Business Report at 0630 GMT

REUTERS BUSINESS REPORT

Monday, November 17, 2008

(All times GMT)

TOP HEADLINES

TOKYO - Japan slips into recession; G20 fails to inspire

MELBOURNE - Lion Nathan bids $4.9 bln for Coca-Cola Amatil

TOP STORIES

TOKYO - Japan unexpectedly sank into recession in the third quarter, even before it felt the full force of the financial crisis, putting more pressure on world leaders to deliver on a promised global economic rescue plan (FINANCIAL/ (TOPWRAP 2), moved at 0617, pix, by Leika Kihara, 750 words)

MELBOURNE/SYDNEY - Lion Nathan Ltd, Australia's second-largest brewer, launched a A$7.6 billion ($4.9 billion) bid for soft drinks group Coca-Cola Amatil, the latest move in a wave of industry consolidation (CCAMATIL/LIONNATHAN (UPDATE 4), expect by 0730, by Sonali Paul, 800 words)

MARKETS

HONG KONG - Asian stocks mostly climb and the yen slips, on hopes for more government rescues of limping industries in the wakeof an emergency meeting of world leaders and as long-term investors scoop up cheap shares (MARKETS-GLOBAL (WRAPUP 3), expect by 0730, by Kevin Plumberg, 600 words)

TOKYO - The yen slips against the dollar and euro as a rise in Tokyo stocks reduces demand for the Japanese currency, which has served as a safe haven due to disappointment over the Group of 20 financial summit (MARKETS-FOREX (UPDATE 2), expect by 0630, by Satomi Noguchi, 600 words)

PERTH - Oil falls over $1 to hover below $56 a barrel, near its lowest in almost two years after a meeting of the Group of 20 major economies ended with few actual proposals on how they would combat a global recession (MARKETS-OIL/ (UPDATE 3), moved at 0546, by Fayen Wong, 600 words)

SINGAPORE - Falling stock markets and deepening economic gloom weigh on money markets, putting a floor under dollar interbank rates and spreads despite the ample cash floating in banking systems (MARKETS-MONEY (MONEY MARKETS), moved at 0609, by Vidya Ranganathan, 600 words)

HONG KONG - Asian bond spreads widen amid renewed worries over the global economy following data showing recessions in Hong Kong and Japan, as well as a record drop in monthly U.S. retail sales (ASIA-BONDS, expect by 0700, 400 words)

MORE ON THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

WASHINGTON - Bretton Woods II it was not, but world leaders achieved a crucial show of unity at their summit to confront recession, promising to revamp the global economic order and remain firmly wedded to free trade (FINANCIAL/SUMMIT (ANALYSIS), moved at 2129, by Alister Bull, 700 words)

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama stayed away from the weekend's global economic summit, but had he attended, he would have found common ground with many participants who see lax regulation as a main culprit behind the deepening financial crisis (USA-OBAMA/SUMMIT (ANALYSIS), moved at 1911, by Caren Bohan, 800 words)

BERLIN - European leaders who traveled to Washington seeking an ambitious overhaul of the world financial system came away cheered by chunky G20 communique, but implementing the long list of reforms will be more difficult than compiling it (FINANCIAL/SUMMIT-EUROPE (ANALYSIS), moved at 1806, by Noah Barkin, 700 words)

BEIJING - Global financial turmoil will take a toll on China's economy, but the country's financial system is strong enough to ride out the storm, according to deputy central bank governor Yi Gang (CHINA-ECONOMY/PBOC, moved at 0337, 400 words)

ANALYSES

SYDNEY - Australians are anxious to know if they will avoid recession and are turning to some unexpected, unofficial economic indicators to find answers (AUSTRALIA-ECONOMY/INDICATORS (ANALYSIS), moved at 0317, by Mark Bendeich, 650 words)

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES - A global credit crisis and a steep slide in prices of solar panels has sent makers of the clean energy source reeling, but the damage done to share prices presents an opening for investors to buy (SOLAR/ (ANALYSIS), moved at 1734, by Matt Daily and Nichola Groom, 900 words)

ECONOMY AND RESOURCES

TOKYO - Japan slid into its first recession in seven years in the third quarter as the financial crisis curbed demand for Japanese exports, and the economy minister and analysts offer little hope of a recovery until next year (FINANCIAL/JAPAN (UPDATE 4), expect by 0900, by Leika Kihara, 700 words)

WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy is in recession and will contract at a faster pace in the fourth quarter, extending the decline into early 2009 as high unemployment crimps consumer spending, a survey shows (USA-ECONOMY/OUTLOOK, moved at 0502, by Lucia Mutikani, 600 words)

SYDNEY - Australian retail sales barely grew last quarter as conservative consumers stayed at home to cook rather than spend at restaurants, data shows, supporting the case for yet more interest rate cuts (AUSTRALIA-ECONOMY/ (UPDATE 1), moved at 0149, by Wayne Cole, 700 words)

HAVANA - China's President Hu Jintao travels to Cuba on Monday for a close-up look at the government of new President Raul Castro, a fellow Communist struggling to lead his island nation through the devastating effects of three hurricanes and the international financial crisis (CUBA-CHINA/ (PREVIEW), moved at 1226, by Marc Frank, 700 words)

JAKARTA - Indonesia's economic growth likely eased in the third quarter to its slowest pace in nearly two years on high interest rates and slowing global demand for its commodities such as palm oil and rubber (INDONESIA-ECONOMY/GDP, expect by 0730, 250 words)

ASIA-PACIFIC COMPANIES

SHANGHAI - China's biggest airlines, including the parent of flag carrier Air China, are seeking government aid as they face hefty losses this year from high costs and weak demand, industry sources say (AIRLINES/CHINA (UPDATE 2), expect by 0800, by Fang Yan, 600 words)

TOKYO - Shares of Mitsubishi Estate Co and other big Japanese property firms tumble after a newspaper survey shows rents for new office buildings in Tokyo drop for the first time in six years (PROPERTY/JAPAN, moved at 0438, 450 words)

SEOUL - Shares in top South Korean technology names fall as investors take note of Nokia's warning on Friday of a weakening global cellphone market (TECH-KOREA/, moved at 0234, by Marie-France Han, 500 words)

TOKYO - Japan's Sharp Corp considers cutting LCD panel production as a global downturn hits LCD TV demand, but says will press ahead with plans to spend $3.9 billion to build a cutting-edge panel factory (SHARP/, moved at 0418, 250 words)

JAKARTA - Indonesia's Bakrie & Brothers Tbk says its planned $1.3 billion sale of a stake in coal miner Bumi Resources Tbk to private equity firm Northstar Pacific may be adjusted (BAKRIE-INDONESIA/ (UPDATE 1), moved at 0602, by Harry Suhartono, 400 words)

SYDNEY - Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, which relies solely on sales of iron ore to China's steel sector, denies a report it was in talks to sell a stake in the company to a Chinese sovereign wealth fund (CIC-FORTESCUE/DENIAL (UPDATE 1), moved at 0506, 400 words)

OTHER COMPANIES

WASHINGTON - U.S. automakers should consider executive shake-ups if it would ensure congressional backing for a bailout supporters say is needed to prevent industry collapse, an architect of the effort says (AUTOS/BAILOUT (UPDATE 1), moved at 2206, by John Crawley and Paul Eckert, 750 words)

ATLANTA - As the U.S. Congress debates legislation to help struggling automakers, many Americans say they were uneasy with the plan, arguing that while it may save jobs, it would reward companies for pursuing bad business practices (AUTOS/BAILOUT-OPINIONS, moved at 0600, by Matthew Bigg, 600 words)

NEW YORK - Goldman Sachs Group Inc says its Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein and six other top officials will not get bonuses for 2008 (GOLDMANSACHS/BONUS (UPDATE 2), moved at 2359, 400 words)

CHICAGO - United Parcel Service Inc, the world's largest package delivery company, will not issue a peak shipping volume forecast for the coming holiday season, saying that the current economic environment makes it difficult to issue an accurate projection (UPS/PACKAGES-FORECAST, moved at 0501, by Nick Carey, 300 words)

FEATURES

MUMBAI - A global credit crisis that has felled large investment banks and prompted multi-billion dollar bailout packages is also hurting unlikely victims half a world away: small south Asian businesses dependent on microfinance (MICROFINANCE/ (BUSINESS FEATURE), moved at 0003 Monday, pix, by Rina Chandran, 1,100 words)

SYDNEY - Amid a blaze of publicity, Australia rolls out its most expensive ever movie on Tuesday, hoping the grandly named epic "Australia" will attract overseas investors to revive the local film industry and also tourists