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
Thursday, December 17, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: The UK government may close a tax loophole that allowed the North Sea oil industry to avoid paying national insurance contributions.
Wall Street Journal: The US government abruptly shelved plans to sell its 34 per cent stake in Citigroup, the troubled bank.
The Times: Microsoft agreed to offer Windows users a choice of internet browsers, ending the US software giant's dispute with the European Commission.
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: The UK's good unemployment figures continue a trend of unexpectedly strong job numbers that are not all that they seem.
Jeremy Warner in the Daily Telegraph: Much of the banking work-out in terms of bad debt recognition and "deleveraging" has yet to be done.
David Pauly on Bloomberg: The banks seem to think that rushing to repay bailout money will make us forget that their reckless trading almost ruined the economy.
Upside
Wall Street Journal: The US Federal Reserve acknowledged the US economy was picking up, but reaffirmed its plan to keep short-term interest rates near zero.
The Independent: The number of UK citizens claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 6,300 last month, the first fall since February 2008.
New York Times: US new home construction increased by 8.9 per cent last month.
Downside
The Times: Shareholders of Punch Taverns voted down Britain's biggest pub company's remuneration report at its annual meeting.
New York Times: The US Federal Trade Commission accused Intel, the world's largest chip maker, of trying to stifle competition in an antitrust complaint.
Financial Times: Heathrow baggage handlers and Eurostar train drivers are ready to join British Airways cabin crew and strike in the lead-up to Christmas.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Abu Dhabi's biggest sovereign wealth fund accused Citigroup of tricking it into paying $7.5 billion (£4.6 billion) for overpriced stock.
Wall Street Journal: Bank of America named Brian Moynihan, the executive in charge of the bank's consumer and small-business units, as its chief executive.
The Times: Anders Dahlvig, the former chief executive of Ikea, will start immediately as a non-executive director with Kingfisher, the UK retailer.
Around Asia
The Times: Shaolin Temple, the venerated shrine where kung fu was born, plans a joint venture with the Hong Kong arm of the state-run China Travel Service.
Financial Times: AIG, the US insurance giant, is preparing a Hong Kong listing of American International Assurance, its flagship Asian life assurance unit.
Wall Street Journal: Yum Brands, the restaurant chain owner, plans a major expansion in India early next year.
Look ahead
The Times: The UK will not be able to build helicopters after 2020 if the Ministry of Defence switches a contract to Boeing, the US engine maker.
The Daily Telegraph: The FTSE 100 is tipped to lag a string of other benchmark indices worldwide next year, but will still rise above this year's levels.
The Independent: Businessmen fear that Britain may slip into a "double-dip" recession next year, according to a survey of business leaders.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,320.26 up 0.7% (Wednesday close)
Dow 10,441.12 down 0.1% (close)
S&P 500 1,109.18 up 0.1% (close)
Nasdaq 2,206.91 up 0.3% (close)
Nikkei 10,221.46 up 0.4% (latest)
Hang Seng 21,490.12 down 0.6% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.6245/1.1288 euros (latest)
Euro $1.4392 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $74.41 up 12 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $72.55 down 11 cents (latest)
Gold $1137.10 up 90 cents (latest)
New York
Reuters: US stocks finished flat to slightly higher after the Federal Reserve reiterated its intention to keep interest rates low for the foreseeable future.
JP Morgan Chase, the second-largest US bank, rose 1.2 per cent. After the bell, banking giant Citigroup fell 3.5 per cent on reports its equity offering had been priced at $3.15 per share. Home builders KB Home rose 6 per cent on good new housing data. After the bell, rival Hovnanian Enterprises fell 13.2 per cent on a disappointing quarterly loss. During the regular session, chipmaker Intel fell 2.1 per cent after the US government accused it of illegally using its market dominance to stifle competition. Honeywell International, the largest maker of cockpit electronics, fell 2.1 per cent on a lower profit forecast.
Asia
Bloomberg: Asian stocks fell in morning trade, erasing earlier gains, as banks and developers dropped. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4 per cent to 119.16 in Tokyo.
Michael Beh
michaelwbeh@gmail.com
London
House builders were in demand yesterday after Citigroup said the sector looked poised for a significant rebound next year.
However, like most new year predictions, there was a heavy caveat - as long as the much feared double dip rececession does not materialise.
The broker is now advising its clients to buy every stock in the sector, cited improving house prices, mortgage applications, housing transactions and consumer confidence for its ultra bullish view.
Barratt Developments gained 6 per cent and Taylor Wimpey rose 4.9 per cent.
The FTSE 100 advanced 34.49 points to 5,320.26 amid a raft of update economic data, including the first fall in those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance since February 2008.
Rentokil Initial climbed 4.8 per cent after Deutsche Bank adviced its clients to buy the rat catcher to parcel delivery group, saying its restructuring story had a long way to run.
Barclays was up 2.6 per cent amid reports that tougher capital standards on the sector could be postponed.
Peter Stiff
Peter.Stiff@the-times.co.uk
