IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Stocks slip

Asian and European stocks fell, led by banks and commodity producers as the prices of gold, copper and oil dropped. US index futures rose.

The MSCI World Index lost 0.9 percent to 1388.4 at 11:48 am in London. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.3 percent. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 0.3 percent. The United Kingdom's FTSE 100 slid 0.5 percent, and Germany's DAX was little changed. France's CAC sank 0.7 percent.

Another bailout

IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, the first German casualty of the collapse of the US subprime-mortgage market, forecast a wider loss and said it will need a fourth government bailout.

IKB fell to the lowest in at least 11 years in German trading after saying the loss will be about 800 million euros, the Dusseldorf-based lender said yesterday. KfW Group, the state-owned development bank that controls IKB, will inject another 450 million euros to shore up the lender.

Stagnation forecast

The US economy will fail to grow for the first quarter in more than six years in the three months ending in June, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicted.

The stagnation will follow an expansion of 0.1 percent this quarter from the last three months of 2007, the Paris-based agency forecast yesterday. It would be the first time since the third quarter of 2001 that the US economy hasn't grown.

FedEx profit down

FedEx Corp said profit fell for the second straight quarter and forecast a drop in the current period and "limited earnings growth next year" on rising fuel costs and lower demand for US shipments.

Net income slid 6 percent to $393 million, or $1.26 a share, from $420 million, or $1.35, a year earlier, the second-largest US package-delivery company said in a statement.

BoE offer reiterated

The Bank of England renewed an offer of emergency short-term funds to banks as Governor Mervyn King hosted a meeting of executives to try and stem a financial crisis.

The central bank sold 5 billion pounds of weekly money and will keep offering the extra funds each week until the current monthly financing period ends in April, it said in a statement.

Oil dips below $99

Crude oil fell below $99 a barrel in New York on growing concern a US economic slowdown will hurt commodity demand.

Crude oil for May delivery fell as much as $3.89, or 3.8 percent, to $98.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $99.76 at 12:56 pm London time.

Borders sale mulled

Borders Group Inc, the second-largest US bookstore chain, suspended its dividend and announced the company may sell itself after losing market share to Wal-Mart Stores Inc and online retailers.

The company's largest shareholder, Pershing Square Capital Management, agreed to lend it $42.5 million and to make an offer for some of its international businesses, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based chain said yesterday.

Dutch lender declines

Van Lanschot NV, the oldest independent Dutch bank, fell the most in almost two years in Amsterdam trading as it said financial-market turmoil will weigh on commission income this year.

Van Lanschot dropped as much as 4 percent, the most since August 2006, after it reported "fewer securities transactions by investors, in particular in the fourth quarter". The declining share prices also put pressure on the custody and asset management fees, it said.

Agencies

(China Daily 03/21/2008 page17)