ASEAN and China accord to create biggest FTA in the world
Vientiane: The Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) and China have signed an agreement which will create the world's biggest free trade area by removing tariffs for their two billion people by the end of the decade. This is in consonance with ASEAN's vision of a trade bloc to rival Europe and North America.

The accord aims to remove all tariffs by 2010, drawing ASEAN's combined economies of US$ 1 trillion closer to China's economy of US$ 1.4 trillion.

The accord reflects ASEAN'S changing perception of Beijing as a powerful, but also friendly neighbour.
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NASDAQ closes at ten-month high
New York: Tech stocks have driven the NASDAQ to its highest close in 10 months. Shares of Apple jumped more than six percent after brokerages raised their price targets on the maker of the iPod musical device.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 46.33 points to finish at 10,475.90, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 4.08 points, or 0.34 percent, to close at 1,178.57.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 4.90 points, or 0.23 percent, to end at 2,106.87.

Dow component Wal-Mart fell nearly 4 percent after it slashed its forecast for November sales on Saturday, saying customer traffic slowed toward the end of the week. The forecast fueled concerns that high oil prices and lackluster job and wage growth may cut into consumer spending in the critical holiday shopping period, particularly among lower-income earners.
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