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
Friday, August 14, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: Losses from the UK business of Nomura, the Japanese bank that bought the European and Asian operations of Lehman Brothers, trebled to £1.3 billion ($2.1 billion) in the year to March.
The Times: Germany and France break out of recession with figures showing their economies expanded for the first time in a year.
Daily Telegraph: British Land, one of the UK's biggest landlords, targeted for a £10 billion-plus($16.5 billion) offer by an Asian consortium.
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: Mark Tucker's last set of figures at Prudential caused an 11 per cent surge in the share price.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Daily Telegraph: New geographical divide on the cards as twin motors of Euroland crawl out of recession but southern states remain in the wreckage.
Dominic Walsh in The Times: The fizz may have gone out of sales of premium lager, but Peroni still enjoys the good life.
Upside
The Times: The reputation of Stella could be on the turn as sales for the Belgian brewer start to sparkle.
New York Times: Invigorated by clunker cash, Ford said it would produce 10,000 more cars in the third quarter and 140,000 more in the fourth.
The Times: Asda, Britain's second-biggest supermarket, said it was winning market share from discount specialists such as Aldi and Lidl.
Downside
The Times: Lawyers warn the City regulator's new rules on bonuses have created loopholes that banks could exploit.
New York Times: US consumers were hoarding their dollars as retail sales in July fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.1 per cent.
The Times: Anglesey Aluminium Metal, based near Holyhead, to close its smelting activities next month with the loss of 250 jobs.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Mark Tucker, chief executive of Prudential, praised the contribution of British operations as a dividend rise followed rivals' cuts.
The Times: German carmakers seal a merger which sees Volkswagen buy a 42 per cent stake in Porsche for €3.3 billion (£2.8 billion).
The Times: Allegations arise that €2 billion (£1.7 billion) of an inheritance left by Gianni Agnelli, the former Fiat chairman, hidden in Switzerland and not declared.
Around Asia
The Times: Foreign companies operating in China worried something might happen to their staff.
New York Times: China tried to separate its push into the global business arena from domestic politics.
New York Times: Rising debt, especially among young Chinese, led the Beijing government and banks to scale back a credit card policy that expanded too far, too fast.
Look ahead
The Times: Britain to give Airbus £350 million ($580 million) to develop its A350 XWB, half the amount the company had sought.
New York Times: Marc Andreessen, developer of the Netscape Internet browser, backing a start-up called Rockmelt for a rematch with Microsoft.
Daily Telegraph: Leading US food groups warn the Obama administration that the country could run out of sugar.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 4,755.46 up 0.8% (Thursday close)
Dow 9,398.19 up 0.4% (close)
S&P 500 1,012.73 up 0.7% (close)
Nasdaq 2,009.35 up 0.5% (close)
Nikkei 10,627.63 up 1.1% (latest)
Hang Seng 20,743.73 down 0.6% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.6576/1.1619 euros (latest)
Euro $1.4266 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $73.81 up 33 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $71.11 up 59 cents (latest)
Gold $959.30 up $2.80 (latest)
New York
Reuters: Stocks rose on Thursday as better-than-expected earnings by Wal-Mart helped offset disappointing government numbers on retail sales and jobs. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, gained 2.7 per cent following its second-quarter earnings and its outlook for the full year. The rest of the retail sector was lukewarm, however, after the Commerce Department reported retail sales fell 0.1 per cent in July, defying market expectations of a gain. Analysts had expected a boost to retail sales from the government's "cash for clunkers" programme that offers taxpayers money for trading in gas guzzlers for more fuel efficient new cars. Bank of America gained 6.7 per cent while homebuilder shares fell on a string of downgrades, with D.R. Horton down 3.7 per cent and KB Home down 2.5 per cent.
Asia
Bloomberg: Asian stocks rose in morning trade, driving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its highest level in more than 10 months. Mitsubishi, a Japanese trading company that gets more than a third of its sales from resources, climbed 3.4 per cent. Rio Tinto, the world's third-largest miner, added 1.9 per cent. Leighton Holdings, Australia's biggest construction company, advanced 6.7 per cent after forecasting higher earnings this fiscal year. Yanzhou Coal Mining surged 5.1 per cent in Shanghai after agreeing to buy Australia's Felix Resources for A$3.5 billion ($2.9 billion). Felix rose 4.9 per cent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7 per cent to 114.17 in morning trade.
Myles McIvor
mjclub@bigpond.com.au
LONDON
Commercial property groups were in focus yesterday amid talk a sovereign wealth fund was looking to build a stake in British Land. Shares in the group rose 2.5 per cent as traders speculated about the identity of the interested party, with China seen as most likely suitor. The FTSE 100 advanced 38.70 points to reach a new 10 month high of 4755.46. The index was driven by the heavyweight mining sector, which rose on hopes of a global economic recovery and higher metal prices, with Xstrata gaining 6 per cent and Rio Tinto adding 4.2 per cent. Carnival lost 1.5 per cent after the cruise ship operator said Micky Arison, the son of its founder and current chief executive, and members of his family, planned to sell 8.5 million of their shares, or about 1 per cent of their total stake. It said the sale, worth more than £150 million, was for "tax planning, estate planning and diversification purposes." BT Group also fell 1.5 per cent after UBS named the telecoms business on a list of companies that could hold a rights issue.
Peter.Stiff@the-times.co.uk
AGENDA
00.50 BST Japan: BoJ minutes for May
00.50 BST Japan: Tertiary industry index (Jun)
10.00 BST EMU: CPI (Jul final)
13.30 BST US: CPI (Jul)
14.15 BST US: Industrial production (Jul)
15.00 BST US: University of Michigan confidence (Aug prelim)
09.30 Business Secretary Lord Mandelson will make a major announcement on the aerospace sector in the UK. Location: Airbus in the UK, Filton, Bristol (DRobertson).
Mortgage and Landlord Possession Statistics. Second quarter figures of mortgage possession actions taken in the county courts in England and Wales.
Company Winding Up And Bankruptcy Petition Statistics - Q2. Details the number of companies that went into liquidation.
Blackrock World Mining Trust Plc H1
Imagination Technologies AGM (10.00)
Van Dieman Mines Plc AGM (10.00)
2pm - Baker & McKenzie, top 5 global law firm, releases latest full-year results (Spence)
