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CA-BUSINESS Summary

30/12/08

Global shares put in year-end rally

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil and gold prices eased on Tuesday after recent price spikes related to violence in the Middle East, while the dollar fell against major currencies and stocks were generally higher. It was the last trading day of the year for some financial markets. Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> closed with a 42 percent loss for 2008, the worst in its 58-year history.

U.S. puts up $6 billion to support auto lender GMAC

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Monday expanded its bailout of the U.S. auto industry, saying it was buying $5 billion in equity in auto and mortgage finance company GMAC and increasing a loan to General Motors by $1 billion. The action was the latest in a lengthy series of emergency government moves aimed at easing the worst credit crisis since the 1930s and limiting the severity of a year-long recession.

Global growth seen weak as Japan mulls fresh aid

LONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Global growth will be very weak next year, a senior European banker warned on Tuesday, while Japan reportedly considered a $110 billion scheme to buy bad loans from banks, the latest in a series of government moves aimed at fighting the worst downturn since the 1930s. Japanese stocks finished modestly higher on their last trading day of 2008, capping a grim year which saw the Nikkei index plunge 42 percent, the biggest loss in its 58-year history, as recession fears battered global markets.

Oil falls below $40 on grim economic outlook

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell below $40 a barrel on Tuesday, pressured by gloom about prospects for world economic growth which outweighed heightened tensions in the Middle East due to the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Prices had jumped as much as 12 percent on Monday after Israel launched its fiercest air offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza strip in decades.

Toronto index soars on commodity strength

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index jumped nearly 4 percent on Monday, led by resource producers, as oil and gold prices rallied on Middle East violence. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> rose 326.74 points, or 3.9 percent, to close at 8,637.29.

Innovation says to contest Allstate's C$75 million claim

(Reuters) - Software firm Innovation Group said on Tuesday Allstate Insurance Co of Canada had initiated a C$75 million lawsuit against it related to a customised software, but rejected the claim terming it "speculative in the extreme and without foundation." Innovation, also an insurance outsourcing specialist, said the legal proceedings related to the design, development and implementation of customised software for Allstate's new policy management system by its Canadian unit Innovation Group (Canada) Ltd.

Kerkorian sells off Ford shares at deep loss

DETROIT (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian has sold off all of his remaining shares of Ford Motor Co , completing a retreat from a high-profile stake in the No. 2 U.S. automaker that cost him hundreds of millions of dollars. A spokeswoman for Kerkorian's investment firm, Tracinda Corp, said that the firm's remaining Ford shares had been sold. A spokesman for Ford had no comment on the development.

Oz Minerals gets bank lifeline as assets go on block

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Oz Minerals, which mines industrial and precious metals in Australia and Laos, was given another two months to persuade lenders to refinance $560 million in debt as it tries to raise cash by selling assets to combat sharp falls in metals prices. The company, whose shares were suspended November 28 after dropping 85 percent from their January price, was due by the end of Monday to refinance a $140 million loan and a syndicated credit line of which $420 million has been drawn.

Congress to examine Madoff case on Monday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers will take their first close look next Monday at financier Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud and why the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to discover the scandal. Information gleaned from the hearing will help guide Congress as it attempts to reform laws regulating the U.S. financial system, said Rep. Paul Kanjorski, a Pennsylvania Democrat and chairman of the House capital markets subcommittee.

Barclays says Dow-Rohm and Haas deal may not be hurt

(Reuters) - Dow Chemical's plan to buy rival Rohm and Haas may not be affected by Kuwait's decision to scrap a deal to form a $17.4 billion petrochemical joint venture with Dow, an analyst at Barclays Capital said. The Rohm and Haas transaction is fully financed by a one-year syndicated bridge loan and convertible preferred investments by billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and the Kuwait Investment Authority, analyst Sergey Vasnetsov said.

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