Business news for Sun, 25 Nov 2007. 497 news.

THE share market has opened higher on the federal election result, firmer commodity prices and a positive lead from Wall St.

The euro-zone economy slowed in November despite a rebound in factory output, a purchasing survey indicated.

Credit Suisse decided to stop making markets in European government bonds on four MTS trading platforms.

The number of postponed IPOs in the U.S. and Europe has reached record levels this quarter, with 10 times as many being put on hold in the past six weeks as in all of the fourth quarter last year.

International investors and Russian issuers believe Putin is a stabilizing force for the economy and equity market, and his decision that he would retain a significant political role after he steps down reassured investors.

The value of mortgages approved during October in the U.K. was 27% lower than the average over the previous six months. The market is counting on a rate cut by early 2008 for help, but lower rates might not work as well as they have in the past.

A business lobby group is calling on Federal Labor to speed up the development of Australia's uranium industry.

India is launching a government-owned investment company to buy stakes in overseas coal producers and secure future supplies for its steel and power industries

Plans to increase domestic coal production will be inadequate to satisfy the demand from industry

THE incoming Labor Government will introduce legislation to abolish controversial industrial relations laws "as soon as is humanly possible".

LONDON (Reuters) - Richard Branson's Virgin Group is set to be named preferred bidder to rescue ailing British bank Northern Rock , a person familiar with the situation said on Sunday.

GAMING and wagering group Tabcorp says its full year pre-tax earnings will be cut by $30 million due to the impact of the equine influenza outbreak.

GAMING and wagering group Tabcorp says its full year pre-tax earnings will be cut by $30 million due to the impact of the equine influenza outbreak.

Norilsk co-owner Prokhorov agreed to sell a strategic stake to UC Rusal but can do so only if co-owner Vladimir Potanin doesn't take up an earlier offer.

France's largest banks are hoping to edge out their international competitors in a hunt for acquisitions in North Africa, as they search for growth outside their domestic market.

THE humble coffee run has joined the cigarette and social networking sites as the latest threat to workplace productivity, employers complain.

UNITED States stocks posted their third weekly drop this month last Friday after the Federal Reserve reduced its economic growth outlook, Freddie Mac reported a record loss and Lowe's Cos slashed its profit forecast. Freddie Mac plunged the most since going public in 1988 and led financial shares lower after losses on mortgage securities prompted it to seek a capital infusion. Lowe's, the second-largest home-improvement retailer, fell the most in five years after same-store sales slipped for the fifth straight quarter. Miners and computer-related companies also fell amid speculation that tighter credit and weak consumer spending will slow the world's largest economy through next year. The Fed cut its 2008 growth forecast to as low as 1.8 percent, down from the 2.5 percent to 2.75 percent anticipated in June, Bloomberg News said. "The housing overhang continues to be a major problem for the economy," said Barry James, who helps manage about US$2.1 billion as president

EUROPEAN stocks capped the longest streak of weekly losses since August after the Federal Reserve cut its United States growth forecast, fueling concern the world's largest economy is sliding into recession. Porsche AG, which relies on the US for more than a third of its sales, paced declines by exporters as the American currency dropped to a record low against the euro. UBS AG led a retreat in bank shares on speculation the worst of the credit-market turmoil is not over. Mining stocks fell with metal prices. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index dropped 1.4 percent to 357.74, the fourth straight week of losses. The benchmark has lost 11 percent since reaching a 6 1/2-year high on June 1, on concern defaults among US mortgage borrowers with the poorest credit profiles will hurt economic growth and corporate earnings, Bloomberg News said. "The situation is getting worse with oil and credit problems weighing on equity markets," said Wolfram Mrowetz, who manages the equivalent of

THE World Bank said in a recent report that China's rising trade surplus was the main macroeconomic issue for the country and it needs to take more policy actions to contain its growth. The viewpoint coincided with the decision of the Ministry of Commerce, which treated the reduction of trade imbalance as its top priority. However, even the government paid tremendous attention to the sector. China's trade surplus hit a record high of US$27.05 billion last month, accelerating 13.5 percent from a year earlier. The combined figure through October increased 59 percent to US$212.3 billion, according to China's Customs. "The soaring trade surplus, which so far seems little affected by measures to contain export growth, constitutes the bulk of the rising balance of payment surplus," said the World Bank report issued on November 15. "This surplus is adding to domestic liquidity and contributing to steady asset price increases, share prices in particular." China's

THE yuan is expected to gain further this week to fight inflation, traders said. The People's Bank of China set yuan's central parity rate at 7.3992 against the US dollar on Friday, a record high since China dropped its decade-long link with the greenback in July 2005. The yuan ended at 7.4060 against the US dollar on Friday at the China Foreign Exchange Trade System in Shanghai. The yuan kept rising during the week. Expectations of a weaker US dollar and a heavier play of yuan in China's economy are likely to make the yuan more valuable. The Federal Reserve cut its forecast for the US economy in 2008 last week and the market expects an even weaker greenback.