Japan's retail woes add to slump

Retail sales in Japan saw their biggest fall in seven years in February, adding to fears of a deepening recession.

Shoppers spent 5.8% less than a year earlier, bringing the total value of sales to 9.98tn yen ($101bn), according to government figures.

The figure is more than twice January's year-on-year decline of 2.4% and is the sixth monthly decline in a row.

Meanwhile, South Korea and Vietnam also reported weak economic data, as the slowdown hits Asia's economies.

South Korea's economy grew less than first estimated in 2008, expanding 2.2%, compared with a initial estimate of 2.5%.

Vietnam's economic growth rate slowed to 3.1%, its lowest rate in a decade, according to an estimate for the first quarter.

Deflation fears

In Japan, consumer price inflation remained unchanged for a second month in a row.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures, which exclude volatile fresh food prices, prompted analysts to warn that Japan was on the brink of a return to the deflation that plagued it in the late 1990s.

"We are expecting deflation to last for two years, well into 2010," said Hiroshi Watanabe, an economist at Daiwa Research Institute.

'Worst crisis'

The figures were the latest in a stream of grim statistics charting Japan's economic woes.

The country's exports saw a record plunge of 49.4% year-on-year in February, as worldwide demand for its products collapsed.

Japan's economy contracted by 3.3% in the last quarter of last year - its worst showing since the oil crisis of the 1970s.

Economic Minister Kaoru Yosano has said Japan is facing its worst economic crisis since the end of World War II.

Australia rejects China takeover

Australia has rejected a Chinese state-run firm's $1.7bn (£1.2bn) takeover bid for Australia's Oz Minerals because of national security concerns.

Australia said one of Oz Minerals' key mines was located near a weapons-testing range in the outback.

It said the bid by China's Minmetals could only be approved if the deal excluded this copper and gold mine.

The surprise move jeopardises Oz's future and clouds other Sino-Australian deals still waiting for approval.

"Oz Minerals' Prominent Hill mining operations are situated in the Woomera Prohibited Area in South Australia," Treasurer Wayne Swan said in a statement.

"The Woomera Prohibited Area weapons testing range makes a unique and sensitive contribution to Australia's national defence," he added.

Oz and Minmetals said they would look to revise the deal.

Prime asset

Prominent Hill mine is considered Oz's prime asset and analysts questioned whether Minmetals would be prepared to go ahead with the acquisition without it.

Increased investment by Chinese firms has raised hackles in Australia, which has typically been open to foreign investment.

Australian authorities have yet to decide on Rio Tinto's $19.5bn tie-up with Chinese aluminium firm Chinalco and Fortescue Metals' plan to sell a $770 stake to China's Hunan Valin Iron and Steel.

Australia extended its review of Chinalco's investment until June. Some Rio shareholders have expressed opposition to the deal.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, who held talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing on Friday, defended the decision.

"We encourage overseas foreign investment, capital investment in Australia that is one of the things that the whole of Australia's economy is built on," Mr Smith said

"But from time to time a difficult context passes and we are faced with having to make a decision in the national interest."

Oz Minerals, the world's second-largest zinc miner, is struggling to meet a Tuesday deadline to repay $1.3bn to creditors.

Mining firms are struggling as the global slowdown hits demand for raw materials.

Nano booking to start from 9th April

The booking of the Nano, the Rs one-lakh people's car from the Tata stable, will begin on 9th April and remain open till 23rd April; the delivery of the first lot of Nano cars will begin in early-July.

Announcing this ahead of its launch on Monday, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata told editors that the car, which would have the smallest footprint on the road, will be sold to the first one-lakh buyers at a price to be announced later.

The promise that has been made to sell the car at around Rs one-lakh would be kept despite the fact that commodity prices had shot up, Tata said, adding that the fall in commodity prices now may provide some cushion.

The delivery of the first lot of Nano cars will begin in early-July, he said, adding that applications for booking of the car would be available in 30,000 locations in 1,000 cities across India.

State Bank of India would be the qualified banker for collection of bookings in 850 cities, he said.

The car can be booked by just paying Rs 2,999 upfront while the rest can be secured by way of loan, he said.

There would be 15 preferred financiers for the booking whose names would be disclosed in three days.



The initial 50,000-60,000 Nano cars is to be supplied from its Pantnagar plant primarily set up to manufacture Ace trucks, Tata said, adding that the plant to manufacture the Nano at Sanand (Gujarat) is likely to go on-stream by end-this year or early next year.

The first one-lakh customers will be selected by draw of lots from the bookings, he said, adding that those not allotted would have the option to retain their bookings.

The customers who wait for more than one-year will be paid 8.5 percent interest and those beyond two-years will be paid 8.75 percent, Tata Motors' Managing Director, Ravi Kant, said.

No interest would be given to the first one-lakh allotments, Ravi Kant said, adding that the company expects to supply the cars to the first lot in a year's time.

Tata made it clear that Nano production at Pantnagar was, however, an interim solution after the company was forced to shift its production from Singur in West Bengal to Sanand.

"Personally, to say the least, I feel very excited that we were able to go to the last mile to implement Plan B and launch the vehicle in March this year instead of December (this year) or January (next year)," Tata said.



Tata said that all preferred financiers would roll-out their booking schemes within three days.

The rate of interest on the loan would be decided by the banks that provide the loans, Ravi Kant said, adding that several banks would be providing loans including public sector banks.

The Sanand plant would have a capacity of 2.50-lakh units per annum which could later be expanded to half-a-million, Tata said.

The model would meet BS II, III and IV norms which are equivalent to Euro II, III and IV norms, Tata said.

US unveils $1tn toxic asset plan

The US has announced details of a plan to buy up to $1 trillion (£686bn) worth of toxic assets to help repair banks' balance sheets.

The "Public-Private Investment Programme" will purchase the troubled mortgages and securities that have been at the root of the credit crunch.

The Treasury has committed $75bn to $100bn to the programme and said the private sector would also contribute.

Investors welcomed the news, with stocks rising in Europe and Asia.

The Treasury said the plan would help the financial system recover.

US banks still hold many mortgage-related assets that they cannot value or sell.

Having so many of so-called toxic assets on their books has made them reluctant to lend, causing the financial system to freeze up, and pushing the economy further into recession.

Sony Ericsson braced for losses

Sony Ericsson has said that it expects to make a loss in the first three months of this year as sales continue to suffer in the economic downturn.

The company predicts a net loss before tax of between 340m euros (£320m; $466m) and 390m euros for the quarter.

Both retailers and distributors are cutting their stock, said the firm.

Other mobile phone firms have also seen sales fall as demand slows. Earlier this week, Nokia said that it would shed 1,700 jobs due to poor sales.

And previously mobile phone giant Motorola said it would cut 4,000 jobs, roughly 6% of its workforce, to reduce costs.

Sony Ericsson said it was likely to ship around 14 million phones during the first quarter.

It is due to announce its full quarterly results on 17 April.

Oil price soars above 50 dlrs on US Fed plan

Oil prices jumped above USD 50 after the Federal Reserve moved to inject another trillion dollars into the US financial system to boost the world's biggest economy.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, ended USD 3.47 higher from yesterday's close to USD 51.61 per barrel, topping USD 50 for the first time in four months.

In early trading, the contract surged to USD 52.25 - the highest level since 28th November, 2008.

Brent North Sea crude for May delivery rose USD 3.01 to 50.67 in London after breaching USD 51.

Analysts attributed the price jump to Wednesday's announcement by the US Federal Reserve that it would pump USD 1.15 trillion into the financial system. The move also has pulled down the US dollar against key currencies.

"You need to put this action in the context of what has happened in the last few weeks in the market. There has been a shift in market sentiment," said Constanza Jacazio of Barclays Capital.

"From a market where demand was the only driver of price action and sentiment, there seems to have been a shift in a more balanced view," he said.

Crude futures had slid on Wednesday on news of a larger-than-expected increase in US energy reserves that highlighted weak American energy demand, but trimmed losses after news of the Fed plan.

Nineteen US states go after AIG

Nineteen US states are demanding that insurance giant AIG reveal details of bonuses paid to executives, so they can take steps to recover the funds.

This comes after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said AIG had given him such a list on Thursday.

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to levy a tax of 90% on the big bonuses paid to people working at firms that have received state aid.

The $165m (£114m) of bonuses have caused outrage across the US.

US President Barack Obama has denounced such bonuses, while even AIG boss Edward Liddy has described them as "distasteful".

AIG has taken $170bn in aid from the US government.

French aid prompts Renault move

French carmaker Renault is to shift some car production back to France after the guarantee of state aid.

Renault will take the production of its Clio Campus model to the Paris suburbs from Slovenia, creating 400 jobs, a French government minister said.

But the European Commission has demanded clarification about the plan, saying it may be protectionist.

France last month agreed to give Renault and Peugeot Citroen loans in return for keeping French plants open.

The plan to offer both Renault and Peugeot Citroen 3bn euros ($4bn; £2.8bn) sparked a row over protectionism after President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested that the money should not be used to rescue French-owned factories in Eastern Europe.

Luc Chatel, a junior minister for industry, announced Renault's decision in a local radio interview.

European concerns

EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told the BBC she was highly surprised and was seeking urgent clarifications. Ms Kroes said she received a pledge from Mr Chatel just a few weeks ago that the state bail-out for French car firms would not be linked to moving jobs to France.

If the aid proves to be conditional on this, Ms Kroes said it would be illegal under EU rules and should be paid back.

BBC correspondent, Oana Lungescu, said the clash comes at a pivotal point.

"This row couldn't have come at a worse moment for the EU, just as leaders meeting in Brussels are calling on the US and others to tackle the global crisis by avoiding all forms of protectionism," she said.

But Renault has defended its plans, saying its Slovenia factory was at full capacity and that the move to the Flins faciility in Paris would allow Renault to cope with additional orders.

In 2008, the French government said it would give consumers 1,000 euros if they traded in cars older than 10 years for a low-emission car.

'Increased production'

Renault spokeswoman Natalie Bourette said the move will not see job losses at Renault's Slovenian plant, which makes the Twingo and Clio models, but would rather be used as an opportunity to ramp up Slovenian production of the Twingo.

"Novo Mesto [the Slovenian plant] has no more available capacity, which is why we took the decision," she said.

Renault's claims were backed up by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

"This is not about cutting jobs in Slovenia," he said.

"It doesn't take a single job from our Slovenian friends and it increases jobs for Flins," he added.

Meanwhile, Renault anticipates it will produce 8,000 Clio Campuses in Flins between June and October. Flins mostly produces the newer Clio III model.

Carmakers in Europe and beyond have been hit hard by the economic downturn.

Renault last month reported a steep fall in profits and abandoned its targets for 2009, blaming an economic crisis "of massive proportions". Sales in Europe were down more than 7%, it said.

OPEC Ministers agree to leave existing output targets unchanged

OPEC Ministers agreed to leave existing output targets unchanged, but promised to enforce those curbs more strictly and said they would meet again at the end of May.

The decision reflected concern for the world economy and a belief production curbs so far have begun to take away some of the over-supply from oil markets, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a communiquéé after the nearly five-hour conference.



OPEC spokesman Omar Ibrahim told a news conference in Vienna that the conference therefore emphasized its commitment to comply fully with its decision of December 2008.



Ministers from the 12-member producers' club had repeatedly said their focus was better compliance with deals in place since September to lower targets by 4.2 million barrels per day.



OPEC adherence has been estimated at roughly 80 percent.

Obama 'outraged' at AIG bonuses

US President Barack Obama has expressed anger at $165m (£116m) bonuses pledged to executives of bailed-out insurer AIG, calling the payments "an outrage".

"It's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165m in extra pay," he said.

He has told Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to "pursue every single legal avenue" to block the bonuses.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs later said AIG's next bailout payment could be altered to protect taxpayers.

He did not say how this could be achieved, but analysts say the government could reduce the payment - which is $30bn - by $165m, in order to force AIG to account for the bonuses in another way.

'Play by rules'

AIG announced the bonus payouts on Sunday.

In a speech which was intended to launch initiatives to help small businesses deal with the economic crisis, President Obama strongly criticised the company.

"All across the country, there are people who work hard and meet their responsibilities every day, without the benefit of government bailouts or multimillion-dollar bonuses," he said.

"And all they ask is that everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, play by the same rules."

The $165m was payable to executives by Sunday and part of a larger total payout reportedly put at $450m.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo now says he has issued legal papers demanding that AIG reveal the names of those receiving the bonuses - something which he says the firm has refused to do.

"When a company pays funds that the company effectively doesn't have, it's akin to a looting of a company," he said.

AIG has not yet commented on the legal move, but a spokeswoman said the firm was "in ongoing contact" with the attorney general.

Google in court over Vuitton row

Lawyers for Google are to appear in the European Court of Justice in a row over the search engine's use of trademarks.

LVMH, the company behind Louis Vuitton luggage and other brands, has accused Google of selling search words such as Vuitton to the highest bidder.

Web users searching for its products will see adverts for rivals or firms selling counterfeit goods, LVMH argues.

Google appealed to Brussels after a French court ruled against it. The web giant says it does respect trademarks.

No outcome is expected for several months.

Trademark case

This case comes as criticism grows about the dominance of Google, says BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones.

"Some comes from rivals like Microsoft - but there's also concern from media firms and from privacy campaigners about a firm which has a huge share of online advertising, and knows an awful lot about millions of web users."

In 2005, Google lost an appeal against a court ruling over trademark infringement brought about by two French travel companies.

A lawsuit was filed after Google users searching for the two French companies - Luteciel and Viaticum - found themselves directed instead to rival sponsored links.

Google's failure to follow an order quickly enough triggered a 75,000-euro fine.

LVMH has been active in efforts to protect its brand online.

In June last year, a French court ordered auction site eBay to pay 40m euros to LVMH for allowing online auctions of fake copies of its goods.

LVMH had said eBay's French site had not done enough to stop the sale of counterfeit bags and perfumes, under brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy.