IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Lingering risks

European Central Bank Governing Council member Christian Noyer said yesterday the recent crisis in financial markets had revealed lingering risks to financial stability.

"Cross-border links between markets are closer than ever, yet the current crisis is revealing the persistent nature of the risks to financial stability," Noyer told a conference hosted by the Bank of France and attended by Bank of Japan officials.

More IPOs

NASDAQ Stock Market Inc, which runs the second-largest US stock exchange, said on Monday that it listed more US initial public offerings in 2007 than any other US exchange.

Bragging rights over listings are fiercely contested by NASDAQ and its main US rival NYSE Euronext, which argues that it dominated new US offerings based on market capitalization.

Record price

Gold rose to a record in London and New York as higher crude oil and a weaker dollar spurred demand for the metal as a hedge against inflation.

Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as $17.84, or 2.1 percent, to $876 an ounce in London, exceeding the previous record of $868.89 set Jan. 3. The metal traded at $873.40 as of 9:47 am in London. Gold for February delivery rose as much as $16.80, or 2 percent, to $878.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Unexpected rise

German manufacturing orders unexpectedly rose by 3.4 percent on the month in November, boosted by an above-average number of big-ticket items, preliminary Economy Ministry data showed yesterday.

The seasonally adjusted gain easily outstripped all forecasts in a Reuters poll of 34 economists. The mid-range forecast was for a decline of 1.8 percent ECONDE, with predictions ranging from -4.8 percent to +0.7 percent.

Norwegian acquisition

Microsoft Corp agreed to buy Norwegian online-search software maker Fast Search & Transfer ASA for 6.6 billion kroner ($1.23 billion) as it adds products that help companies mine information on the Internet.

Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, will pay 19 kroner for each Fast Search share, the Oslo-based company said.

Listing closer

Denmark moved a step further in its plan to list oil, gas and electricity group DONG Energy on the Copenhagen bourse yesterday, saying it would launch an initial public offering with a prospectus in the coming weeks.

The IPO, which analysts say could value the group at up to 80 billion Danish crowns ($15.78 billion), is expected to be a sale of shares to Danish institutional and private investors, as well as to international institutional investors, DONG said in a statement.

Imperial extension

Britain's Imperial Tobacco Group Plc is extending its offer period for Franco-Spanish cigarette maker Altadis to January 18 to allow shareholders more time after the Christmas and New Year holiday.

The offer period had originally been set to run to January 11, but will be extended to the maximum of 70 days under Spanish takeover rules, or until January 20, but as that date is a Sunday the offer period will close on Friday January 18.

New sources sought

Southwest Airlines Co, the US carrier that is paring capacity growth for the second time in 35 years, must find $1 billion in annual revenue from new sources before it adds flights at a quicker pace, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said.

Once the biggest low-cost airline hits its target, "I'm hopeful we'll be able to grow at levels that we're all used to," Kelly said. "Until we do, there's no reason to continue to grow."

Agencies

(China Daily 01/09/2008 page17)