Business news for Sun, 23 Dec 2007 & with words major+trading. 2 news.

CHINA should take measures to cool economic growth and cut energy consumption, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission said. "Current economic growth, 11.5 percent or above 11 percent, is too fast and at too high a cost," Han Yongwen, the planning agency's secretary general, said at a conference in Beijing on Saturday. The world's fourth largest economy grew by more than 11 percent through the first three quarters of 2007, Bloomberg News said. Chinese government is trying to cool growth in the world's fastest-growing major economy without triggering a sudden slowdown that may cost jobs and leave factories idle. Japanese companies including Toyota Motor Corp urged China in September to slow the pace of its expansion on concern overheating in Japan's biggest trading partner may cause economic turmoil. "The central bank should use interest rate policies more boldly to damp investment expansion and asset price increases," Lin Yifu, head of

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Financial exchanges will be closing early on Monday in anticipation of the Christmas holiday. The New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq capital and global markets and the American Stock Exchange will all close at 1 p.m. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Comex division will observe an early close at 12:30 p.m., with the Nymex to call it a day as of 1:30 p.m. Electronic markets will be open until 5:15 p.m., and there will be no overnight session, Nymex said. Electronic markets will resume trading at 6 p.m. for the Dec. 26 trade date, according to Nymex. At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, floor trading in foreign exchange, interest rates, weather options and real-estate options is scheduled to pack it in at noon, with CME commodity options ending at 12:02 and CME equity indexes closing at 12:15 p.m. CME Globex trading will follow a similar schedule and remain closed until 5 p.m. on Christmas, Dec. 25, the exchange said. And at the Chicago Board of Trade, there will be phased early closings in the agricultural, financial and equity pits starting at noon, with electronic trading due to end soon thereafter. Dow-AIG and metals trading will observe normal CBOT hours on Monday. The CBOT said electronic trading will resume starting at 6 a.m. on Dec. 26.