INVESTMENT

HSBC Holdings Plc helped start a group of indexes that includes benchmarks for global Islamic and Middle East conventional bonds to encourage trading as a global credit crunch delays sales and doubles spreads.

UBS AG reported its first quarterly loss in five years after hefty writedowns on subprime-related investments, but said it expects to turn in a group profit in the last quarter.

Stock index futures fell on Tuesday after a Wall Street Journal article cast doubt on the chances for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut on Wednesday.

Stocks rose on Monday as investors bet that the Federal Reserve will cut benchmark lending rates this week and that soaring commodity prices will boost profits of metal and energy producers.

Top South Korean lender Kookmin Bank posted a bigger-than-expected 14 percent rise in quarterly profit on Monday as it sold a stake sale in an insurance venture with ING Groep, but forecast a tough year ahead and a squeeze on margins.

Nikko Cordial, the Japanese brokerage unit of Citigroup, said its quarterly profit rose 72 percent from a year earlier, as growth at its asset management division overshadowed a loss at its investment banking arm.

Internet and telecoms giant Softbank Corp (9984.T: Quote, Profile, Research) will spend about 40 billion yen ($350 million) to start operations next year at a new data centre in southwestern Japan, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.

UBS AGwarned it may face more writedowns on its fixed income portfolio but said, just a day before reporting results, that its third-quarter pretax loss would be no worse than already predicted.

The anticipated departure of Merrill Lynch & Co Inc Chief Executive Stan O'Neal would mark a surprising flameout in a career that had been impressive in its ascent.

China has the world's largest commercial bank, its biggest aluminum maker, its No. 2 oil firm and its fourth-largest investment bank. It has five of the world's 10 biggest companies, versus three for the United States.

Oil refiner Tesoro Corp. said it would review an unsolicited proposal by Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. to buy a minority stake in the company for about $1.4 billion, but urged shareholders to take no action on the offer.

Thousands of borrowers are poised to challenge lenders over debt insurance, in what has been hailed a new consumer revolution against mis-selling and unfair charges.

As Merrill Lynch & Co Inc's board deliberates the fate of Chairman and Chief Executive Stan O'Neal, a leading contender for the job on Sunday said he is not aware of being a candidate.

Credit crunch or not, the allure of stellar growth and profits remains for investors.

Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest brokerage, saw its stock price soar on Friday amid speculation that its Chairman and Chief Executive Stan O’Neal would be forced out and that the company could be acquired.

In the weeks after Wall Street returned from the Labor Day holiday, the credit market picture appeared to brighten, with loans moving through the system and banks reporting numbers not nearly as bad as some feared.

As fallout from the summer credit crunch spreads, Wall Street faces more job cuts -- and smaller bonuses. Investment banks have announced thousands of jobs cuts as investors stopped snapping up risky corporate loans, mortgage securities and complex asset-backed securities.

Insurer Coventry Health Care Inc on Friday posted a 14 percent increase in third-quarter profit, in line with forecasts, but shares fell on a slightly lower-than-expected 2008 profit forecast.

Gold climbed to a 28-year peak on Friday and platinum traded just below an all-time high, as a record low dollar and lifetime-high oil spurred buying.

Merrill Lynch & Co Inc Chairman and Chief Executive Stan O'Neal has told friends he expects to be ousted by the end of the weekend, CNBC television reported on Friday.

Institutional money flows into oil are playing a big part in its advance to record peaks, a portfolio manager at commodities hedge fund Tiberius said on Friday.