Business Report at 0240 GMT

REUTERS BUSINESS REPORT

Friday, November 21, 2008

(All times GMT)

TOP HEADLINES

NEW YORK - Citigroup slides 25 pct; sale of parts eyed

BEIJING - Global stock slide continues into Asian day

TOKYO - BoJ meets to review interest rates, cut seen unlikely

WASHINGTON - Democrats demand U.S. Big 3 offer survival plan

TOP STORIES

NEW YORK - Citigroup Inc loses as much as a quarter of its market value on concerns about whether the bank has enough capital to withstand additional loan losses; source says the bank is weighing its options including selling businesses, shares or merging with another firm (CITIGROUP/ (WRAPUP 6), expect by 0330, by Jonathan Stempel and Dan Wilchins, 950 words)

BEIJING - Signs of distress in the global economy mount, with U.S. stocks leading a worldwide plunge for a second straight day, oil prices falling and the future of Citigroup and U.S. automakers hanging in the balance (FINANCIAL/ (TOPWRAP 1), expect by 0300, pix, by Jason Subler, 750 words)

TOKYO - The Bank of Japan may take some technical steps to soothe market strains but is seen saving the rate-cut option for any further economic fall-out from the global financial crisis (FINANCIAL/JAPAN (UPDATE 1), expect by 0300, by Leika Kihara, 650 words. Rate decision expected between 0400 and 0600)

WASHINGTON - Democratic congressional leaders, seeking to salvage a bailout of the Big Three automakers, demanded executives provide a business survival plan in exchange for their support of up to $25 billion in loans (AUTOS/BAILOUT (WRAPUP 3), moved at 0009, by Kevin Drawbaugh and John Crawley, 850 words)

MARKETS

HONG KONG - Waves of selling in global stock markets crash into Asia, with gains from the region's 5-year bull run now erased as a global recession tightens its grip and investors seek refuge in government bonds and cash (MARKETS-GLOBAL (WRAPUP 2), expect by 0330, by Kevin Plumberg, 600 words)

TOKYO - The yen slips from three-week highs against the dollar and euro as short-term speculators book profits, but it retains its overall strength with fears of a deep global recession rippling through markets (MARKETS-FOREX (UPDATE 1), expect by 0330, by Satomi Noguchi, 600 words)

SINGAPORE - Commodities are set to end the week sharply weaker with sentiment across financial markets ebbing lower, and while the bearish trend is likely to continue, the precipitous slide in industrial raw materials could be nearing the bottom (MARKETS-COMMODITIES, expect by 0700, by Nick Trevethan, 650 words)

MORE ON THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

HONG KONG - Asia's property markets are about to be hit by the global economic downturn with apartment prices and office rents in Hong Kong and Singapore set to skid more than 20 percent by the end of 2009, a Reuters poll shows (ASIA/PROPERTY (POLL), expect by 0430, by Susan Fenton, 1,100 words)

NEW YORK - Warren Buffett is under siege. Investors are bailing out of Berkshire Hathaway Inc stock and have lost some confidence that the insurance and investment company run since 1965 by one of the world's admired investors can pay its debts (BUFFETT/BERKSHIRE (ANALYSIS), moved at 1958, by Jonathan Stempel, 1,000 words)

LIMA - Trade and foreign ministers from the United States, China and other economies around the Pacific Rim call for new free trade deals as a way out of the global economic crisis (FINANCIAL/APEC (UPDATE 3), moved at 2256, by Maria Luisa Palomino and Terry Wade, 800 words)

ANALYSES

DUBAI - The seaside emirate of Dubai shifted into crisis mode this week as its breakneck building boom stalled, its lending bonanza evaporated and the government pondered wider steps to rescue banks (DUBAI-CRISIS/ (ANALYSIS), moved at 1530, by Thomas Atkins, 700 words)

CANBERRA - Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd marks one year in power with voter approval riding high, but with the global financial crisis set to hijack his reform plans and threaten his re-election hopes (AUSTRALIA-POLITICS/ (ANALYSIS), expect by 0500, by James Grubel, 800 words)

ECONOMY AND RESOURCES

SINGAPORE - Singapore's economy could shrink next year as financial services and exports are hit by a global slowdown, the government says, pledging greater spending but dismissing monetary easing (SINGAPORE-ECONOMY/ (UPDATE 2), expect by 1100, pix, graphic, by Neil Chatterjee and Jan Dahinten, 700 words)

SYDNEY - Investors are betting Australian interest rates could soon be cut by more than a full percentage point as collapsing share markets and deepening global gloom argue for action to head off recession (AUSTRALIA-ECONOMY/RATES, moved at 0141, by Wayne Cole, 600 words)

BANGKOK - Thailand's public sector unions meet to discuss possible industrial action after a protester was killed by a grenade, a move that could deepen the impact of the political crisis on the economy (THAILAND-PROTEST/, expect by 0330, pix, 500 words)

TAIPEI - Analysts lower their forecasts for Taiwan in 2009 following an surprise fall in third-quarter GDP, with some seeing up to a year of contraction in the export-dependent economy (TAIWAN-ECONOMY/, expect by 0700, by Lee Chyen Yee, 500 words)

MOGADISHU - Rampant piracy off Somalia is forcing shipping companies to avoid the Suez Canal and send cargoes of oil and other goods on a longer journey around southern Africa, industry officials say (SOMALIA-PIRACY/ (WRAPUP 5), moved at 0100, pix, tv, by Abdi Sheikh, 900 words)

COMPANIES

NEW YORK - China's Suntech Power Holdings Co, the world's largest solar module maker, reports lower-than-expected quarterly profit and cuts its full-year sales forecast because of the weak global economy, sending its shares tumbling by more than 30 percent to an all-time low (SUNTECH/ (UPDATE 2), moved at 1509, 500 words)

NEW YORK - The Associated Press plans to cut up to 10 percent of its workforce in 2009, according to sources at the news service, as it copes with tough financial times and ailing member newspapers (ASSOCIATEDPRESS/, moved at 2115, by Robert MacMillan, 450 words)

FEATURES

MIAMI - For retirees in the Florida sun, falling financial markets have heightened fears of what financial planners coldly call "longevity risk" -- the need for savings that last a long time when growing numbers of people can live for 30 years or more in retirement (FINANCIAL/RETIREES (BUSINESS FEATURE), pix, by Tom Brown, 800 words)

MACAU - On Macau's dusty Cotai strip, the cranes at the Las Vegas Sands' construction site stand idle at dusk atop the half-finished husks of three massive towers, while weary batches of construction workers, laid-off en masse, stream out of the site's turnstiles, many for the last time (MACAU-SLUMP/