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CA-BUSINESS Summary

29/11/09

Euro zone sees no default spillover from Dubai woes

NANJING, China (Reuters) - The euro zone does not risk the sort of debt problems plaguing Dubai, senior European Union officials said on Sunday. Dubai was forced to seek a debt standstill last week, rocking global markets and reviving concerns about the fiscal health of some euro zone members, notably Greece.

Black Friday sales up 0.5 percent: ShopperTrak

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Black Friday sales rose just 0.5 percent to $10.66 billion after rising 3 percent in 2008, ShopperTrak said on Saturday, a rise that may disappoint investors who had expected retailers to see a bigger boost this year. ShopperTrak, which measures customer traffic, said shopper traffic was heavy throughout the country on Friday, the kickoff of the holiday shopping season after U.S. Thanksgiving Day.

Dubai World refused distress-asset sale: report

DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai World has refused to offload assets at fire-sale prices to repay obligations, forcing it to seek a debt standstill, a newspaper report on Sunday quoted an unnamed source at the government-controlled firm as saying. Stocks from Tokyo to New York have been haunted by concern that banks were exposed to state companies in Dubai, though world leaders expressed confidence in the global economic recovery on Friday despite the fears.

TSX makes slim gain as Dubai fears recede

TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index ended up 0.2 percent in a see-saw session on Friday as gains in financial stocks overcame investor jitters over a possible debt default by a state-owned Dubai conglomerate. Royal Bank of Canada was the biggest heavyweight gainer of the session, up 1.5 percent at C$56.70. Toronto-Dominion Bank was up 0.5 percent at C$66.19, and Bank of Nova Scotia rose 0.6 percent to C$48.18.

EnCana shareholders approve company split

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - EnCana Corp's investors on Wednesday approved a plan to split Canada's No. 2 independent petroleum producer into independent oil and natural gas businesses, completing a move first mulled more than a year ago but delayed by the financial crisis. Shareholders voted 99 percent in favor of the transaction, through which EnCana will spin off its oil sands operations into a new company called Cenovus Energy Inc and retain its natural gas production business, the largest in Canada.

Dodge says rates can stay low through 2015

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada could keep its benchmark interest rate accommodative through 2015 to offset fiscal restraint by the government, which must hike taxes to balance its budget, former central bank chief David Dodge said on Friday. In point-form notes for a speech he was delivering at a business forum in Lake Louise, Alberta, Dodge backed the plan by his successor, Governor Mark Carney, to hold interest rates at near zero until mid-2010 but said the bank could back away from "unconventional initiatives".

EU business calls on WTO to speed up Doha talks

GENEVA (Reuters) - European businesses, growing frustrated at slow progress in the World Trade Organization's Doha round, called on Sunday for the WTO to tackle the negotiation at next week's conference. The WTO is holding a ministerial conference from Monday to Wednesday, but negotiations on Doha, launched eight years ago to open markets and help developing countries grow through trade, are off the agenda.

Euro zone calls for gradual, orderly rise in yuan

NANJING, China (Reuters) - A gradual, orderly rise in the yuan against all major floating currencies is in the interest both of China and of the world economy, senior euro zone officials said on Sunday. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, said he understood why China had halted the appreciation of its currency during the global credit crunch.

Rail strike would hurt Canada farmers, exporters

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A strike at Canada's biggest railway would interrupt a busy period for transporting grain across one of the world's top exporting countries, and could ring up costs to farmers and grain exporters. Negotiators from Canadian National Railway , the country biggest railway, and the union representing 1,700 locomotive engineers, met on Friday in hopes of averting a strike scheduled to begin on Saturday.

Black Friday sales barely up, online surges

CHICAGO (Reuters) - In a worrisome sign for retailers, data released on Saturday showed that sales rose a scant 0.5 percent on the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season despite early signs of a strong showing. A focus on bargains pulled shoppers into stores and onto websites over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but many said they would stick to their budgets and avoid purchases if they could not find a good deal.

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