As Seven & I Holdings consolidates, Nikkei breaks through to 16,000 points
Tokyo: For the first time in more than five years, the Japanese Nikkei share average broke though 16,000 points yesterday, as retailers drove the market rally showing a third successive rise in department store sales in November.

The sector also received a fillip on the back of news of a major deal as Asia's biggest retailer, Seven & I Holdings, saying that it was buying its privately owned rival Millennium Retailing for some US$1.7bn. The deal creates the world's fifth-largest retailer, and will help strengthen Seven & I's position against Wal-Mart, the US retailing giant that has recently increased its presence in Japan.
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OPEC may cut output on fears of increased Russian supply
Moscow: Even as OPEC chiefs met Russian officials in Moscow to coordinate oil pricing and production policies, they have dropped broad hints about the likelihood in a cut in OPEC production from the second quarter of this year, by as much as two million barrels per day.

"We expect the call on OPEC crude to decline in the second quarter to 27.8 million barrels per day from almost 29.8 million bpd now," OPEC president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said Monday. He also said it was premature to discuss the size of a possible cut as well as price levels which would trigger the reduction. He added, however, that if prices remained at around US$45-US$50 per barrel for OPEC basket crude, the cartel would be broadly satisfied.

According to a business daily Kommersant, OPEC officials have made it clear that they want to see world crude prices floating next year in a US$44-US$55 range. The daily said that the OPEC delegation had come to Moscow because it "wants to find out about Russian oil production and export plans with a view to coordinating actions" between OPEC and Russia next year. It said, "OPEC is worried that Russia is going to increase its share of the global market at the expense of the cartel," Kommersant said.
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Chinese banks uncover US$36bn in funds 'abuse'
Beijing: Chinese investigators are investigating the activities of staff at three state banks, after uncovering what they term as "illegal abuse" of US$36.3bn of government funds so far this year.

According to officials, an estimated 22,000 Chinese officials have already been audited in the investigation, with 196 referred to the Communist Party for possible punishment.

The inquiry is focusing on the branches of the Bank of China, Bank of Communications and China Merchants Bank, and comes just ahead of plans by the Chinese Government to list the shares of the Bank of China on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission also said that standard checks this year had uncovered irregularities involving US$73bn in loans and other funds at the nation's Big Four state lending banks.

The commission said: "The checks found that rules are still being violated at the four banks and the accuracy of loan classification at some branches needs improvements. Some bank branches continue to breach government rules, despite the investigation."
Just a day earlier the authorities said that they would no longer give aid to banks that had moved into the private sector.
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