Business Report at 0230 GMT,November 24

REUTERS BUSINESS REPORT

Monday, November 24, 2008

(All times GMT)

TOP HEADLINES

HONG KONG - Asian banks pull regional indexes lower

SEOUL - BoK meets to discuss new economic support steps

WASHINGTON-Obama may delay tax increases; APEC pledges action

TOP STORIES

HONG KONG - Falls in Asian banking shares lead regional indexes lower, while safe-haven assets such as the yen and gold gain as investors wait for U.S. government measures to help prop up Citigroup (MARKETS-GLOBAL (WRAPUP 1), moving shortly, by Rafael Nam, 650 words)

SEOUL - South Korea's central bank meets to discuss contributing to a fund to buy bonds from local companies struggling to get hold of cash (KOREA-ECONOMY (UPDATE 1), expect by 0400, pix, tv, by Seo Eun-kyung, 600 words)

WASHINGTON/LIMA - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama may consider delaying a campaign promise to roll back tax cuts on high-income Americans as he works on a huge stimulus plan to counter the worst economic crisis the world has faced in decades (FINANCIAL/ (TOPWRAP 4), moved at 2320, by Caren Bohan and Terry Wade, 800 words)

MARKETS

HONG KONG - The yen pushes higher as market players cut higher-yielding currencies and await confirmation of reports that Citigroup has cut a deal with the government to warehouse some of its assets (MARKETS-FOREX (UPDATE 1), expect by 0400, by Eric Burroughs, 600 words)

MORE ON THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

DUBAI/RIYADH - Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, slashes interest rates for an unprecedented third time since October and the United Arab Emirates intervenes in a property merger in moves to contain the impact of the global financial crisis (FINANCIAL-GULF/ (WRAPUP 2), moved at 1709, by Lin Noueihed and Souhail Karam, 1,000 words)

LIMA - The United States, China, Japan and 18 other economies in Asia and the Americas pledge quick and decisive action to prevent a severe global economic downturn (FINANCIAL/APEC (WRAPUP 2), moved at 2113, pix, tv, by Chisa Fujioka and Oleg Shchedrov, 800 words)

ANALYSES

SYDNEY - The world's biggest iron ore miners are hoping recent massive capacity cuts are enough to provide a leg up in annual price negotiations with steel mills, but they may need to get out the knives again (IRON/PRICES (ANALYSIS), by James Regan, moved at 0200, 700 words)

DETROIT - As they ponder a $25 billion aid package for America's beleaguered automakers, U.S. lawmakers could do well to study two past auto bailouts: one a failure, the other a success (AUTOS-BAILOUTS/ (ANALYSIS), moved at 1805, by Nick Carey, 900 words)

ECONOMY AND RESOURCES

BEIJING - A deputy governor of China's central bank says that interest rates are currently at a relatively appropriate level, as more details emerge of the government's efforts to stimulate the economy (FINANCIAL/CHINA (WRAPUP 1), expect by 0430, by Langi Chiang and Zhou Xin, 600 words)

CANBERRA - Financial unrest and recession fears are reinforcing the appeal of Australia's government, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's popularity at near-record levels a year after his election, a leading poll shows (AUSTRALIA-POLITICS/, moved at 0217, 500 words)

LIMA - Chinese President Hu Jintao took one more wary step on the global financial stage this weekend, using a regional summit to present his government as responsible, engaged and yet unready for a starring role in rescue efforts (FINANCIAL/APEC-CHINA, moved at 1856, pix, tv, by Chris Buckley, 800 words)

LONDON - Prime Minister Gordon Brown will try to kickstart the stalling British economy, spending billions of borrowed pounds on tax cuts in a last-ditch effort to stop a recession turning into a slump (BRITAIN-PREBUDGET/, moved at 2333, pix, by Adrian Croft, 600 words)

FEATURES

WASHINGTON - As the number of people out of work in the United States grows, so does the number of part-time jobs, a trend that is worrying economists, who see parallels with the recession of the 1980s (USA-ECONOMY/UNEMPLOYMENT (BUSINESS FEATURE), moved at 0003, pix, by Lucia Mutikani, 900 words)

BUAN, South Korea - South Korea is betting a multi-billion dollar land reclamation project about seven times the size of Manhattan will lift the economy, but environmentalists say it could be one of the country's biggest ecological blunders. (KOREA-ENVIRONMENT/