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Reuters Canada Business Summary

29/10/07

Oracle withdraws BEA offer as deadline expires

BOSTON (Reuters) - Oracle Corp withdrew a $6.7 billion bid for business software maker BEA Systems Inc on Sunday, setting the stage for a proxy battle between activist investor Carl Icahn and the BEA board. The world's No.3 software maker pulled the $17-per-share bid after a deadline lapsed with no sign BEA had budged from its view that it was worth $21 a share, or $8.2 billion in total.

Oil leaps to record over $93 on Mexico

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil leapt to a record high for a third day on Monday, surpassing $93 as Mexico briefly halted one-fifth of its production and the U.S. dollar struck new lows. U.S. crude, which hit a high of $93.20 a barrel earlier, was up 97 cents at $92.82 by 5:22 a.m. EDT. London Brent, which hit a record high $90, was up 91 cents at $89.60.

Toshiba up on chips, power systems, lifts outlook

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese electronics group Toshiba Corp <6502.T> posted a 38 percent rise in quarterly operating profit on Monday, thanks to sales of its flash memory chips and thermal power plants, and it raised its full-year outlook closer to market estimates. The world's No.2 maker of NAND flash memory chips after South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> has so far benefited from solid demand and prices for flash memory and its system chips, used by clients such as Apple Inc and Nokia in their digital music players and cellphones.

New highs for stocks and oil

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks hit a record high on Monday and the dollar plumbed an all-time low versus the euro and a basket of major currencies as investors bet the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this week. A wilting dollar coupled with a brief halt to one-fifth of Mexico's production fired up oil prices, sending U.S. crude above $93 a barrel for the first time. Gold rode on the coat-tails of oil to a 28-year high of $792.60 an ounce and other base metals such as copper also firmed on the weak dollar.

Merrill board weighs fate of CEO

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As Merrill Lynch & Co Inc's board deliberates the fate of Chairman and Chief Executive Stan O'Neal, a leading contender for the job on Sunday said he is not aware of being a candidate. Meanwhile, Merrill's board has reached a broad consensus to remove O'Neal as chairman and CEO, The New York Times reported on Sunday. Merrill Lynch declined comment. The newspaper said details remain to be worked out, including who will take over and what the timing of O'Neal's departure will be.

Bombardier says disappointed with SAS decision

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc. said on Sunday it was disappointed with a decision by Scandinavian airline SAS to permanently discontinue flight operations with Bombardier Q400 aircraft. SAS said it would stop using Dash 8 Q400 aircraft after a series of crash landings, the latest on Saturday in Copenhagen.

Blackstone to name Nassetta as Hilton's CEO: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity firm Blackstone Group is expected to name Host Hotels & Resorts Inc chief executive Christopher Nassetta as president and CEO of its recently acquired Hilton Hotels Corp, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The newspaper said Nassetta will leave his post as head of the largest U.S. hotel real estate investment trust to lead Hilton after a four-to-six week transition period.

Dollar hits 33-year low vs Canadian dollar on oil

TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar hit a 33-year low against the Canadian dollar on Monday as a surge in oil prices lifted the currencies of commodity producers against the battered U.S. currency. The dollar fell to C$0.9586 on the Reuters dealing system, down 0.3 percent from U.S. trade late last week. The fall took the dollar's trade-weighted index against six major currencies to a record low of 76.874.

Hot currency sparks trial by fire

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Canadian companies have been reporting sturdy third-quarter profits, but the country's red-hot dollar is a trial by fire for those firms whose operating costs are in Canadian dollars. The currency reached parity with the U.S. dollar in late September and notched a fresh 33-year high against it on Friday. It closed at US$1.0393, making a U.S. dollar worth 96.22 Canadian cents.

Budget surplus surges amid tax-cut promise

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada ran a budget surplus of C$911 million ($949 million) in August, almost double that of the same month last year, on higher revenue from the sales tax and corporate income tax, the Department of Finance said on Friday. In the first five months of the fiscal year from April to August, Ottawa posted a surplus of C$8.68 billion, up 20.6 percent from a year earlier.

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