While you were sleeping: BusinessWire weekend wrap

Monday 17th November 2008

Leaders from the Group of 20 nations agreed to joint efforts to strengthen the global economy but stopped short of specifics after their weekend meeting in Washington.

The G-20 set a deadline of March for submissions on how to strengthen oversight of accounting, derivatives, hedge funds and credit rating agencies.

Chinese President Hu Jintao told leaders at the meeting that his nation can help underpin global growth by helping stoke growth at home. China last week announced a US$586 billion financial stimulus package.

In the US auto industry, the head of the United Auto Workers, Ron Gettelfinger, has added his voice to calls for financial aid for the industry soon. Automakers may receive US$25 billion out of the US$700 billion aid package approved by the Congress.

Still, in a complication to the process, Senator Richard Shelby, the leading Republican on the Banking Committee said he opposed extending funding to automakers and that it was a natural process for companies to fail and be replaced by others.

President-elect Barack Obama said the Congress should extend benefits for the unemployed after government figures showed people on jobless welfare is at the highest since 1983.

"If Congress does not pass an immediate plan that gives the economy the boost it needs, I will make it my first order of business as president," Obama said in a radio address.

Stocks tumbled on Wall Street on Friday, rounding out their second weekly slide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3.8% to 8497.31 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 4.2% to 873.29. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5% to 1516.85. Intel, Home Depot and JPMorgan Chase all fell more than 7%. General Motors gained 2% to US$3.01.

Stocks rose in Europe on Friday but still managed to chalk up their second straight losing week.

Germany's DAX 30 climbed 1.3% to 4710.240 led by
Shares in auto components company Continental soared 27% amid talk Porsche and bearings maker Schaeffler would team up to acquire Continental. A spokesman for Porsche reported scotched the reports. RWE and Allianz also advanced.

France's CAC 40 rose 0.7% to 3291.47. The UK's FTSE 100 was up 1.5% to 861.50, led by Man Group, Prudential and Standard Chartered.

Pakistan agreed to a US$7.6 billion emergency loan from the IMF by way of a 23-month standby credit facility.

Iceland reached agreement with the UK and the Netherlands to repay depositors in the online banking unit of failed lender Landsbanki Islands.

An agreement may allow Iceland to secure a US$6 billion loan led by the International Monetary Fund, which had withheld its contribution pending pledges from other donors.

The world's biggest mutual fund, Fidelity Investments, announced plans to cut a further 1,700 jobs on Friday. Citigroup plans to cut about 10% of its global workforce, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The cuts could result in a loss of roughly 35,000 jobs and be in addition to 23,000 jobs Citigroup has already cut this year.

Gold futures gained about 5% on Friday ahead of the G-20 meeting. Spot gold rose 1.6% to US$746.65 an ounce.

Crude oil fell more than US$1 a barrel on speculation slowing global growth will erode demand for fuel. Crude oil for December delivery fell 2.1% to $57.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The yen rose against the euro and the dollar, chalking up its second week of gains as falling global stocks spurred investors to reduce holdings of higher-yielding assets funded with loans in Japan's currency.

Comments from our readers

No comments yet