, the National Statistics Bureau said.

China's car market has become the world's largest, with sales up 34% to 9.66 million vehicles in the first nine months of the year.

Oil moves past $80-a-barrel mark

The price of oil breached $80 a barrel in early trading in Asia, a new high for the year, boosted by the weak US dollar and strong US company results.

US light crude then fell back slightly to $79.56. London Brent was unchanged at $77.77 a barrel.

Oil prices are rising as encouraging US company results fuel optimism for the global economic recovery.

Analysts said the short-term direction of oil is being driven by the dollar and rising equity markets.

"I think we will continue higher as we move into the fourth quarter. Investors think equity earnings are a good guide for the economic outlook so the better-than-expected reporting season is supporting [the oil price]," said Mark Pervan at ANZ.

But there are concerns that sentiment, rather than fundamentals, are driving the oil price, and that once these fundamentals re-establish themselves, the price may fall.

These include spare capacity, stock piles of oil and weak demand among industrialised nations.

US welcomes India's decision to allocate sites for N-plants

The US has welcomed India's decision to allocate sites for its two nuclear plants, saying the key step is a recognition of trust and brings the two nations closer to full cooperation on safe and clean energy sources.

On behalf of the people of the United States of America, I am very pleased with this key step that brings our two great nations closer to full cooperation on safe and clean energy sources, US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer said in a statement in New Delhi after India made the announcement on Friday.

The government announced that it has allocated sites in Chhayamithi Virdi, in Gujarat, and Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh for the United States for the construction of civil nuclear power plants in pursuance to the agreement with the US for expanded cooperation on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.



This important announcement comes in welcome recognition of the trust and confidence as well as the growing partnership between our two countries, the Ambassador said.

He said the development not only promises to deliver greater access to clean and affordable energy and electricity for all Indians but also will produce jobs and economic opportunities for the people of both India and the United States.

Along with the two sites for the US, the government also announced earmarking of two sites -- Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu) and Haripur (West Bengal) -- for Russian nuclear plants and one in Jaitapur (Maharashtra) for France in pursuance to civil nuclear deals signed with them.

Oil price hits new high for 2009

The price of oil has reached a new high for 2009, continuing its recent rise on the back of the weak US dollar and strong US company results.

US crude rose 52 cents to $79.05 a barrel in early trading, before slipping back to $78.78, up 25 cents on Friday's close.

London Brent also traded higher, up 22 cents at $77.11 a barrel.

Oil prices surged last week, as encouraging US bank results fuelled optimism for the global economy.

Opel's German aid may break rules

The European Commission has warned that Germany's planned state aid for Opel may breach competition rules, raising the prospect of its sale being halted.

Brussels said there were "significant indications" Berlin pledged the 4.5bn euro ($6.7bn; £4bn) aid only if its preferred buyer for Opel was chosen.

US firm General Motors (GM) said last month it would sell Opel to Canada's Magna, Berlin's preferred buyer.

The Commission said GM should now be allowed to reconsider the sale.

Although GM picked Magna and its Russian backer Sherbank last month to buy Opel and Opel's UK brand Vauxhall, the deal has yet to be concluded.

Neither the German government nor Magna has yet given any reaction to the Commission's comments. The UK's Department for Business, Innovation & Skills also declined to comment.

However, Chris Preuss, GM's global vice-president for communications, said that if the proposed sale to Magna "couldn't pass EU regulations, we'd have no recourse but to reconsider the deal".

"Right now though we are working on a defined agreement with Magna and it's a complicated process with a lot of dialogue," he added.

"There are a lot of discussions going on at the moment, and there's a lot of detail to be ironed out between the German government and the EU."

US criticises 'inflexible yuan'

The US Treasury has criticised China for what it described as the lack of flexibility of the Chinese currency, the yuan.

It also criticised the rapid build-up of China's foreign exchange reserves in a report to the US Congress.

The Treasury said it had serious concerns about the rigidity of China's exchange rate.

But it stopped short of accusing China of currency manipulation, a politically contentious issue in the past.

"Both the rigidity of the renminbi and the reacceleration of reserve accumulation are serious concerns which should be corrected to help ensure a stronger, more balanced global economy consistent with the G-20 framework," the Treasury report said.

Google sees record $1.6bn profit

Google has reported its highest quarterly profit, suggesting that the internet advertising market is bouncing back from the recession.

Google reported net profit of $1.64bn (£1bn) for the third quarter, a 27% increase on the same period a year ago.

Revenue for the three-month period came in at $4.38bn, which was well ahead of analysts' expectations of $1.29bn.

"The worst of the recession is clearly behind us," said Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

"Because of what we have seen, we now have the confidence to be optimistic about our future."

Google's shares rose $16.44, or 3.1%, to $546.35 in extended trading.

The internet search engine has weathered the recession better than other advertising-dependent companies, and it was widely expected to be one of the first beneficiaries of an economic recovery.

"Google has no competition. Yahoo is withering on the vine and [Microsoft's] Bing is too tiny now," said Coin Gillis, senior analyst at Brigantine Advisors.

"They did great on every single metric. We think this is sustainable."

Oil rises above USD 78, extends week-long rally

Oil prices continued a weeklong rally on Friday in Asia, jumping above USD 78 a barrel, after US gasoline inventories unexpectedly fell.

Benchmark crude for November delivery rose as much as 59 cents to USD 78.17 before slipping back to USD 78.03 by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.



The contract on Thursday rose USD 2.40 to settle at USD 77.58.


The Energy Information Administration said on Thursday that US gasoline supplies fell 5.2 million barrels while analysts had expected a jump of 1.6 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.


Crude supplies rose 4,00,000 barrels, the EIA said, while analysts had anticipated an 2.2 million barrel gain.


Until this week, oil had bounced between USD 65 and USD 75 since May.


"The transition to a USD 70 to USD 80 range is now in full cry," Barclays Capital said in a report. "We expect further transitions upward to occur in line with improvements in the underlying market data."


A falling US dollar has also helped boost oil this week.


In other Nymex trading, heating oil was steady at USD 2.02 a gallon.



Gasoline for November delivery held at USD 1.95 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery jumped 3.0 cents to USD 4.51 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Commerzbank sells off Kleinwort

Germany's Commerzbank has announced the sale of its UK wealth management arm Kleinwort Benson, less than one year after buying the division.

Belgian investment group RHJ International is paying £225m for the business in a deal which should be completed early next year.

RHJ said it planned to use Kleinwort as an "overarching brand for its financial businesses going forward."

Commerzbank acquired Kleinwort when it bought Dresdner Bank in January.

In August, Commerzbank reported a net loss of 763m euros ($1.1bn; £708m) for the April to June period, a slight improvement on the 861m-euro loss it made in the previous quarter.

The results were hit by a charges of 216m euros for integrating Dresdner.

Commerzbank says the total cost of integrating Dresdner will be 2bn euros in 2009.

The bank does not expect to return to profit until 2011.

Oil higher in Asian trade amid dollar weakness

Oil rose further in Asian trade on Wednesday, extending overnight gains after the dollar fell to a new 2009 low against the euro, analysts said.

Renewed hopes of better energy demand as the global economic recovery continues and the arrival of cold weather in the United States, the world's largest oil user, also lent support to crude prices, they said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery rose 70 cents to USD 74.85 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for November delivery advanced 54 cents to USD 72.94 a barrel.

Expectations that the dollar will continue to languish against the euro and other major currencies will boost the crude market, analysts said.

"We expect a further fall of the US currency over the next two weeks," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist with SJS Markets financial services firm in Hong Kong.

The euro reached USD 1.4876 during intra-day trading Tuesday, its highest level since August 2008, before easing to USD 1.4852 in late US trade.

With little reprieve seen for the dollar, investors have sought to protect themselves against the greenback's fall by buying hard assets such as oil and other commodities.


A struggling greenback tends to boost crude prices particularly because the dollar-denominated commodity becomes cheaper for foreign buyers holding stronger currencies.

Andrew Yule exits JV; sells 26% in Phoenix Yule for Rs 63 cr

The government approved selling of the entire 26 per cent stake held by state-owned engineering firm Andrew Yule & Co in Phoenix Yule Ltd for Rs 62.82 crore to Continental ContiTech.

Phoenix Yule Ltd is a joint venture between Andrew Yule & Co Ltd (AYCL) and Germany's Phoenix Aktiengesellschaft and is one of the largest manufacturers of conveyor belts in India.



While AYCL held 26 per cent stake in the JV, the rest is owned by the German partner.



The valuation of shares have been approved at a rate of Rs 49.50 per share for over 1.19 crore shares, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday after the Cabinet meeting.



"Funds raised by way of disinvestment of AYCL shares in PYL will go towards repayment of a part of interest-free government of India loan of Rs 87.06 crore, which was extended to AYCL as a part of the restructuring package approved in 2007," Soni said.



The Rs 62.82 crore consideration also includes an additional compensation of Rs 3.69 crore, she added.



Continental ContiTech is a part of the German engineering and automotive group Continental.



The Phoenix Yule Ltd was formed on 19th November, 1998.



To implement the decision of the Cabinet dated 22nd February, 2007, an Inter-Ministerial Group headed by Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor, DHI was constituted to initiate the disinvestment process of AYCL's entire stake in PYL.



Also, to recommend the valuation of share price of PYL as per the terms laid down in JV signed between AYCL and PHX.



Kolkata-based AYCL, a public sector undertaking under the Department of Heavy Industry, is engaged in manufacturing of industrial fans, tea processing machinery, industrial pollution control equipment and system and allied products.



As on 31st March, 2008, AYCL had 15,754 regular employees.

Pound hit by falling UK inflation

A key measure of inflation has fallen to its lowest level since September 2004, official statistics show, further weakening the value of sterling.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) dropped to an annual rate of 1.1% in September from 1.6% in August.

Meanwhile, the Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation measure, which includes mortgage interest payments and housing costs, fell, to -1.4% from -1.3%.

The pound fell 0.5% against the euro to a six-month low of 1.0628 euros.

It also fell to a five-month low against the dollar of $1.5730.

AIG sells off its Taiwan business

Insurer AIG has said it is selling its Taiwanese life insurance business to an investor group for $2.15bn (£1.4bn).

AIG will transfer its 97.5% stake in Nan Shan, Taiwan's third-biggest life insurer, to a consortium led by Hong Kong's Primus Financial.

AIG is selling assets in an effort to repay US government aid. It was bailed out in 2008 at a cost of $182.5bn.

It made a $1.82bn profit in the three months to June, after a loss of $5.4bn in the same period of 2008.

It was the first quarterly profit since 2007 for AIG, which is now 80% state-owned.

Nan Shan has four million customers in Taiwan, giving it a market share of 10%.

Its current management team will remain in place after the deal and the firm's existing brand will be retained.

As well as Primus, the consortium also includes Hong Kong investment firm China Strategic Holdings.

Apple director quits Google board

Internet giant Google has announced the resignation of one of its directors, Arthur Levinson, who is also on the board of computer maker Apple.

It comes two months after Google chief executive Eric Schmidt quit the Apple board because Google's interests were increasingly competing with Apple's.

The move was welcomed by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which has been probing overlapping board memberships.

The two firms used to be seen as allies against the dominance of Microsoft.

However, they have started competing directly in recent years in areas such as mobile phones.

Microsoft readies bumper update

Microsoft will issue its biggest ever security update on 13 October.

The update will include 13 bulletins that between them tackle 34 vulnerabilities.

Microsoft said that eight of the bulletins were rated as critical - the most serious sort of vulnerability.

The security patches will close loopholes in many different programs including different editions of Windows, Internet Explorer and some elements of Office.

One update, rated as critical, tackles a loophole in Internet Explorer 8 running under Windows 7. The next version of Microsoft's operating system is due to be released on 22 October.

Most people will get the updates automatically but links to download them can also be found on Microsoft's security pages. Once applied to a PC, the machine will need to be re-started before the fixes take effect.

In a blog posting giving an outline of the updates, Jerry Bryant, a Microsoft security expert, said two of the fixes were for problems flagged up in earlier advisories.

One of those loopholes, for the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) bundled in with Microsoft's Internet Information Server, is already being exploited by some hi-tech criminals.

Windows is by far the most popular target for cyber criminals and the vast majority of the millions of malicious programs, including worms and trojans, are aimed at the operating system.

Prior to the bumper October security update, Microsoft's biggest every update was released in June 2009. That package of 10 fixes tackled 31 vulnerabilities.

Microsoft typically issues its updates on the second Tuesday of every month. It started this regular monthly update system in late 2003.

First woman wins economics Nobel

Elinor Ostrom has become the first woman to win the Nobel prize for economics since it began in 1968.

Ms Ostrom won the prize with fellow American Oliver Williamson for their separate work in economic governance.

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is the last of the six Nobel prizes announced this year. Since 1980, it has gone to Americans 24 times.

Last Friday, US President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - though this aroused some controversy.

Oil rises above USD 72 ahead of US company results

Oil prices rose above USD 72 a barrel on Monday in Asia as investors looked to a slew of US corporate earnings reports this week for signs of economic recovery..

Benchmark crude for November delivery was up 44 cents at USD 72.21 by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 8 cents to USD 71.77 on Friday.

Crude investors will be eyeing third quarter company results and forecasts for the rest of the year for clues about the strength of the US economy.



Top banks JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. report this week along with Google Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., Intel Corp., IBM Corp., General Electric Co., and Johnson & Johnson.



A more optimistic crude demand forecast by the International Energy Agency on Friday helped boost trader confidence.



The Paris-based IEA, which advises oil-consuming countries, said demand will likely reach 86.1 million barrels a day in 2010, up 1.7 percent from this year.

Kuwaiti oil minister Sheik Ahmed Al Abdullah Al Sabah told the state news agency on Sunday that an oil price range between USD 60 to USD 80 a barrel is acceptable -- echoing earlier remarks by Saudi Arabia.

The two Middle Eastern countries are members of the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for about a third of the world's oil production.

In London, Brent crude rose 48 cents to USD 70.48 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Weak dollar improves US trade gap

The US trade deficit shrank unexpectedly in August as the weak dollar boosted exports, according to figures from the Commerce Department.

The deficit, which is the difference between US imports and exports, fell to $30.7bn (£19.3bn) from a revised estimate of $31.9bn in July.

Exports rose slightly on the back of the weak dollar while imports fell.

The dollar has slipped recently, with traders moving into other currencies as the global economy begins to recover.

"I would interpret a flattening out of the trade deficit showing a broader stability in the economy," said Keith Hembre at FAF Advisors.

Imports in August totalled $158.9bn, compared with $159.8bn in July. Exports totalled $128.2bn, compared with $128bn in July.

The slight fall in imports reflects a small reduction in demand for goods among US consumers.

When the US economy begins to grow more strongly, this demand should pick up and the deficit could grow again.

GM agrees Chinese sale of Hummer

General Motors (GM) has agreed to sell its iconic Hummer brand to Chinese firm Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery for an undisclosed fee.

The two parties had been in talks about the sale for a number of months.

GM is in the process of selling and winding up a number of brands as it looks to reorganise after emerging from bankruptcy protection in July.

At the start of this month, the troubled carmaker announced it would be winding down its Saturn brand.

This was after the proposed sale to Penske Automotive Group collapsed.

GM has already announced that it is discontinuing the Pontiac brand, and is close to finalising the sale of its European brands Saab, Opel and Vauxhall. GM plans to reinvent itself by concentrating on fewer brands following bankruptcy protection, made necessary after car sales plummeted during the downturn.

Tata Motors to raise USD 600 mn via share sale in intl mkt

India's largest auto maker Tata Motors on Friday said it will raise up to USD 600 million (about Rs 2,783 crore) through issue of securities in the international market.

"The company has today launched an issuance of GDS (Global Depository Shares) and convertible notes for an aggregate amount up to USD 600 million, with an option to retain higher amount in the international market," Tata Motors said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Shares of Tata Motors plunged five per cent to a low of Rs 558.20 in the morning trade on the BSE.

Last month, Tata Motors sold 50 lakh shares in Tata Steel at an average price of Rs 473 a piece, aggregating to Rs 236.50 crore through open market transaction.

The auto maker had in August approached public for the second time in a year to raise about Rs 1,500 crore via fixed deposit schemes, offering up to 9.88 per cent annual interest for a three-year deposit.

In December 2008, it borrowed over Rs 2,000 crore from public for a period of up to three years as it was struggling to finance its USD 2.3-billion JLR buyout. nd

World financial crisis 'not over'

The US economist widely credited with having predicted the financial crisis has warned we are already "planting the seeds of the next crisis".

Nouriel Roubini told the BBC that he is concerned about the growing gap between the "bubbly and frothy" stock markets and the real economy.

Over the last six months, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen about 45%.

But Mr Roubini says he sees an economy where consumers are "shopped out" and "debt burdened".

'Crisis not over'

Based on the run up in share prices in recent months, investors appear to be betting that good times are around the corner. A view not shared by Mr Roubini.

"The crisis is not yet over," the New York University professor said."I see an economy where the consumers are shopped out, debt burdened, they have to cut back consumption and save more.

"The financial system is damaged... and for the corporate sector I don't see a lot of capital spending because there is a glut of capacity."

Mr Roubini believes US house prices have further to fall, straining America's fragile recovery.

US President Barack Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

United States President Barrack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Nobel Committee said in Oslo on Friday.

Obama has called for disarmament and worked to restart the stalled Middle East peace process since taking office in January. He scored another first of sorts by winning the Nobel Peace Prize while just a few months in office.

Barack Hussein Obama was born on 4th August, 1961 is the 44th and current President of the United States.

He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first born in Hawaii.

Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review.

Obama is the third sitting U.S. President to be awarded the prize, following Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter won in 2002.

The prize worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4 million) will be handed over in Oslo on 10th December.

EU consults on Microsoft pledges

The European Union has begun an investigation to determine whether Microsoft is upholding pledges to curb anti-competitive practices.

It is consulting PC makers, software firms and consumers on Microsoft's offer to allow users to pick different browsers when they install Windows.

The bloc ruled in 2004 that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position by freezing out rivals.

It said Microsoft must let rivals' products run on its operating system.

"The commission will formally market test proposals made by Microsoft to address concerns regarding the tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows PC operating system," said the EU's competition commissioner Neelie Kroes.

"The preliminary view is that Microsoft's commitments would indeed address our concerns," she added.

"PC users should have an effective and unbiased choice between Internet Explorer and competing web browsers."