Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with word index. 24 news.

UNITED States Internet sales rose at the slowest pace on record as discounts cut revenue in the final days of the holiday shopping season. Online spending from November 1 through December 21 increased 19 percent from the same period a year earlier to $26.3 billion, Reston, Virginia-based ComScore Inc said yesterday. Sales trailed last year's 26 percent growth and the research firm's forecast for a 20 percent gain during this year's holidays, Bloomberg News said. Consumers have limited spending growth this year as gasoline and food prices rise and mortgage defaults increase. The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment for December dropped to 75.5, the lowest since October 2005. "This year will be the year of the discount," Fred Crawford, managing director at AlixPartners LLP, told Bloomberg Television on December 21. AlixPartners is a consulting firm based in Southfield, Michigan. ComScore hasn't recorded growth of less than 20 percent since

SOUTH Korea's consumer confidence declined from a five-year high, signaling spending may slow and crimp growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy. The sentiment index fell to 106 in the fourth quarter, the lowest in three quarters, from 112, the Bank of Korea said yesterday in a report in Seoul. A reading higher than 100 indicates optimists outnumber pessimists. The benchmark Kospi index of stocks has fallen eight percent from a November 1 record of 2,085.45 on concern US subprime-related losses would slow the global economy. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc this month cut its 2008 growth forecast for South Korea to 4.6 percent from 4.7 percent, Bloomberg News reported. "Consumers were probably very worried by the US subprime crisis," said Lee Sung Kwon, an economist at Good Morning Shinhan Securities Co in Seoul. The yield on a five-year government bond rose two basis points to 5.87 percent in Seoul and the won gained 0.1 percent to 939.65 versus the dollar. The

ASIAN stocks rose for a second day, led by electronics makers, after consumer spending increased more than forecast in the United States, the region's biggest export market. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, maker of iPods for Apple Inc, and Samsung Electronics Co climbed to the highest in more than a week. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced the most in three weeks last Friday after the report on November spending eased concern about recession in the world's biggest economy. "US shares showed firm gains, and we're seeing the influence in shares today (yesterday)," said Kim Jae Dong, who oversees the equivalent of US$8.6 billion at Korea Investment Trust Management Co in Seoul. BHP Billiton Ltd led an increase among miners after metals prices climbed, and a UK regulator set a deadline for a formal takeover bid for Rio Tinto Group. The MSCI Asia Pacific, excluding Japan Index, rose two percent to 524.1 as of 3:38pm in Hong Kong, with all 10 industry groups climbing.

SHARES in Shanghai closed higher yesterday for the fourth consecutive session as transactions grew, boosted by investors building up positions in this year's last week of trading in hopes of a bullish 2008. Shares of PetroChina and brokers led the gain in the key index. The Shanghai Composite Index, tracking yuan-denominated A shares and hard currency B chips, jumped 132.48 points, or 2.6 percent, to end at 5,234.26. It was the index's longest winning streak in nearly two months during which the market underwent correction on concerns of overvaluation. The A share barometer rose 2.6 percent while the B share gauge gained 1.32 percent. Transactions soared nearly 40 percent yesterday from last Friday to more than 140 billion yuan (US$19 billion). Gainers outpaced decliners by 641 to 116 with another 116 shares unchanged. "The market is still bullish as the fundamentals haven't changed. The listed firms' growth might be slowing a little but the momentum is still there,"

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks finished higher in Monday's shortened trading session, aided by a flurry of M&A deals that included a $2.7 billion sale by Alcoa Inc. of its packaging and consumer businesses. In preliminary closing figures, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 106 points to 13,555, the S&P 500 Index gained 12 points to end at 1,497 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 22 points to 2,713, with shares of Apple Inc. approaching the $200-a share mark. Apple's stock ended up 2.8% at $198.80.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Gold futures rose for a second straight trading day on Monday as the dollar fell against a basket of other major currencies. Copper futures rose for a fourth day. Gold futures for February delivery rose $1.1, or 0.1%, to $816.5 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper futures for March delivery rallied 5.6 cents, or 1.8%, to $3.1535 a pound. Copper has risen more than 10% since Dec. 19. The dollar index, which tracks the value of the dollar against a basket of other major currencies, fell for a second day, down 0.2% at 77.57. A weaker dollar tends to increase the appeal of dollar-denominated gold as an investment haven.

If you chose to invest in shares this year and selected Europe as your venue, you probably are licking your wounds right now. Whether you invested through mutual funds, ETFs or picked your own stocks, Europe's exchanges were badly burned by the credit crunch that followed the American subprime mortgage meltdown. London's leading index, the FTSE-100, has returned 4% this year, the Dow Jones Europe gained 6% and France's CAC-40 did much of nothing. The leading Swiss index lost 3% and Sweden's fell 6%. At least Germany stood out from pack, with a 21% leap this year. ...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline stocks took an early turn into positive territory Monday, led by 3% gains for American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways Group . The Amex Airlines Index was ahead 1.5% in early trades at 37.04 points, drawing strength from lower fuel prices to outpace a 0.6% rise in the broader equities market. Volume is likely to be light in the shortened pre-holiday session, which wraps it all up ahead of Christmas at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks opened mixed in thin pre-holiday trade Monday, with a decline in crude-oil futures keeping the sector from participating in a move higher by the broader market. Early trades saw the Amex Oil Index rise 0.2% to 1,550 points, edging slightly into record-high territory, while the Philadelphia Oil Service Index pulled back 0.4% and the Amex Natural Gas Index slipped 0.2% to 579.5 points. Crude for February delivery was last down 47 cents at $92.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar ticked higher against the yen while losing ground against the euro Monday, but remained in recent ranges in extremely thin trading ahead of the Christmas holiday. "The U.S. economic calendar is empty on Monday, and we expect the greenback to remain rangebound through the morning session," wrote currency analysts at Action Economics. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 77.595, compared with 77.730 late Friday. The euro was trading at $1.4396, up from $1.4356 late Friday, while the pound was at $1.9773, down from $1.9810. Against Japan's currency, the dollar was buying 114.29 yen, up from 114.06 yen Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Technology stocks up slightly Monday morning with Microsoft Corp. and newcomer NetSuite Inc. gaining more than 1%. The Nasdaq Composite Index , the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index were up fractionally. The Dow was ahead more than 60 points.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks opened higher Monday, with shares of blue-chip index component Alcoa Inc. up more than 1.6% after the aluminum giant agreed to sell its packaging and consumer businesses for $2.7 billion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 59 points, or 0.4%, at 13,509.39. The broader S&P 500 Index rose 5 points, or 0.3%, to 1,489.06 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,697.17. Trading will end early, at 1 p.m. Eastern in observance of the Christmas holiday.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Retail shares headed higher Monday, with Macy's Inc. among the gainers. The S&P Retail Index rose 0.62% to 415.32. Macy's shares rose 1.7%. Target Corp. shares gained 1.7% after Pershing Square, the hedge fund group run by William Ackman, said in a regulatory filing Monday it has boosted its stake in Target.

SAN FRANCISCO(MarketWatch) -- Gold futures were little changed on Monday ahead of the Christmas holiday. Gold futures for February delivery were last up $1.4, or 0.2%, at $816.8 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures rose to an intraday high of $817.5 earlier. In currencies trading, the dollar were slightly lower against a basket of other major currencies. The dollar index was last down 0.2% at 77.58.

All the sectoral indices, too, rallied sharply today. The BSE IT index zoomed over 6% (261 points) to 4582. The BSE Bankex, Power, PSU and TECk indices moved up 3-5% each today.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Monday, lifted by news Merrill Lynch plans to sell a lending unit and with investors eyeing retailers as the busy holiday shopping season draws to a close.

Reuters - Stock index futures rose on Monday, lifted by news Merrill Lynch plans to sell a lending unit and with investors eyeing retailers as the busy holiday shopping season draws to a close.

SHANGHAI stocks rose for a fourth day today, pushing the index to its highest close in more than a month since November 21. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, jumped 1.37 percent, or 132.48 points, to close at 5,234.26 at 3pm today. The Shanghai index opened at 5,132.91 at 9:30am today, 31.13 points higher than its close at 5,101.78 at 3pm last Friday. Winners in the Shanghai market outnumbered losers 647 to 113 and 86 were unchanged. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which covers the smaller mainland stock market, gained 1.72 percent, or 23.69 points, to 1,399.58. Consumer-related stocks including Suning Appliance Co and Gree Electric Appliances Inc gained after the government said it plans to subsidize farmers' purchases of electrical appliances. Suning Appliances, China's second-biggest home-device retailer, gained 3.76 percent, or 2.47 yuan (34 US cents), to 68.12 yuan. Gree Electric Appliances Inc, China's

Britain's top share index has risen in a shortened Christmas Eve trading session as banks regained ground and as generally firmer raw materials prices lifted commodity shares.

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) - The key London share index rose a bit in pre-Christmas trading, with the major banks actively traded and higher.