AWSJ: What's News, Business & Finance For Friday
08:44, 2001-03-30
JAPAN'S ECONOMY shows new signs of weakness, a development that could threaten all of Asia. Critics of the Bank of Japan say the central bank might need to take more aggressive action, despite a new monetary policy that cut interest rates to virtually zero. The economic concerns helped fuel a 5% drop in the Nikkei 225 Index.
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Hyundai Engineering's creditors will swap debt for equity in a rescue package that strips Hyundai Group's founding family of control and raises concerns about the level of government involvement.
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Delphi will close nine plants and cut 11,500 jobs, as it steps up its restructuring plans. The auto-parts supplier has lowered its forecast for the first quarter, and expects to break even at best.
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Allianz plans to acquire Dresdner Bank to create a European financial powerhouse with global scale. A cash and stock deal of about $19.5 billion is being discussed, people close to the situation say.
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U.S stock markets declined amid continued worries about corporate earnings. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 1.2% in midmorning trading, after tumbling 6% Wednesday.
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U.S. economic growth slowed to 1% in the fourth quarter of 2000, less than than the 1.1% pace originally estimated. Corporate profits fell 4.3% during the period.
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PCCW received a waiver from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on seeking shareholder approval for some transactions, even though it had a negative net worth at the end of 2000.
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Goldman's top Asian official plans to retire in June, the investment-banking firm said. Mark Schwartz led Goldman to a leading role in the sale of stocks, bonds and merger advice in the region.
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Sony is unifying its electronics units, creating a group `hub' to oversee strategy and setting up a new division to focus on mobile phones.
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Japanese industrial output dropped 2.1% in February from a year earlier, marking the first decline in nearly two years and underscoring the slowdown in manufacturing activity as a result of declining exports and the slumping economy.
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Australia plans to privatize Sydney Airport by the end of 2001. Despite ownership restrictions, the airport is expected to fetch up to $2.45 billion.
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Optus shares dominated trading in Sydney for a fourth straight day as investors continued to digest SingTel's takeover bid for the Australian telecom.
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South Korea's industrial output rose 8.6% in February from a year earlier, accelerating from a 0.1% increase in January, the National Statistics Office said.
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The euro slipped to a low for the year against the dollar after the European Central Bank left interest rates steady. The U.S. currency held firm against the yen after the release of poor Japanese economic data.
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