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CA-BUSINESS Summary

18/11/08

Toronto index set to fall as sour mood persists

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index is expected to fall on Tuesday as the price of oil drifted lower and as the state of the world economy continues to weigh on sentiment. With little news on the domestic front, Toronto stocks may look to the price of oil and rescue plans in the United States for market direction.

HP preliminary results beat, shares jump

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co posted stronger-than-expected preliminary quarterly results and gave a full-year profit forecast that also beat Wall Street estimates despite the weak global economy, sending shares up 11 percent. HP, the world's largest-maker of personal computers, is benefiting from its global reach, diverse customer base, as well as cost initiatives, Chief Executive Mark Hurd said in a statement.

Oil retreats towards $54 after brief bounce

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell back toward $54 a barrel on Tuesday, setting a new near 22-month low as the gloomy outlook for the world economy helped extinguish a brief rally. U.S. light crude oil for December delivery was 55 cents lower at $54.40 a barrel by 1029 GMT. It touched a new 22-month low of $54.13, its lowest since January 2007.

Search is on for new Yahoo CEO after Yang steps down

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc said Jerry Yang will step down as chief executive as soon as the board finds a replacement, sending its shares up 4 percent on hopes his departure will clear the way for a deal with Microsoft. Yang -- who will return to his former role as Chief Yahoo, focusing on strategy and technology -- tried to carve an independent strategy for Yahoo and was blamed when Microsoft Corp walked away from an offer to buy the company earlier this year.

Banks and economy hit stocks, oil slides

LONDON (Reuters) - Global shares fell again on Tuesday, battered by growing prospects of a deep global recession and one of the biggest job cut plans in history at Citigroup. Wall Street looked set to open with relatively deep losses.

Ford abandons Mazda control with 20 percent stake sale

TOKYO (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co , scrambling for cash as the U.S. Big Three automakers struggle to stay alive, will end 12 years of control of Mazda Motor Corp <7261.T> through the sale of a 20 percent stake in the Japanese carmaker for around $540 million. Ford will remain Mazda's top shareholder with a stake of just over 13 percent.

IMF says more countries seek help, banks struggle

LONDON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday the number of countries seeking help to cope with a spreading economic crisis was growing every day. Japan's economy minister said recession in the world's second-biggest economy could last longer than feared. Measures of inflation fell sharply in the United States and Britain, paving the way for further interest rate cuts.

Miner Antofagasta maintains Chile investment plan: paper

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's Antofagasta Minerals , a London-listed copper miner, does not plan to slow investments in Chile due to the slowing global economy, but projects abroad may be reviewed, a company official told the Diario Financiero on Tuesday. Gonzalo Menendez, a director of the Luksic group of companies that includes Antofagasta, said review of projects abroad, like the Reko Diq copper property in Pakistan, did not mean a decision not to invest, however.

Petro-Canada defers decision on Fort Hills mine

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Petro-Canada said on Monday it will delay a final go-ahead for the mining portion of its planned C$21 billion ($17 billion) Fort Hills project, looking to the weak economy and falling oil to lower overheated costs that have plagued rival oil sand ventures. The company, Canada's No. 4 integrated oil exploration and refining firm, said it will not make a decision on proceeding with the mine until next year, instead of December as initially promised, because it expects costs to decline as oil sands projects fall by the wayside.

G20 finance ministers to meet by end-March: Canada

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Finance ministers of the Group of 20 leading developed and developing nations will meet by March 31 to follow up on the weekend's Washington summit, a senior Canadian government official said on Monday. The G20 summit communique had committed finance ministers to implement a series of high-priority actions by March 31. It did not specifically mention a ministerial meeting by then, but the official said there would be one.

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