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Cold winter in the US extends oil rally toward US$60
Sydney: Oil pushed towards US$60 a barrel early on Monday even as prospects for a cold December on the U.S. Northeast loomed. With its current pricing crude oil has extended last week's rally to its highest in almost four weeks.

Meanwhile there are signs that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may decide next week to carry on pumping oil at near its full capacity.

January crude was up 52 cents or 0.9 percent at US$59.84 a barrel; it's highest since Nov. 9, as it builds on gains of 5 per cent over the final three days of last week.

Temperatures in the U.S. Northeast, home to 80 per cent of U.S. heating oil consumption, were between normal and 7 degrees Fahrenheit below normal on Sunday. According to forecasters the cold weather could last until mid-December and drive up demand for heating oil, stocks of which now stand 12 per cent above last year after an unusually warm start to the winter.

OPEC will meet on Dec. 12 in Kuwait to chart oil policy for early next year.
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Capital investment by Japanese companies on the rise as yen continues to decline
Tokyo: According to a government survey the combined capital investment of non-financial Japanese companies, in the July-September quarter, rose 9.6 per cent from a year earlier, compared to a 7.3 pct increase in the April-June period, a government survey showed

This marks a 10th straight quarter of increase

A quarterly survey by the ministry of finance also found that the combined current profit of non-financial Japanese companies at the parent level in July-September jumped 6.6 per cent from a year earlier, making it the 13th straight quarterly rise

The MoF surveyed 25,217 companies with capital exceeding 10 million yen and received replies from 20,088 firms. The survey results are the last data used in computing the revised GDP data for the three months to September to be released on Dec 9

In the preliminary estimate released last month, the government said the Japanese economy grew 0.4 pct in real terms last quarter, or at an annualized rate of 1.7 pct

Meanwhile the yen fell to a 32-month low versus the dollar after Japan's finance minister Sadakazu Tanigaki and central bank chief Toshihiko Fukui shrugged off the currency's 15 per cent decline this year. Speaking during the weekend's Group of Seven meeting of finance ministers and central bankers, Fukui said a drop in the yen is ``not a problem.'' A weaker Japanese currency makes exporters more competitive because they can sell products cheaper abroad.

Against the dollar, the yen slid to 121.36 as of 11:25 a.m. in Tokyo, from 120.60 in New York on Dec. 2, according to electronic currency trading system EBS. It was the weakest since March 21, 2003. The yen reached a record low 141.96 against the euro, from 141.30.

It would appear that the yen is now set for its biggest annual drop against the dollar since 1979 as continuous interest-rate increases by the US Federal Reserve lures investors to U.S. fixed-income assets.

In response, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed to the highest in more than five years.
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Airbus mulls plane assembly in China
Toulouse, France: China is on its way to becoming only the third country, after France and Germany, to assemble Airbus aircraft, after a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was inked between the National Development and Reform Commission and Airbus at the southwestern French city of Toulouse, headquarters of the European plane consortium.

The MoU was signed Sunday during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to France. The Chinese premier arrived at Toulouse yesterday afternoon at the start of a four-day visit to France that is expected to be dominated by trade issues.

An important aspect of the MOU is to study the possibility of establishing an assembly line for Airbus single-aisle aircraft in China. Currently, five affiliates of China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) and AVIC II are involved in producing parts for Airbus aircraft.

Airbus Deutschland GmbH, based in Germany's Hamburg, develops and manufactures about one-third of Airbus aircraft and is responsible for final assembly of the A320 family single-aisle models.

Other Airbus aircraft are assembled in France.

China has already ordered five A380 superjumbo aircraft in time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Meanwhile industrial sources are hinting that Wen would sign a major order for medium-range A320 planes in Paris on Monday. Chinese air travel is growing by double digits annually and the country has become a major battleground for the two commercial airline manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing. While Boeing currently holds around 60 per cent of the Chinese market, Airbus trails at 28 percent.

According to Airbus estimates, the total potential sales in China over the next 20 years could be around 1,600 planes. Some of this huge number could now be assembled locally under the MoUsigned at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse on Sunday.

The number of passengers transported in China last year climbed by 16 percent to 122 million, twice the pace of the global market.
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Convergence moves: Virgin brand may soon rule the waves
London: UK's largest cable business NTL and Sir Richard Branson's mobile telephone business, Virgin Mobile, are in talks about a deal which could see the Virgin brand extending to televisions, telephones and high-speed internet access.

A takeover, if agreed, will create the first media group to offer mobile and fixed-line telephony as well as pay-TV and high-speed internet access. In a deal, apparently in the making for some months now, Sir Richard would swap his 71% stake in Virgin Mobile for a stake of about 14% in the combined media group, making him the largest individual investor. The merger would also pitch Sir Richard against the Rupert Murdoch-controlled satellite group BSkyB, which has recently bought a fledgling broadband firm.

The takeover is expected to value Virgin Mobile, with almost 5mn customers at more than £800mn. The combined business is expected to be valued at almost £5bn once the mobile company is added to the soon-to-be-merged NTL and Telewest cable group. The takeover of Telewest, announced in October, is not expected to be completed until the middle of next year.

NTL's chief executive Simon Duffy would run the combined business.

Although several US companies, such as Sprint and Nextel, which together own half of Virgin Mobile in the US, and Comcast, already offer all four convergence services in some way, the new Virgin-branded business will be the first which aims to do so for all customers with a single bill.
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Kazakhmys, world's largest copper miner, to enter FTSE 100
London: Kazakhmys, from Kazakhstan ,one of world's biggest copper miners, is set to become the first company from the former Soviet Union to join the FTSE 100 this week.

Kazakhmys joins a growing number of companies from the former Soviet Union,eager to tap the City of London investors for funds. A variety of ex-Soviet bloc companies, from Russian steelmakers to Ukrainian food groups, have shares listed in London.

Novolipetsk, the Russian steelmaker, is already marketing it's soon to be launched issue and a listing by Rosneft, the state-owned oil giant that acquired the assets of Yukos, has many eager investors waiting in anticipation.

Kazakhmys is the only overseas stock among the three constituents expected to be added to the FTSE 100 in Wednesday's quarterly reshuffle. P&O, the ports and ferries operator, is guaranteed a place, albeit temporarily, in the FTSE 100 after agreeing to a £3.3 billion cash offer from Dubai Ports World.
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