Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word rising. 22 news.

NEW YORK -- Wall Street extended last week's losses Monday as investors remained concerned about flagging growth and rising prices, and were skeptical that a special Federal Reserve credit auction will be a solution.

CHINA Pacific Insurance (Group) Co, the nation's third-largest insurer, raised 30 billion yuan (US$4.1 billion) in its Shanghai initial public offering yesterday, the second-biggest mainland share sale by a Chinese insurance company. Pacific Insurance, 19.9 percent owned by companies controlled by funds managed by the Carlyle Group, sold one billion new shares at 30 yuan each, the top end of a range, according to a sale document. Investors are piling into China's IPOs, seeking an escape from a secondary stock market disturbed by concerns about rising domestic interest rates and other government measures to cool growth in the world's fastest-growing major economy. "Chinese investors still have a lot of appetite for insurance stocks, since there will be only three companies traded domestically," said Ke Shifeng, who helps oversee about US$5 billion of Greater China assets for Martin Currie Investment Management in Shanghai. "The IPO market remains red-hot unlike the

CHINA will eliminate export tax rebates on major grains as part of a series of measures to ensure domestic supplies are adequate and to control rising food prices. Tax rebates on wheat, rice, soybeans and corn will be eliminated from December 20, according the Website of the central government yesterday. China's food costs gained 18.2 percent last month, pushing inflation to the highest in 11 years. The government has sold corn and vegetable oil from state reserves and asked local authorities to boost emergency stockpiles to ensure stability, according to Bloomberg News. "This is bearish for local wheat and corn markets as it adds a few million tons to supply," said Zhao Qiang, research manager at Tianqi Futures Co in Harbin. "The effect on global markets will be small as China's exports are limited." China shipped 4.9 million tons of corn and 1.2 million tons of rice overseas in the first 11 months of this year.

PETROCHINA Co, the nation's biggest oil company, will start expanding an ethylene plant in northeast China's Daqing at the end of this month to tap rising chemical demand. The annual capacity of the plant will be doubled to 1.2 million metric tons, the largest in the country, parent China National Petroleum Corp said in its online newsletter China Oil News yesterday. It didn't give an investment figure or the completion date for the project. China plans to more than triple the annual capacity of ethylene to 18.13 million tons by 2010, Bloomberg News reported. PetroChina will raise its ethylene capacity to seven million tons a year by 2010 from 2.63 million tons last year, Liu Jie, deputy chief economic adviser at the firm's chemicals and market unit, said on May 24.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank by value, aims to start three new funds on the Chinese mainland next year as it taps into the country's rising demand for investment products. "We will see a strong growth and I would be surprised if we didn't see at least US$2 billion of new funds flowing in," Rudolf Apenbrink, chief executive officer of HSBC Investments Hong Kong Ltd, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. HSBC already manages three funds worth US$1.5 billion on the mainland under the joint venture HSBC Jintrust Fund Management Co. It expects to receive regulatory approval for its fourth fund soon and will apply for the qualified domestic institutional investment, or QDII, quota in May, Apenbrink said. Financial companies, including banks, fund managers and insurers, invest abroad using QDII quotas. To cope with managing more funds, HSBC Jintrust plans to recruit as many as 20 new employees next year, Apenbrink said. The company has about 100 employees.

An overhaul at Ebay planned for next year could revive the company's flagging growth, while also strengthening John Donahoe's standing as the likely eventual successor to CEO Meg Whitman

ASIAN stocks fell the most in four months, led by Samsung Electronics Co and HSBC Holdings Plc, on concern accelerating inflation will limit interest-rate cuts, threatening global growth. Samsung declined the most in three weeks. HSBC and Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd paced losses in Hong Kong, where interest rates track those set by the Federal Reserve, after United States consumer prices rose the most since 2005. Centro Properties Group plummeted 76 percent in Sydney after the owner of US shopping malls said it was struggling to refinance debt. "Sentiment in the region is getting worse," said David Ng, who helps manage US$954 million at Hwang-DBS Asset Management Sdn in Kuala Lumpur. "First we had slowing US growth; now add on inflation fears. That makes for a bad combination." The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 2.9 percent to 152.28 as of 6:49pm in Tokyo, its sharpest decline since August 17, Bloomberg News said. The benchmark is set for its lowest annual gain

WHEAT rose above US$10 a bushel for the first time yesterday, leading other grains and oilseeds higher in a food price spiral that threatens global economic growth. Chicago wheat futures jumped as much as 30 US cents, or 3.1 percent, to US$10.09 as dry weather threatened crops in Argentina, renewing concern that the world's farmers may not be able to grow enough to meet rising demand for bread, pasta and livestock feed. Rice also advanced to a record, while soybeans reached the highest price in 34 years and corn reached a nine-month peak, said Bloomberg News. Rising prices of food and fuel are stoking inflation and making it more difficult for central bankers to lower interest rates. Kellogg Co, the largest United States cereal maker, General Mills Inc, Nissin Food Products Co and Kikkoman Corp are among companies that have raised prices. "We are seeing a broad-based increase in cost pressures," Brian Redican, senior economist at Macquarie Group Ltd, said from

INGERSOLL-RAND Co, the maker of Thermo King refrigerated trucks, has agreed to buy Trane Inc for US$10.1 billion in cash and stock to gain cooling systems for transportation and buildings. Ingersoll-Rand will pay US$36.50 in cash and 0.23 of a share for Trane, the Bermuda-based company said, according to Bloomberg News. That values the New Jersey-based air-conditioner maker's shares at US$47.81 based on Friday's closing price. Ingersoll-Rand will take on US$150 million of debt. Chief Executive Officer Herbert Henkel said the purchase of the air-conditioner maker will create a company with US$17 billion of sales, more than half coming from the heating and cooling business. Ingersoll-Rand this month completed the sale of its Bobcat construction-machinery unit, shifting its focus to refrigeration systems amid rising trade in frozen foods. "The market for transporting food is very strong," Sanjay Jha, a London-based analyst at Pali International, said in an interview.

Because of rising demand for ethanol, American farmers are growing more corn than at any time since World War II. And sea life in the Gulf of Mexico is paying the price.

Reuters - Stocks opened lower on Monday as investors worried that rising inflation and signs of holiday retail weakness darkened the outlook for the economy.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks opened lower on Monday as investors worried that rising inflation and signs of holiday retail weakness darkened the outlook for the economy.

Reuters - Stock index futures signaled a lower open on Monday as investors worried that rising inflation and signs of holiday retail weakness darkened the outlook for the economy.

Rising oil futures were a factor in driving up and sustaining igher than normal fuel prices. Rising commodities prices will drive up food prices. I am concerned that we will be competing with the world for our food supplies. This will lead to interesting times ahead.

The rupee's 11% gain against the dollar has driven U.S. and European retailers to switch their orders to countries with weaker currencies

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Citigroup downgraded U.K. beverage can maker Rexam to hold from buy, citing rising oil and energy costs as well as weakening demand in parts of its plastic packaging division. "Plastic packaging has seen growth in healthcare and dispensing systems but more recently home and personal care markets have softened," Citigroup said. The broker also cut its target price to 440 pence from 575 pence.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian share markets, already ragged after five months of turmoil, fell deeper on Monday as rising U.S. inflation and high oil prices fanned concerns the Federal Reserve may be unable to make deeper rate cuts to prevent a possible recession.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Despite falling home values and rising gas bills, consumers still managed to dip into their wallets for iPods, BlackBerrys and frequent online shopping excursions.

Despite having low income tax growth, coupled with rising materials and health care costs, Dayton city officials plan to boost next year's budget by $2 million.

THE stock market slumped more than 3 per cent in afternoon trading, amid concerns some local companies are being hurt by rising borrowing costs.