Business news for Sun, 25 Nov 2007 & with word growth. 19 news.

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

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.

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

EUROPEAN Central Bank executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said the United States economy justifies a stronger dollar than is reflected in its current value. "I'm convinced that the American economy is stronger than is reflected in the exchange rate," Bini Smaghi said in a speech to manufacturers in Prato, Italy, on Saturday. "The markets must understand that this rate doesn't precisely reflect the fundamentals" of the economy. The US currency dropped to US$1.4967 per euro during trading on Friday, the weakest since the single European currency's debut in 1999. The euro has gained 10 percent against the US dollar since mid-August, eroding European competitiveness abroad. Bini Smaghi said that the euro has appreciated in part because the area's economy is drawing interest from global investors, Bloomberg News said. ECB council member Guy Quaden said that it's still too early to say how much the US housing market crisis will slow American growth, Belgium's

CHINA will introduce more than 20 supporting regulations on foreign mergers and acquisitions of domestic firms before August, a senior Chinese legislator said on Saturday. The regulations will come out in a series before the Antitrust Law goes into effect on August 1, 2008, Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, told a forum in Beijing. The rules will help ensure that foreign M&A deals promote China's economic growth without threatening its economic security, Cheng stated.

CHINA is progressing with foreign-exchange reform with the mechanism playing an important role in "adjusting" the nation's trade balance, central bank Deputy Governor Su Ning said. The rate of the yuan also plays an important role in sustaining the nation's economic growth, Su told Bloomberg News on Saturday at a financial conference in Beijing. "The foreign-exchange mechanism will help improve the economic structure and lead to industry upgrading," he said. European and US officials have been urging China to allow its currency to appreciate faster to reduce global imbalances in trade. China will consider widening the yuan's 0.5 percent daily trading limit "if necessary" and gradually allow the currency to move more freely, central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said in Cape Town, South Africa, early this month. "The currency's gain will lead exporters to be less reliant on price competition and will force companies to be more competitive and

CHINESE companies should encourage innovation, protect intellectual property, become more open and keep learning if they hope to become world-class companies, Chinese entrepreneurs said at a forum at the weekend. Also, they should improve their competitiveness to ensure that they stay at the top of the ladder, entrepreneurs said at the 5th Global Chinese Business Leaders Summit whose theme was "Growing into World Class Enterprises - Inheritance and Innovation." The two-day forum, which ended in Shanghai yesterday, seeks to boost entrepreneurship in home-grown firms. "China is enjoying a buoyant growth, which provides an unprecedented platform for Chinese entrepreneurs to make their impact in the international market," said Jin Yanshi, chief economist with Xiangcai Securities Co. "But we have to be aware of the potential risks in China's economy, including a bubble in the capital market, rising unemployment rate and less impetus for people to start new

TREASURIES rose, pushing two-year note yields below three percent for the first time since 2004, as concern over subprime mortgage losses led investors to seek refuge in short-term United States government debt. Two-year notes gained for a sixth straight week, extending their rally to the longest in five years, Bloomberg News said. Traders increased bets that the Federal Reserve will cut borrowing costs for a third time this year after the central bank lowered its economic growth outlook. A report next week is forecast to show consumer confidence fell in November to a two-year low. "The Fed's hand is being forced," said Daniel Fuss, Boston-based vice chairman at Loomis Sayles & Co, who oversees US$22 billion. "I'm sure they don't like it." The two-year note's yield fell 28 basis points, or 0.28 percentage points, to 3.07 percent, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The yield fell below three percent on November 21, the first time since

China's glass industry is poised to break out, and its prospects for growth, though possibly limited, are only beginning, analysts say.

The odds now favour a US recession that slows growth significantly on a global basis, says Lawrence Summers

Debt management firm Debt Free Direct today reported stalling profits growth following a backlash against individual voluntary arrangements

RIO Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese is set to talk up the prospects for a slew of growth projects as he pressures BHP to lift its $171 billion merger bid.

RIO Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese is set to talk up the prospects for a slew of growth projects as he pressures BHP to lift its $171 billion merger bid.

The kids were scrambling. The dog was barking. And the bags were still being packed. The Martinezes of St. Paul looked like a typical family about to go on vacation. Only this time, the trip was not all play. Ivan Martinez had taken a new job with General Mills that required his family to move to Mexico City this week, trading Grand Avenue for the Zona Rosa so he can market breakfast cereal throughout Latin America. The family's new adventure is part of the company's rising use of an international sales force to find growth in the global economy, pushing granola bars and breakfast cereal o

Stocks declined last week after the Federal Reserve reduced its economic growth outlook, Freddie Mac reported a record loss and Lowe's slashed its profit forecast.

The sun might come out today over First Solar Inc.'s manufacturing plant in Germany, but probably not. No wonder 70 First Solar executives make Phoenix the company headquarters, even if the company doesn't sell many of its panels in this country.{b} Panel maker puts foray into home market on hold

India is a success story, boasting one of the fastest-growing economies in the world ? from $32bn (£16bn) at the beginning of the 1980s to more than $1 trillion today. "One of the biggest drivers of growth is the changing demographics," says Arun Mehra, head of investment strategy at Fidelity's India Focus fund. "Wealth is increasingly filtering down to rural and traditionally low-income sections of society."