Asia Pacific markets --- Shobi (slow)
>> 9:12 a.m. in sydney.% weather there is partly cloudy with temperatures of 18 degrees celsius, expecting highs of 23 and low of 17. asian stocks traded in the u.s. rise. a drop in oil prices eases concern that higher fuel costs will cut economic growth. energy stocks fell. the bank of new york asia a.d.r. index rose nearly 1%. nikkei futures traded in chicago climbed, as well. shobi pereira is in tokyo with a look at the stocks to watch in japan. good morning, shobi.
>> good morning. the “nihon keizai” newspaper says international steel group seeks to acquire 52% of mitsui mining from the government’s corporate rehabilitation agency. the agency, the ircj, last year bought 52% of the stock of mitsui mining, or $192 million. the paper says international steel probably offered $10 billion yen or so. the report says there still may be other bidders. sgating to the railway, the “asahi” newspaper says that seibu railway shares may be delisted from the tokyo stock exchange as early as today because the company misrepresented the ratio of share ownership by its biggest stockholders. the report says the stock will be traded a month after the decision is made. looking at the pharmaceutical companies, acei will get exclusive rights to make and sell a hepatitis treatment from seoul and japan’s drugmaker, eisai, says they gain exclusive rights to make and develop the drug and market the product in 10 asian country, excludeing south korea. isai did not disclose the terms of the financial contract. nikon says profits rose. sales of equipment to etch computer chip circuits gained in japan and other parts of asia and the company cut its digital camera shipment target. nikon is the world’s number one maker of silicon circuits on to wafers. the company cut its digital camera shipments target for this year by 15%. similar cuts are made by alimp olympus, canon and fuji foto film as prices fall.
>> microsoft and dell say they will develop a computer program to allow business clients to update their own network servers, including a one click update for servers. the new software is scheduled to be available in january of next year as a free download for existing customers. microsoft plans to higher several hundred next year at its newly opened software development center in india. microsoft’s chief executive is visiting india this week and says they will expand their work force in india and called india a country of incredible talent, saying it’s schmidted to hiring the most capable people as fast they can. microsoft says the new hiring won’t lead to a loss of u.s. jobs. india cuts the price of gasoline after crude oil prices fall to nearly a two-month low. the drop may ease inflation after prices in india accelerated to a 3 1/2 year high in august. the price cut takes effect today general motors’ chief economist mahathir mohammad says american consumers are attracted to the technology of hybrid vehicles, rather than the fuel efficiency.
>> clearly, the demand for more fuel efficient vehicles has increased in the u.s. but i would not say the demand for hybrids is necessarily related to the change in energy prices but related to the change in technology, that toyota creates in particular, the prius has attracted many more customers but more for the technology than because it leads to lower costs.
>> the securities and exchange commission sues former hollinger international chairman conrad black, be accused of looting the company he created of more than $85 million from the sale of newspaper publishers. in a civil fraud suit, the s.e.c. names david radler and hollinger’s canadian company that black uses to control chicago-based hollinger international. the lawsuit seeks to bar black black and radler from serving as officers in other public companies. the euro falls against the dollar, pulling away from record highs. our next guest says it’s only a matter of time before the european currency starts climbing again.
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Listen Market briefing --- Mike (fast)
Walmart --- Robert (slow)
Powell --- Ron (slow)
good morning.welcome to live” from hong kong. i’m catherine yang. we’ll have more on colin powell’s decision to quit and other bush administration resignations in a few minutes. also, coming up in the next half hour, full reports from the new york stock exchange and nasdaq.% -we’ll look at the dollar’s latest moves, including comments from u.s. treasury secretary john snow and the head of a currency firm in the u.s. we’ll also hear from the man who has demonized currency traders, mahathir muhammad. and the move by iran cuts the chances that the u.s. will impose sanctions. crude oil is currently trading at $46.76 a barrel in extented trading. oil is down 16% since reaching a record on october 25. the dollar recovers losses experienced in new york trading. the dollar has lost more than 3.5% versus the euro in the past month. traders say the u.s. currency is taking a breather after falling to a record low last week. the dollar is falling on concern record u.s. trade and budget deficits will get bigger in president bush’s second term. investors also speculate the bush administration has no interest in maintaining a strong dollar policy. u.s. treasury secretary john snow failed to provide support for the dollar on monday.
>> we’ve embraced the notion that the global trading system works best when it’s built on the principles of free trade, free capital flows, open capital flows and the currency market setting the exchange value of currency.
>> the dollar, however, fell further against the yen, hitting a seven-month low. the yen resumed its advance on speculation global oil prices will bolster japan’s economy. energy stocks fell following the drop in oil prices. the dow closed up .1% and s&p was slightly lower. microsoft fell almost 9% as the company accounted for a dividend of $32 billion. investors had until last friday to buy snars and receive the payout. the dividend will be paid out to shareholders in december. the bank of new york asian a.d.r.’s fell. investors will be watching inflation data due out tomorrow for signs of whether the u.s. federal reserve will raise rates again in december. and lehman brothers raised its year-end forecast on the yield of the 10-year jgp―jgb. and wal-mart is trying to lure more customers into stores by selling higher profit items like women’s apparel. analysts say the company has to prove the strategy can work. robert gra as that story from new york. robert?
>> cathy, wal-mart chief executive lee scott is making it a priority to improve its higher margin clothing line on boost profits. analysts and investors say the company’s efforts are so far disappointing.
>> i’d like to see them do a better job of bringing in the consumer that has more disposable income and can spend a little more and get the higher average ticket price up.
>> the discount chain said this month it may have missed out on sales in the third quarter because it stocked less fall clothing as it tried to avoid marking down items. wal-mart said that move, combined with higher gasoline prices, contributed to lower sales than expected in the quarter. analysts say wal-mart’s competitors are getting consumers to buy more expensive clothing items by offering high quality brands and trendier fashions. to reverse that, wal-mart wants to improve its private brands, such as george. analysts say these brands could have profits as high as 45%. one analyst says she’s starting to see improvements.
>> one of the things they’re improving upon is the george apparel line. last year, they put it in the stores but it was kind of choppy, only a couple of racks here and there. i think they’ve taken more substantial approach with the george apparel and in putting more racks together and giving it a better exposure of the product to the consumer.
>> to better track trends, wal-mart recently opened an office in new york. analysts say if the company boosts sales in the apparel line, it will offset lower margin items such as groceries and housewares. wal-mart said on saturday same-store sales for november are rising within the forecast and says women’s wear helped boost the sales.
>> thank you, robert. one market where wal-mart is looking to gain ground is china. among companies that help boost foreign investment in the country by 23% in the first 10 months of the year. scbalt matsushita electric may be encourageed by a report showing investment pouring in. china attracted a record last year, surpassing the u.s. as the destination for investment capital. u.s. secretary of state colin powell and three other department chiefs resigned from u.s. president george w. bush’s cabinet. ron madison has that and more in world news.
>> powell is the highest ranking official, now, to leave the administration since president george w. bush won re-election. his departure was expected, though. he was often at odds with administration hawks. in a letter to president bush dated friday, powell says it’s time for him to return to private life. the other three whose resignation letters have been releaseed including ann veneman, education secretary rod paige and energy secretary spencer abraham, bringing the number of cabinet chiefs leaving to six. in iraq, u.s. forces resumed heavy air strikes and artillery fire in fallujah on monday. u.s.-led forces say they’ve captured most of the sunni muslim city from insurgents now. the pentagon says coalition forces are targeting the last resistance. senior interior minister declared victory, telling reporters fallujah is no longer a safe haven for terrorists and killers. at least 38 american troops and six iraqi soldiers have been left dead in the last week in fallujah. and saddam hussein may have taken more than double from the united nations oil-for-food program than previously expected. a report says he may have raked in as much as $21.3 billion in illegal revenue under the u.n. program. the program allowed iraq to sell oil to feed its population. the revised estimates were based on documents captured after the u.s.-led invasion. that’s the latest look at world news. i’ll see you again at the bottom of the hour.
>> thank you, ron. back to business. de novo’s first-half profit probably rose 21% as they sold more p.c.’s and ended losses at the handset unit. analysts surveyed expect profit declined to $42.2 million u.s. lenovo reports today, as well as macquarie bank. they earned more fees from merger advice. also today, expect results from japan’s oil refiner cosmo oil. jollibee also reports revenue figures. after the break, shobi pereira has a preview of the tokyo trading action.
