IBT Staff Reporter

India's Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Ranbaxy Laboratories said on Monday they are seeking acquisitions, and analysts said both drug makers could target U.S.-based Bradley Pharmaceuticals.

Bayer and Onyx Pharmaceuticals said they were stopping a late clinical liver cancer trial with Nexavar in the Asia-Pacific region so patients can get the drug sooner after encouraging results.

Goldman Sachs is to buy upscale jeweler Tiffany & Co's flagship store in Tokyo for about 37 billion yen ($318 million), a sign that Japan's hot property market is shrugging off global credit concerns.

Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd, China's best known beer brand, posted a 63.4 percent increase in first-half profit as rising Chinese incomes boosted demand for beer and a taste for more expensive brews.

China Life Insurance Co, the country's top life insurer, said on Monday its first-half profit more than doubled, topping forecasts, thanks to investment gains in a strong stock market and rising premiums in the fast-growing Chinese economy.

Nasdaq may sell its stake in the London Stock Exchange to Borse Dubai and make a joint bid with the Gulf exchange for Nordic exchange owner OMX, The Daily Telegraph said on Monday.

Taiwan's Acer will buy Gateway for $710 million, creating the world's No. 3 PC maker and doubling its U.S. presence while dealing a blow to arch-foe Lenovo's efforts to grow in Europe.

European shares recovered further on Monday, but Wall Street looked set to open lower after news that for the first time since the leveraged buyout boom began the price on a major private equity deal had been lowered.

Gold was steady on Monday, staying within sight of last week's high, while the benchmark Tokyo futures contract rose 2 percent to its highest in more than a week due to a weaker yen and a strong New York close.

The Nikkei average inched up 0.3 percent in thin trade on Monday as KDDI Corp extended gains on profit prospects and auto stocks such as Honda Motor advanced on a softer yen.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is considering acquisitions in its home market as it seeks to open smaller stores and limit its reliance on giant supercenters for growth, the Financial Times reported in its online edition.

U.S. Steel Corp is to acquire Stelco Inc for about $1.1 billion to strengthen its position as a supplier of flat-rolled steel products in North America, the companies said. Stelco, the last big Canadian-owned steelmaker, had put itself on the auction block in June after a wave of takeovers within the Canadian steel industry.

An end to Wall Street's streak of rising profits in the third quarter is built into investor expectations, but the top brokerages' results will still face scrutiny next month to see just how they value assets bloodied by the summer market meltdown.

Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings has approached Nasdaq to buy its 30 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

Job losses in the construction sector could top 1 million if a housing downturn tips the economy into recession and tighter access to credit dampens business investment. Strength in nonresidential construction may continue to offset a downturn in housing for now, but recent turmoil in credit markets suggests job losses may accelerate in the sector in the next few months.

With a slowing economy could the job market see declines this holiday season?

Commodities indexes remain popular even after this summer's market turmoil.

New games drawing paying players online could end up leaving pirates behind.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, sending the broader market to its best week in five months, as surprisingly strong economic data eased concerns about the economy's health and investors bet equities may be stabilizing after weeks of turmoil.

Three Asian banks' heavy exposure to the limping U.S. home loan sector reinforced global credit wobbles on Friday but Germany, France and Italy saw no signs of new problems.

U.S. stocks advanced on Friday as a jump in oil prices boosted energy stocks and an unexpected rise in July new home sales calmed worries about the economy.

Profit at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. could take a big hit if the U.S. brokerage heavyweight cuts the value on nearly $1 billion in subprime lender assets it bought just eight months ago.

Shares of Home Depot Inc were up 1.3 percent on Friday as investors waited for word about whether a sale was on or off for the home improvement retailer's contractor business.

Betting on Qualcomm Inc should be an easy decision for an investor looking for wireless assets but the company's myriad legal battles could make it a risky choice compared with rivals like Nokia and Texas Instruments Inc.

General Motors Corp is testing a combustion engine that could increase fuel economy in traditional engines by up to 15 percent, the automaker said on Friday.

Sales of new single-family U.S. homes unexpectedly rose in July and new orders for durable goods posted strong gains that underlined the economy's strength just before a credit crisis socked financial markets.

Gold steadied in cautious European trade on Friday after cutting overnight losses but remained vulnerable as worries about credit market turmoil persisted, analysts said.

The dollar weakened broadly on Friday as lingering worries about the recent global credit and liquidity squeeze outweighed surprisingly strong U.S. economic data.

The owners of stricken state lender SachsenLB aim to sell the German bank quickly after its near collapse under heavy losses from U.S. subprime mortgages and other risky debt, sources familiar with the matter said.