Business Report at 0635 GMT

REUTERS BUSINESS REPORT

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

(All times GMT)

TOP HEADLINES

SYDNEY - Australia cuts rates, global stocks sag amid crisis

TOKYO - BoJ acts to ease funding squeeze for firms

TOKYO - Toyota to cut bonuses, output as sales slump

TOP STORIES

SYDNEY - Australia cut rates by a full percentage point and Japan's central bank tries to make it easier for companies to access vital year-end funding, as policymakers scramble to contain the worsening global downturn (FINANCIAL/ (TOPWRAP 2), expect by 0700, by Wayne Cole, 850 words)

See also: AUSTRALIA-ECONOMY/ (WRAPUP 2), moved at 0508, by Wayne Cole, 700 words

TOKYO - The Bank of Japan unveils measures to ease an acute squeeze on corporate funding at an emergency meeting, as a poll shows manufacturers' confidence falling at its sharpest pace on record, fuelling debate about rate cuts (FINANCIAL/JAPAN (WRAPUP 2), expect by 0900, by Hideyuki Sano, 600 words)

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp says it will cut management bonuses by 10 percent as the global economic slowdown bites hard and prompts it to reduce production further in Japan (TOYOTA/ (UPDATE 3), expect by 0800, 500 words)

MARKETS

HONG KONG - Asian equities slide after signs of a deepening global economic slump slammed stocks worldwide the previous day, driving benchmark U.S. Treasury yields to their lowest since the 1950s (MARKETS-GLOBAL (WRAPUP 2), expect by 0700, by Eric Burroughs, 700 words)

TOKYO - The yen slips after touching a five-week high versus the dollar, dented by selling from Japanese investors even as Asian shares follow U.S. stocks down on deepening economic gloom (MARKETS-FOREX/ (UPDATE 2), expect by 0700, by Satomi Noguchi, 600 words)

SINGAPORE - - Oil slides to a 3-½ year low under $48, extending the previous day's sharp drop on growing signsthe global economy is in worse shape than expected and after OPEC opts to delay talks on further output cuts (MARKETS-OIL (UPDATE 2), expect by 0730, by Annika Breidthardt, 500 words)

SINGAPORE - Dollar overnight funding rates dip slightly in Asia while staying well above last month's near-zero rates as banks brace for customary funding strains at the end of the year (MARKETS-MONEY/ (WRAPUP 1), moved at 0547, by Vidya Ranganathan, 700 words)

ANALYSES

TOKYO - Even after 14 years in the white-knuckle world of stock trading, Ken Masuda doesn't sound like a big risk-taker -- at least when he talks about his own cash (ASIA-CREDIT/ (ANALYSIS), moved at 0532, by David Dolan, 900 words)

SEOUL - Deteriorating financial markets, looming corporate failures and a falling capital base could trigger the first major shake-up of South Korea's banking industry since the Asian financial crisis a decade ago (BANKS-KOREA/, expect by 0900, by Kim Yeon-hee, 650 words)

SYDNEY - When governments set out to borrow more it can give investors indigestion, but in Australia's case hungry bond-buyers would welcome a deeper hole in state finances and the safe, but rare, debt it brings (BONDS-AUSTRALIA (ANALYSIS), moved at 0553, by Cecile Lefort, 700 words)

KUALA LUMPUR - The dramatic plunge in palm oil prices offers a chance for Asia's leading cash-rich planters to take over smaller holdings that mushroomed in the past two years to ride the boom but are now struggling to survive (PALMOIL-ASIA/ (ANALYSIS), expect by 0900, by Niluksi Koswanage and Soo Ai Peng, 700 words)

WASHINGTON - Automakers seeking government help return to Congress this week with a new message but facing the same hurdles they failed to clear in November -- a proposal that can be sold to enough lawmakers and a White House long skeptical of bailing out the distressed industry (AUTOS-BAILOUT/CONGRESS (ANALYSIS), moved at 0239, by John Crawley, 650 words)

See also: AUTOS/BAILOUT (WRAPUP 1), moved at 0047, by Kevin Krolicki and John Crawley, 1,000 words

ECONOMY AND RESOURCES

BEIJING - China's top economic policy makers will convene next week to plot how to secure growth of at least 8 percent in 2009, government officials say (CHINA-ECONOMY (UPDATE 2), moved at 0455, by Shen Yan, 600 words)

TOKYO - Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) will increase term crude oil supplies to many major Asian customers next month, sources say, but traders add it seems unlikely the UAE is reneging on its OPEC obligations (ADNOC-CRUDE/ALLOCATIONS (UPDATE 2), expect by 0700, by Osamu Tsukimori and James Topham, 600 words)

SEOUL - South Korea says it may need to lower its economic growth forecast for the next year amid a global recession, further fanning expectations of an aggressive interest rate cut by the central bank next week (FINANCIAL/KOREA, moving shortly, by Seo Eun-kyung and Cheon Jong-woo, 600 words)

HANOI - Vietnam has told farmers to refrain from expanding coffee plantations to new land next year to try to avoid boom-and-bust planting cycles following price fluctuations, an Agriculture Ministry official says (VIETNAM-COFFEE/ (UPDATE 1), moved at 0441, by Ho Binh Minh, 400 words)

COMPANIES

BEIJING - Suffering from a slumping housing market, Chinese developers are scrambling to find new ways to keep the cash flowing in and creditors at bay, with anything from factories to timeshares in their sights (CHINA-DEVELOPERS, 700 words, expect by 0800, by Dominic Whiting)

SINGAPORE - Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) will buy Temasek's 70 percent stake in Singapore Food Industries (SFI) in a deal valuing the food company around S$478 million ($316.3 million) (SINGAPOREFOOD/ (UPDATE 1), moved at 0620, 300 words)

TAIPEI - Shares of Taiwan chip makers tumble after sector leader TSMC cut its sales forecast for the fourth quarter, blaming weaker shipments caused by the global economic slowdown (TSMC/HOTSTOCK (UPDATE 3), 500 words, expect by 0700)

SYDNEY - Papua New Guinea's giant Ok Tedi copper mine has sold out all its production in 2008 and 2009, the mine's managing director said on Tuesday, adding the operation was running profitably despite sharply declining metals prices (PNG-MINE/ (UPDATE 1, INTERVIEW), moved at 0554, by James Regan, 550 words)

TAIPEI - Market researcher IDC cut slightly its forecast on global shipments of LCD TVs this year due to the economic slowdown, but it expects the shipments to grow about 15 percent next year as lower prices would spur fresh demand (IDC/FORECAST, 300 words, expect by 0800, by Baker Li)

FEATURES

LONDON - From Britain to China, governments and retailers are dreaming up innovative ways to persuade people to part with cash that bankers won't lend. For the shopper who has cash to spare, Christmas looks like being a reasonable deal (FINANCIAL/RETAIL-CONSUMERS (BUSINESS FEATURE), moved at 0004, pix, by Mark Potter, 1,100 words)

TOKYO - University students in the world's second-largest economy could face a rude awakening as the global financial crisis hits Japan, prompting firms to cut graduate recruitment (JAPAN-JOBS (BUSINESS FEATURE), moved at 0003, pix, by Chisa Fujioka, 900 words)

ORLANDO, Fla. - The storm buffeting the U.S. economy threatens to swamp the $175 billion corporate meetings industry as companies seek to cut back on the number of conferences they hold (FINANCIAL/MEETINGS (BUSINESS FEATURE), moved at 0003, pix, by John Buchanan, 800 words)

CAIRO -The tough economy, not the environment, is leading a growing number of drivers in Egypt to switch to compressed natural gas as the cost of even heavily subsidised petrol rises beyond what many can afford (EGYPT-GAS