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
Top stories
The Times : Hector Sants, head of the City watchdog, demanded senior bank staff must have "the required integrity" to land top jobs.
The Times : Cadbury rejected a £9.8 billion ($16.4 billion) hostile bid from Kraft, the world's second largest food company, branding the offer as "unattractive" and "derisory".
The Times : The Government named 10 proposed sites, nine in England, for nuclear power stations with the first operational by 2018.
Comment
David Wighton in The Times : Kraft's low bid for Cadbury is an attempt to appear tough, disciplined and patient - tactics that are working pretty well.
Damian Reece in Daily Telegraph : Yes we need renewable energy but just wait for your bills to go nuclear.
Stephen King in The Independent : Developing economies show the way for the US and EU to recover.
Upside
The Times : Wall Street climbed to a new high for the year overnight, helped by G20 pledging to keep economic stimulus in place until a recovery was assured.
The Independent : Driven by clothes stores, the best October retail sales since 2002 provided further evidence that consumer confidence was improving ahead of Christmas trading.
The Times : The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported house prices on rise, especially in London, despite more stock on the market.
Downside
New York Times : Sprint Nextel, the mobile phone company, trimming another 2,500 jobs, or 6 percent of its workforce.
Financial Times : Banks around the world face increases in funding costs as they look to refinance $7,000 billion plus in short-term debt expiring in the next three years.
New York Times : Electronic Arts, the video game company that makes games such as Rock Band and Madden, to lay off 1,500 workers and shrink its product line-up.
Mergers and shakers
The Times : Google bought AdMob for $750 million (£450 million) as it sought to dominate the fast-growing smartphone mobile sector.
Reuters : The European Commission objected to Oracle's acquisition of computer maker Sun Microsystems, throwing the $7 billion deal into question.
The Times : Aer Lingus, the loss-making Irish flag carrier, to concentrate on competing with Ryanair on short-haul routes.
Around Asia
The Times : Reliance Industries, India's largest company, planning a multibillion-dollar purchase of the US assets of LyondellBasell, the stricken chemicals group.
New York Times : The pioneering editor of China's top business magazine left her post with plans to start anew after a power tussle.
The Times : Macau, Asia's casino headquarters, could be forced to ration drinking water as Chinese reservoirs run dry.
Look ahead
The Times : A proposal from the utilities and transport industries to the Home Office next year for ban on cash for scrap metal.
Reuters : Pfizer, the world's biggest drugmaker, to close six research and development sites and trim jobs in the US and the United Kingdom, following the acquisition of Wyeth.
Reuters : JPMorgan Chase to lift a salary freeze it put in place last year after reporting several quarters of improving investment banking profits.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,235.18 up 1.8% (Monday close)
Dow 10,226.94 up 2% (close)
S&P 500 1,093.08 up 2.2% (close)
Nasdaq 2,154.06 up 2% (close)
Nikkei 9,970.10 up 1.6% (latest)
Hang Seng 22,494.05 up 1.3% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.6745/1.118 euros (latest)
Euro $1.4978 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $77.44 down 33 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $79.05 down 38 cents (latest)
Gold $1102.40 up $1 (latest)
New York
Reuters: A broad US stocks rally sent the Dow industrials to a 13-month high on Monday. The dollar briefly fell to a 15-month low, bolstering commodity prices and materials stocks. Freeport MacMoRan shot up 4.6 per cent and the S&P materials sector index gained 3.2 per cent. Among chipmakers, Applied Materials rose 5.2 per cent and Micron Technology shot up 6.1 per cent. Financial stocks were also top performers in the session, with American Express up 4.9 per cent. Corporate mergers and acquisitions also helped the market, with General Electric up 3.4 per cent after a source said GE and Comcast Corp agreed on a valuation of about $30 billion for a joint venture between NBC Universal and Comcast. Sprint Nextel stock soared 20.4 per cent after news it is preparing to pump at least $1 billion more into wireless broadband company Clearwire.
Asia
Bloomberg: Asian stocks climbed in morning trade as a rally in commodities boosted materials producers and brokerages upgraded Australian financial shares. Newcrest Mining, Australia's biggest gold producer, added 1 per cent as bullion advanced to a record. Fortescue Metals Group, Australia's third-largest iron ore producer, surged 3.6 per cent and Mitsui, which generates more than half its profits from commodities dealing, climbed 2.8 per cent. Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.3 per cent after UBS AG recommended buying the shares and Axa Asia Pacific Holdings gained 2.6 per cent after Credit Suisse Group AG lifted the stock to "neutral". Hyundai, South Korea's largest car maker, rallied 3.4 per cent after China's auto sales climbed. NSK, a maker of car bearings, added 2.7 per cent and JTEKT, a maker of power steering, jumped 2.7 per cent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.8 percent to 118.53 in morning trade.
Myles McIvor
mjclub@bigpond.com.au
LONDON
The FTSE 100 advanced 92.46 points to 5,235.18, hitting its highest level for more than two weeks, amid gains for commodity stocks and financials.
The mining sector was buoyed as a weaker US dollar pushed up metal prices, with Kazakhmys rising 6 per cent and Xstrata gaining 5 per cent.
BP was up 2 per cent as the price of a barrel of oil edged towards $80 because of fears that Tropical Storm Ida could hit production in the Gulf of Mexico
Prudential rose 5.2 per cent after a takeover battle in the Far East served to underline the value of its growing business in the region.
Cable & Wireless was the biggest faller, down 1.6 per cent, amid concerns it may not be able to cover its dividend.
Peter Stiff
Peter.Stiff@the-times.co.uk
