INVESTMENT

Gold futures surged on Thursday, nearing a record high of $970 an ounce causing the dollar to continue its fall against the euro and boosted the precious metal's appeal as an inflation hedge.

U.S. stocks extended losses Thursday, pushing the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 down more than 1 percent, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said some smaller banks are likely to fail and jobless claims rose.

Allianz, Europe's top insurer, believes market turbulence has created acquisition opportunities in Asia, and predicts Asian sales will climb to 10 percent of total group income, or 10 billion euros ($15 billion).

Gold surged to a record high above $960 on Wednesday as investors piled in, spurred by a plummeting dollar and oil rising above $100 a barrel.

China has opened its bond market wider to foreign banks, naming the local arms of JPMorgan Chase and Standard Chartered Bank as primary underwriters of debt issued by the Ministry of Finance.

Japan stocks buoyed Wednesday led by Asian stock markets' high stock prices and the news of sharp equity rises across Asia.

Gold and silver futures rose after a report showed U.S. producer prices rose more than expected last month, increasing the appeal of the precious metals as a hedge against inflation.

Treasury officials have met executives from two of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds to discuss embracing a set of promises not to use their wealth for political advantage, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs said it expects additional writedowns of about $1 billion to $12 billion each for several major U.S. brokers in the first quarter, with Citigroup estimated to record the highest amount of about $12 billion.

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 1430 GMT on Monday.

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Dresdner Bank AG is bailing out an $18.8 billion K2 structured investment.

Gold futures rose to a new record of $958.40 an ounce on Thursday on a weakening dollar which boosted the metal's appeal as an inflation hedge. Platinum and silver also hit new record highs.

Shareholders in Seven Bank Ltd, which operates ATMs in convenience stores owned by Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd, raised $481 million after its IPO was priced at the top of its projected range, as investors rattled by the subprime crisis embraced its low-risk business model.

Europe's biggest insurer, Allianz , is axing hundreds of jobs at its Dresdner Kleinwort investment bank and slashing its complex structured finance business, after suffering big fourth-quarter writedowns.

Annual pay cheques of some fund managers in India have hit $1 million, levels seen normally in London and Tokyo, as asset management firms scramble for scarce talent in a booming market.

Credit Suisse has written $2.85 billion off the value of its asset-backed investments and found mismarking and pricing errors on its books, it revealed on Tuesday, sending its shares plummeting. The bank said the write-downs would wipe $1 billion from its first-quarter net income, after taking into account tax credits and cancelling some staff bonuses, but it still expected to stay in profit in the quarter, despite the charge.

European shares cut Tuesday's losses and rose as a turnaround in shares of Barclays boosted UK banks and U.S. stock futures extended gains.

The promise of a solid open on Wall Street after Wal-Mart signaled the U.S. consumer is still keen to spend helped set aside worries about hefty bank writedowns on Tuesday while oil and metal prices rose unabated.

Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Britain's Barclays Plc, has named Mark Bamford as head of global syndicate to replace Geert Vinken, who is retiring.

Swiss bank UBS AG is confident the 287 million pound ($560 million) rights issue it is underwriting for British mortgage lender Paragon will be successful, a source close to the bank said on Monday.