KILL THE COMPETITION
Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're saying, what they're saying, from Michael Beh
Tuesday, August 18, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: Ryanair, the budget airline, ended nine of its ten Manchester routes in a row over charges, triggering a price war among UK regional airports.
Wall Street Journal: Three men face charges of running the largest computer hacking and identity-theft caper in US history.
The Times: Reader's Digest Association, owner of the world's biggest-selling magazine, has announced plans to file for bankruptcy protection.
Comment
Ian King in The Times: Whisper it gently, but there are few reasons to mourn final-salary schemes.
Richard Fletcher in The Daily Telegraph: It is easier to blame a few greedy bankers for the recession than admit that we were all culpable.
David Prosser in The Independent: The problem with market bull runs is that the higher they go the more nervous people start to feel.
Upside
The Times: Housebuilders' confidence in the US market for newly built homes rose to its highest levels in a year.
The Daily Telegraph: Profit rose at Lego, the Danish family-owned toymaker, boosted by products based on the Star Wars films.
Financial Times: The number of new job vacancies in the financial services sector increased by 20 per cent in June.
Downside
The Times: A million people will be stripped of final-salary pension benefits and moved to less generous contribution schemes over the next three years.
The Independent: First-half profit at Michael Page, the UK's second largest recruitment agency, fell by 49 per cent and revenues fell by 27 per cent.
The Times: The FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed down nearly 69 points in the largest one-day fall since July 2.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Blackstone, the US private equity group, will buy half of the Broadgate Estate in the City of London from British Land.
Wall Street Journal: Robert Benmosche, the incoming American International Group president, will get an annual salary of $7 million (£4.3 million).
The Times: Montagu Private Equity plans to sell Survitec, the defence group that makes safety equipment for UK forces, for £300 million ($490 million).
Around Asia
The Times: Japanese youth view the nation's economy as a mess with few signs of the recession lifting, despite positive official data.
New York Times: China will appeal a World Trade Organization ruling that ordered it to ease restrictions on imports of movies, music and books.
The Times: Essar, the Indian energy, steel and shipping group, made a bid for Royal Dutch Shell's Stanlow refinery at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
Look ahead
New York Times: The US Federal Reserve and the Treasury will extend their joint program to finance consumer and business lending for up to six more months.
Reuters: The US commodities markets regulator plans to set new rules on position limits in energy futures trading as early as September.
Bloomberg: US banks expect to maintain strict criteria on lending until at least the second half of 2010.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 2,603.79 down 2.5% (Monday close)
Dow 9,135.34 down 2% (close)
S&P 500 979.73 down 2.4% (close)
Nasdaq 1,930.84 down 2.8% (close)
Nikkei 10,307.41 up 0.4% (latest)
Hang Seng 20,277.39 up 0.7% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.6374/1.1597 euros (latest)
Euro $1.412 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $70.76 up 22 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $67.28 up 53 cents (latest)
Gold $279.85 up $1.30 (latest)
New York
Reuters: US stocks suffered their worst loss in seven weeks as weak data from Japan prompted a sell-off in major Asian markets that spilled over into Europe and North America. US selling was broad-based, but shares sensitive to the economy's cycles fell the most. Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar fell 4.5 per cent, leading the Dow's major decliners. US home improvement company Lowe's fell 10.3 per cent on a disappointing earnings outlook and rival Home Depot fell 3.8 per cent. Share trading on the New York Stock Exchange was light.
Asia
Bloomberg: Most Asian stocks fell in morning trade amid concern the global economic recovery will fail to meet investors' expectations. Mitsubishi, which generates nearly half its revenue from commodities, fell 3.2 per cent and Mitsui, a trading house that generates more than half its profit from metals and energy, fell 2.2 per cent in Tokyo on lower metals prices. Fortescue Metals, Australia's No.3 iron ore miner, fell 3.5 per cent. James Hardie, the biggest seller of home siding in the US, rose 18 per cent on good profit forecasts. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 per cent to 110.45 in morning trade.
Michael Beh
michaelwbeh@gmail.com
London
With signs that the housing market is starting to turn a corner, many of the country's largest housebuilders are keen to put the woes of the last couple of years behind them and start building again. The only problem is, they're not all exactly flush with cash. And perhaps none more so than Barratt Developments, which fell 5.7 per cent yesterday, amid suggestions the group would seek to raise £500 million in a rights issue to bolster its balance sheet when it reports full year results in September. The FTSE 100 dropped 68.96 points to 4645.01, as news that Japan's economy was out of recession was overshadowed by continuing negative sentiment after disappointing US consumer confidence data was published on Friday. Traders said a pullback on stocks had been a long time coming after the gains of the past six weeks or so.
Miners were worst hit amid weaker commodity prices after hopes of a global economic recovery diminished. Anglo American lost 5.5 per cent and Rio Tinto fell 4.7 per cent. Only a handful of blue chips rose, with Aviva up 1.6 per cent after HSBC upgraded its rating on the insurer to neutral from underweight, saying management's action to rebuild its capital buffer, the partial listing of Delta Lloyds and the dividend cut should allay solvency fears.
Peter Stiff
Peter.Stiff@the-times.co.uk
