IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Nissan rises

Nissan Motor Co, Japan's third-largest automaker, rose to the highest level in about two weeks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after its chief executive said the automaker's sales will increase next fiscal year on demand from emerging markets.

The stock gained 3.6 percent to 890 yen, the highest since March 12, at the 3 pm close on the exchange. Nissan, 44 percent owned by Renault SA, forecasts higher sales in Russia, China and the Middle East will counter slowing demand in the US and Japan.

Lehman downgraded

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc was downgraded to "perform" by Oppenheimer & Co's Meredith Whitney, the analyst who correctly predicted Citigroup Inc would cut its dividend this year.

A "protracted challenging capital markets environment" prompted a lowering in the recommendation from "outperform", New York-based Whitney wrote in a report dated Sunday, abandoning her price target.

'Scrap dollar peg'

Gulf states should drop their currency pegs to the dollar to ease inflation, Emirates Business 24/7 reported, citing Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, chairman of Emirates NBD PJSC, the United Arab Emirates' largest bank.

Merely revaluing Gulf currencies against the dollar won't be sufficient as the US currency is expected to decline further because of high budget deficits and military expenses, the Dubai-based newspaper cited Al Tayer as saying.

Tiffany loses sparkle

Tiffany & Co, the world's second-largest luxury-jewelry retailer, said fourth-quarter profit fell 16 percent after the company discontinued some watch styles and US sales growth slowed.

Net income declined to $118.3 million, or 89 cents a share, for the three months through Jan. 31, from $140.5 million, or $1.02, a year earlier, New York-based Tiffany said yesterday in a statement distributed on Business Wire.

Vale is good buy

Cia Vale do Rio Doce, the world's biggest iron-ore producer, was added to Goldman Sachs' "Americas Conviction Buy List" as a decline in its share price over the past month has made the stock "fairly inexpensive", said analyst Oscar Cabrera.

Vale's American depositary receipts have fallen 12 percent since Feb 20, according to Bloomberg data, compared with a 2.2 percent retreat for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

Bond purchase

Federal Home Loan Banks were freed to increase their purchase of mortgage bonds by a least $100 billion as part of an effort to bolster demand for the securities.

Directors of the Federal Housing Finance Board approved the temporary increase today, according to a statement distributed by e-mail. The purchases will be restricted to securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the board said.

Hiring slowdown

France Telecom SA will hire less than the 6,000 people it planned by the end of 2008 as it continues cutting jobs, La Tribune reported, citing trade unions.

Europe's third-largest phone company will have cut 21,400 jobs in the three years to the end of 2008, the newspaper said. The plan may cost more than the 2 billion euros first announced, according to La Tribune.

Revenue up

Deutsche Bahn AG's revenue rose 4 percent last year, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Sales increased to 31 billion euros ($47.7 billion) in 2007 while earnings before interest and tax rose slightly to 1.7 billion euros, the German newspaper said in a March 22 report, without giving year-earlier figures.

Agencies

(China Daily 03/25/2008 page16)