Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word drop. 19 news.

LONDON led the biggest drop in United Kingdom home values for at least five years this month as higher mortgage costs and the prospect of further declines in prices kept away buyers, a report by Rightmove Plc showed. The average UK asking price fell 3.2 percent to 232,396 pounds (US$473,437) from November, the largest decline since the survey of real-estate agents' listings began in 2002, Britain's most-used property Website said yesterday. London home costs dropped 6.8 percent, also the most recorded by Rightmove. "The market is tough out there," Miles Shipside, the company's commercial director, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. "We see a flat outlook for next year, with no price rises, as we work our way through this liquidity crisis." The Bank of England this month cut the benchmark interest rate for the first time in two years, citing the threat of an economic slowdown. Confidence among British real-estate agents has slumped as pricier mortgages

Rexel, the French electrical equipment distributor, is expected to press ahead with its proposed ?3.1bn ($4.46bn) takeover offer for Dutch rival Hagemeyer

SHANGHAI stocks tumbled yesterday, led by banks and property developers. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers yuan-denominated A shares and hard currency B shares, fell 2.62 percent to end at 4,876.76, the biggest drop in two weeks. It had reached an intraday high of 5,007.35. Turnover rose to 102.65 billion yuan (US$13.87 billion) from 82.82 billion yuan on Friday. Gainers outnumbered losers 450 to 362 while 88 stocks were unchanged. "A massive drop of big-caps, including lenders and property developers, has led the local stock market to a slump," said Chen Huiqin, an analyst with Huatai Securities Co. "However, the recent correction from a high of 6,100 to the current level, a 20 percent drop, would probably create some opportunities for both institutional and individual investors." Banking stocks dropped on concern a slowdown in the property market will drain demand for housing loans. China Merchants Bank Co, the nation's sixth-largest lender in

MERRILL Lynch & Co, the securities firm that reported a record US$2.24-billion third-quarter loss, told fixed-income managers to cut 2007 bonuses by an average of 40 percent, according to two people briefed on the matter. Payments may fall by as much as 80 percent for traders who specialize in the mortgage bonds and collateralized debt obligations that posted the steepest losses, said the people, who declined to be named because the decisions aren't public. Bonuses may drop 20 percent for interest-rate traders and 60 percent in the New York-based firm's corporate bond unit, the sources said, according to Bloomberg News. Chief Executive Officer John Thain, who took over from Stan O'Neal on December 1, said he will reward good performers while cutting payouts for people who caused losses. He has to placate investors by trimming wages while making sure the most valuable employees don't leave, said Russ Gerson, head of New York-based recruiting firm Gerson Group. On Wall Street,

AFP - Oil prices fell on Monday as market participants fretted over the outlook for the US economy amid fears a potential economic slowdown could dampen oil demand.

Britain's biggest sporting goods retailer has reported a big drop in pre-tax profits and warned there is more to follow - thanks to the England football team.

Stocks opened lower Monday, continuing a selloff spurred by Friday's higher inflation reading.

Lobster catches are down for many fishermen off southwestern Nova Scotia, but the price at the wharf is better than expected.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures on Monday pointed to a lower start on Wall Street as Moody's Investors Services warned it could lower bond insurer credit ratings because of subprime losses and Alan Greenspan warned of a possible U.S. recession.

The nonresidential property market had, until recently, resisted the bug that hit housing. But things are changing quickly.

Centro shares drop by 76 per cent Banks forced to write off billions Aussie investors caught off guard

AFP - Oil prices fell as the market tracked fresh concerns about the US economy, with fears that a slowdown in the United States could dampen demand for crude, traders said Monday.

If you've been thinking about buying a new high-definition flat-screen television, there may be no better time than now. Prices have fallen sharply, even in the past year. So called "full high definition" screens once found only on top models now appear on many mid-range ones.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- A measure of purchasing managers index for the euro-zone fell to 53.3 in December from 54.1 in November after drops in both the manufacturing and services sectors. The manufacturing PMI fell to 52.5 in December from 52.8 in November, a drop that wasn't as steep as forecast. The services PMI fell to 53.2 from 54.1, a bigger drop than forecast.

Russia said it had delivered the first shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station but a senior Iranian official rejected Moscow's call for Tehran to drop its own enrichment programme

A local economics scholar is warning that Taiwan's IT industry is currently facing three big challenges, resulting from a lack of innovation in research and development, heavy reliance on foreign technologies and a drop in companies' added-value within the industry.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A home-buyer's market is a beautiful thing when you are eyeing the house of your dreams, your appetite whetted by this year's nationwide drop in home prices. Add to this a free incentive by the seller, such as a finished basement or a flat-screen TV, and you may be tempted to close the deal sooner than you should.

SHARES in BHP Billiton have plunged today after the company suspended the $US10 billion ($11.63 billion) buyback of its London-listed stock and Rio Tinto stock has also fallen hard.