Japanese call rates turn negative for first time
New York: Japanese domestic interest rates fell below zero for the first time on Friday, the effect of the Bank of Japan’s policy of flooding the banking system with excess cash to hold down interest rates to near zero.
Back to News Review index page  

Big Mac posts first-ever $344m loss
New York: Mcdonald's served up its first-ever quarterly loss Thursday, a larger-than-expected $344m, paying the price for a fast-expansion strategy gone awry.
Back to News Review index page  

Amazon earns its 2nd profit
New York: Amazon.com on Thursday reported its second-ever quarterly net profit and raised its outlook, buoyed by growing holiday sales in the last three months of '02 and its ongoing free shipping incentive. It reported a Q4 net profit of $2.6m compared with $5m a year earlier.
Back to News Review index page  

GM, Ford roll out dealer incentives to push sales
New York: General Motors and Ford Motor escalated their price war on Thursday, offering costly new consumer incentives to lure buyers amid signs of slowing US vehicle sales, officials said.
Back to News Review index page  

Japan confirms low growth likely in 02/03, 03/04
Tokyo: Japan's cabinet approved government economic forecasts on Friday for the fiscal year ending in March and the following year, when real growth is expected to remain below one per cent.
Back to News Review index page  

GlaxoSmithKline halts asthma drug trial
New York: GlaxoSmithKline Plc on Thursday said it had halted a study of its already-marketed asthma drug Serevent after seeing more life-threatening asthma episodes, including some deaths, in patients treated with the drug rather than with a placebo
Back to News Review index page