US Markets - Wall Street stocks closed mostly higher on Friday, for a fourth consecutive session, as hopes for further interest rate cuts and a nascent plan to help subprime borrowers lifted a range of financial companies and homebuilders.

However, the technology sector again showed some weakness after Dell's quarterly results disappointed.

This week's rally brought to an end a tempestuous month for US stocks, with the major indices posting their biggest monthly falls since the end of 2002.

Underscoring the extreme volatility plaguing equities, the poor November performance came in spite of an exuberant final week. Blue-chip stocks posted their best weekly advance since March.

The see-sawing market sentiment emphasised the dilemma facing harried investors who must decide whether credit market turmoil is set to plunge the US economy into recession or whether policymakers can help stave off a downturn.

Fears of an impending slowdown spurred a bumper trade in recession-proof stocks this month, including a range of companies in the consumer staples, healthcare and utilities sectors.

Retailers enjoyed a good week but fell sharply over the month amid fears of a poor holiday shopping season. Transport stocks also fared well this week after crude oil prices fell sharply but the sector, an economic bell-wether, was still lower for the month.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 1,481.14 on Friday, and ended the week 2.8% higher. However, the index was down 4.4% for the month, its worst monthly performance in almost five years.

The Dow Jones Industrial average was up 3% this week at 13,371.72, its biggest weekly advance in eight months, but was still down 4% in November.

The Nasdaq Composite, 6.0% down at 2,660.96 this month, was particularly disappointing in light of technology's previous market leadership this year. Confidence waned in the sector's ability to ride out a downturn in US corporate spending.

Concerns about corporate profitability have added to pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

Stocks soared this week after first Donald Kohn, the Fed vice-chairman, and then Ben Bernanke, chairman, hinted that the Fed will ease US rates next month. The dovish case was helped by data which showed a smaller-than-expected rise in consumer spending.

Mortgage-related stocks soared on Friday on reports that Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, was close to announcing a plan to help borrowers facing mortgage resets.

Countrywide Financial rose by 16.3% to $10.82 on Friday after Fox-Pitt, Kelton upgraded the shares predicting “significant upside through 2009 as the mortgage market begins to normalise”. However, the shares were still down 30.3% for the month.

Among November's worst performers were Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage agencies. Both stocks rallied this week after Freddie sold $6bn in preferred stock to shore up capital levels, but the lenders were down 32.9% at $35.07 and 32.6% at $38.42 respectively for the month.

The homebuilder sector of the S&P sank 21.3% in November, one of its worst monthly falls on record, amid burgeoning mortgage delinquencies and high levels of unsold homes.

Although the stocks rose sharply on Friday, Pulte Homes was down 31.1% at $10.22 for the month while Lennar fell 30.7% to $15.84.

Banking stocks rose sharply this week amid early signs that financial companies are able to raise capital to shore up balance sheets punctured by credit-market losses. However, the S&P investment bank sector was down 10.9% on the month.

The leading banks this week closed their books for the year, amid fears of further write-downs and trading losses. Citigroup, which announced a $7.5bn capital injection from Abu Dhabi's investment arm, was down 20.5% at $33.30 on the month, while Morgan Stanley fell 21.6% to $52.72 this month.

In technology Dell's shares fell 19.8% to $24.54 for the month after its quarterly results missed Wall Street expectations amid concerns about weak sales to US consumers.

European Markets - European shares recovered lost ground this week, boosted by rising hopes of that US interest rate cut.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 3.4% over the week to 1,526.59 points, but markets were still down over the month.

So let's look closer country-by-country and start this week with Belgium where in Brussels Shares closed higher as lower oil prices and comments from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke boosted optimism on Wall Street and across Europe.

At the close the Bel 20 was up 59.97 points or 1.46 points at 4162.50.

Delhaize closed up 2.45 Eur or 4.29% at 59.5 following an upbeat presentation to investors yesterday. Brokerage Petercam raised its rating to 'buy' from 'add' and Citigroup reiterated its 'buy' recommendation and 70 Eur target price.

Peer Colruyt closed up 4.93 Eur or 3.37% at 151.23. After market close the group posted first-half to September 30 net profit of 143.  million Eur, up from 132.9  million over the same period last year and raised its full year outlook to 276  million Eur from 274  million.

Agfa-Gevaert rose 0.26 Eur or 3.56% at 7.56 after the imaging and technology group appointed Jo Cornu as new chief executive.

KBC was up 1.79 Eur or 1.92% at 95.00. KBC Asset Management said it has bought a 45% stake in Taiwanese Sunrise Asset Management Co Ltd for an undisclosed sum; peer Dexia added 0.52 Eur or 2.87% to 18.63.

Suez inched up 0.28 Eur or 0.62% at 45.19. The company said it believes there is scope for an additional nuclear power plans in France but rival EDF disagrees, according to press reports.

In negative territory, Fortis was off 0.21 Eur or 1.13% at 18.31. JP Morgan Chase & Co has reduced its stake in Belgo-Dutch financial services group Fortis NV to 2.48% from 3.60%, as from Nov 22, Euronext Brussels said.

Outside the Bel 20, Tessenderlo was up 0.10 Eur or 0.27% at 37.65 after Bank Degroof upped its rating to 'accumulate' from 'hold' on confidence after its yearly analyst meeting this week.

Next door in The Netherlands Amsterdam markets followed suit and ended the day in positive territory.

The AEX closed up 5.67 points or 1.13% at 507.58 after opening at 502.85 and reaching a midafternoon high of 509.87.

Vedior provided the news of the day, soaring 38.21% to 17.0 after the company confirmed it was in friendly talks with Randstad. Randstad closed down 0.58% to 32.48 on fears the company will have to fund the potential takeover by putting out a share issue. Midcapper USG People surged 10.10% to 18.75 in the wake of the takeover news.

TomTom rose 4.26% to 64.80.

TNT put on 4.21% to 27.99 Eur amid news of a trade union agreement in Germany which would allow the coalition government to set a minimum wage in the postal sector.

Among tech-related issues, ASML added 2.95% at 23.73 and Philips put on 1.49% to 28.66 after UBS initiated the stock at 'buy', with a 34 Eur per share target price.

ING strengthened 1.26% to 26.51 while fellow financial Aegon added 1.67% at 12.21.

Fortis meanwhile turned down 1.13% to 18.30 Eur after the banking group said it intends to offer up to 2.5  billion Eur in convertible securities to help finance its acquisition of ABN Amro assets.

Among chemicals and Pharma related issues, Akzo Nobel rose 1.55% to 52.40 and DSM advanced 0.47% to 34.01 after Crucell said it had contacted the company for the process validation and manufacturing of rabies antibody batches for phase III clinical efficacy studies. Crucell jumped 5.42% to 12.77 after the company said the results of the second clinical evaluation of its rabies monoclonal antibody cocktail were positive, enabling the prompt progression towards phase II studies.

ArcelorMittal gained 1.55% to 50.41 Eur after the company said it plans to double capacity at its integrated long products Monlevade plant in Brazil's Minas Gerais State.

Among oils, SBM Offshore put on 0.64% at 23.76, Royal Dutch Shell went 0.84% higher to 27.57 and Fugro closed up 4.44% to 56.19.

Local issue Kardan edged 0.31% higher to 13.51, after the company came out with strong third-quarter sales.

Among AEX decliners, Corporate Express fell 1.30% to 6.06 Eur after initially rising on news the company is buying Denmark's Moller & Landschultz.

Unibail-Rodamco slid 1.22% to 153.63, Unilever shed 0.17% to 24.14 and Hagemeyer slid 0.43% to 4.66.

On the midcap, BAM lost 0.55% to 16.36 amid news that the company has won an order to build 400 sustainably-warmed homes in The Netherlands.

CSM was off 0.29% to 24.13, Wessanen went 0.54% lower to 11.14 and Stork was down 0.06% to 47.76.

In France, Paris shares were always going up in line with the whole Region. The CAC-40 index finished up 72.46 points or 1.29% at 5,670.57.

Among CAC-40 stocks, 33 closed higher and 7 closed lower. On the Matif, December CAC-40 futures were trading at 5,692.50.

On the broader indices, the SBF-80 index closed up 65.74 or 1.03% at 6,458.75 and the SBF-120 ended 51.01 or 1.26% higher at 4,105.41.

Alcatel-Lucent was the biggest gainer on the CAC-40, gaining 0.27 or 5.08% to close at 5.58 Eur as bargain-hunters snapped up the stock.

The group also announced it plans to double the capacity at its integrated long products Monlevade plant in Brazil.

CEO Lakshmi Mittal said the expansion is part of the group's recently announced growth plan aimed at increasing shipments by 20% by 2012 through organic growth.

Sanofi-Aventis also fared well, ending 1.97 or 3.13% higher at 65.01.

The pharmaceutical company said it and Astellas Pharma will restructure their Japanese joint venture FSA, with the result that Sanofi-Aventis will get certain rights to insomnia drug Myslee while the venture's other drugs, notably Primperan, Dogmatyl and Gramalil, will be sold exclusively by Astellas, Sanofi-Aventis said.

Sanofi's research chief Marc Cluzel also said it is prepared to make acquisitions or partnerships with biotech companies as it aims to double or triple by 2012 the proportion of drugs it produces using biotechnology.

Banking stocks were among the day's better performers after JP Morgan issued a positive note, saying that stock market losses had largely exceeded the depreciation of assets caused by the sub-prime crisis, and that it does not expect capital increases to be necessary to cope with losses arising from the crisis in 2008.

Credit Agricole gained 0.72 or 3.09% to 24.02, Dexia was up 0.52 or 2.87% at 18.63, Societe Generale gained 2.89 or 2.81% to close at 105.58 and BNP Paribas was 1.51 or 2.00% higher at 77.15 at the close.

Vinci rose after Goldman Sachs added the stock to its 'conviction buy list', ending the session 1.49 or 2.81% higher at 54.47.

As part of a review of the European construction sector, the broker noted that Vinci would continue to have the most potential upside, despite worsening macroeconomic conditions.

Outside the CAC-40 ADP gained after it announced an increase in main airport fees of 3.8% for 2008, which will boost sales. The stock closed 2.51 or 3.32% higher at 78.00.

Analysts at CA Cheuvreux reiterated a '2 Outperform' rating and 88 Eur target, saying the proposed increase is 30 basis points below the maximum possible, but traffic is growing faster than expected.

Schneider Electric also gained, ending the session 1.72 or 1.84% higher at 95.38 as investors welcomed the surprise announcement of organic revenue guidance for full-year 2008.

Schneider Electric last night issued a statement following a presentation to analysts saying it expects to achieve organic sales growth of 6-8% in 2008 on the basis of current conditions in its markets.

On the downside, EDF lost 2.60 or 3.03% to close at 83.10 following an announcement overnight by President Nicolas Sarkozy that the government is to sell a 3% tranche of the state's 87.3% stake, smaller than anticipated by the market.

Natixis analysts said the sale of the stake, worth around 5  billion Eur, 'is not likely to give EDF access to the principal European indices.'

By law the French state can lower its holding in EDF to 70% and the 'technical effect expected by the market is not likely to be as favourable as anticipated.'

CM-CIC analysts said the market has 'for several weeks been betting on a 10-15% placing.'

Sarkozy made the announcement in a televised interview last night, saying the proceeds will be invested in the French university system and set no timetable for a sale.

EDF shares were floated in December 2005 at 32 Eur and have increased by 168% since then and by 55% since January alone.

EDF and Italy's Enel today also signed an agreement at the Franco-Italian summit in Nice that will allow Enel to take a 12.5% stake in the first new-generation nuclear reactor being developed by EDF at Flamanville with an option on a further five plants.

Saint-Gobain ended the session 0.50 or 0.74% lower at 67.25, reversing some of yesterday's gains of over 2%. These were because of an increase in investment company Wendel's stake combined with hopes of a rate cut, traders said yesterday.

In Frankfurt, more good news to end the week as German shares closed higher with Deutsche Boerse and Commerzbank leading the way among advancers on the back of higher prices on Wall Street.

The DAX ended up 105.33 points or 1.36% at 2870.52 after trading between a high of 7894.47 and a low of 7771.77.

The MDAX gained was at 9865.49, up 149.25 points or 1.54% while the TecDAX was up 19.44 points or 2.04% at 970.22.

DAX futures were up 110.00 or 1.41% at 7901.50 while bund futures were off 0.58 or 0.50% at 114.32.

Deutsche Boerse rose 6.67 Eur or 5.49% at 128.22, making it the best performer on the blue chip board.

Financial stocks were also among the major winners, led by Commerzbank, up 1.13 or 4.35% at 27.10. Hypo Real Estate was up 0.66 at 36.23 while Deutsche Bank gained 1.43 at 89.79.

Metro, down 1.25 or 1.98% at 61.79, was the biggest loser, followed by RWE, down 0.03 or 0.03% at 93.38. These two stocks were the only one in negative terrain on the DAX30.

Dealers said Metro's fall could be attributed to the disappointing retail sales figures released by the German statistics office for the whole industry.

The German statistics office announced that retail sales declined 3.3% in real terms in October compared with September. Markets had been looking for only a modest decline in sales in October.

ThysseNKrupp was up 1.63% at 4.22% at 40.30 ahead of next Tuesday's publication of its full year results to Sept 30, 2007. Analysts said the company's net profit is expected to have grown 27.81% to 2.18  billion Eur on the back of significantly higher steel prices.

Deutsche Post was higher 0.48 or 2.11% at 23.21, continuing to profit from a German government announcement yesterday that it has decided to expand its minimum wage agreement to the whole postal industry, narrowing cost advantages of rivals.

Infineon gained 0.22 Eur or 2.75% to 8.23 after UBS initiated coverage of the chip maker with a 'buy' recommendation and a price target of 10.4 Eur. It said its unit Qimonda will exit production of 200 millimetre wafers at its Dresden site from March 1.

On the MDAX, K+S rose 9.96 or 7.70% at 139.28 while Hochtief fell 2.81 or 3.02% at 90.19.

IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG added 0.51 or 6.42% at 8.46. German finance minister Peer Steinbrueck said the government will sell its 38% shares in IKB as quickly as possible but also only for a 'good' price.

Conergy was up 2.28 or 8.87% at 72.98 while Versatel lost 0.73 or 3.26% at 21.63.

Moving North into Switzerland now where Zurich's market closed sharply higher in quiet pre-weekend trade, with the SMI continuing its recent good run, supported by fresh buying interest for UBS and Holcim.

At the close, the Swiss Market Index was 93.89 points, or 1.1%, higher at 8,828.36, just off today's high at 8,849.37, while the Swiss Performance Index was up 84.82 points at 7,154.69.

The Euro rose against the Swiss franc to 1.6572 SFr, while the Dollar was up at 1.1268 SFr.

Sentiment was once again benign, with the SMI closing in positive territory for a seventh consecutive day, underpinned by UBS's continued recovery.

Shares of the Swiss banking giant closed up 3.6% or 2 SFr at 57.20, even though Bear Stearns earlier today cut UBS to 'peer perform' while lowering its estimates for the bank.

In a note to clients, Bear Stearns said it expects UBS will have to make further write-downs against its gross exposure -- which currently stands at 43.2  billion usd -- and has increased those it expects to be taken in the fourth quarter to 3  billion usd from 2  billion usd, and now assumes writedowns in 2008 of a further 5  billion usd.

Rival Credit Suisse, which was also cut to 'underperform', added 1.3% or 0.85 SFr to 68.15.

Major gainers also included Holcim, which gained 3.7%, or 4.20 SFr, to 121.80, as was Syngenta, which added 6.75 to 278.50 SFr.

Adecco was up 1.9%, or 1.20 SFr, at 63.10, with traders citing short covering by hedge funds.

The share had risen sharply earlier today driven by speculation that Adecco might acquire Dutch rival Vedior.

However, the company later confirmed that it is in merger talks with domestic competitor Randstad.

Pharmaceuticals underperformed for once, with Novartis up 0.05 SFr at 64.35, and Roche up 1.40 at 215.50 SFr.

Fellow heavyweight Nestle fell 4 to 543 SFr, the market's biggest decliner.

Neighbours Austria also saw Vienna Shares close on a positive note as Austrian Airlines tracked steep sector gains, Oesterreichische Post shares surged on a ratings increase, and positive sector sentiment helped index heavyweights Erste Bank and OMV to post solid gains.

The ATX closed up 1.54% or 67.85 points at 4,471.83. The ATX Prime closed 1.49% or 31.30 points higher at 2,125.46.

Austrian Airlines led gainers on the ATX, rising 9.90% to 5.77 Eur as the carrier took part in the strong upswing among airline stocks on the back of declining oil prices and M&A activity in the sector. Media reports suggested that Austrian Airlines will soon announce new appointments to its management board.

Oesterreichische Post shares surged 9.79% to 23 Eur on news that Bear Stearns hiked its rating to 'outperform' from 'peer perform'.

The positive results reported by a study on Intercell's Japanese Encephalitis vaccine JE2 helped lift the company's shares by 5.54% to 25.90 Eur.

Steel stock voestalpine ended trading 4.93% higher at 50.01 Eur, tracking the upswing among its peers on rumours that South Korea's Posco is mulling a bid for ThysseNKrupp.

Shares in Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield rose 1.90% to 62.66 Eur. Domestic broker Raiffeisen Centrobank today confirmed its 'hold' rating, stating that the stock's current share price level suggests that the promising outlook for the oil services sector has already been priced in.

BWIN gained 1.37% at 23.76 Eur on news that UniCredit raised its rating to 'buy' from 'sell' and that Dresdner Kleinwort reiterated its 'buy' recommendation and target price of 30 Eur. The online gaming stock had surged 12.9% on Thursday.

Positive sentiment in the banking and energy sectors helped lift trading in index majors Erste Bank and OMV, which rose 1.62% to 49.65 Eur and 1.12% to 48.55 Eur, respectively. A OMV board member today said that the final decision on whether the Nabucco gas pipeline will go ahead has been put back until early next year.

Strabag SE inched up 0.02% to 48.50 Eur, as trading in the construction stock remained largely unmoved by the company's nine-month results.

A-TEC led decliners on the ATX, slumping 2.91% to 91.60 Eur. The stock remained well above its closing price of 86.50 Eur last Friday, thanks to the strong gains it posted during the course of the week.

Telekom Austria closed down 1.09% at 20 Eur after Credit Suisse cut its recommendation to 'underperform' and lowered its target price to 18 Eur.

Shares in Flughafen Wien slipped 0.79% to 77.10 Eur. JP Morgan today initiated coverage with a 'neutral' rating and 80 Eur target price, while EgyptAir announced it would make the Vienna airport its hub for Eastern and Northern Europe.

Into Scandinavia now and starting with Finland where Helsinki shares rose in line with regional markets. The main indices rose for the third straight session though ended off session highs, with forestry stocks getting a boost from news of capacity cuts by a competitor that could help bolster paper prices in Europe.

Sharp gains for Amer Sports and Rautaruukki also helped lift the OMX Helsinki 25, the top stocks index which closed up 1.12% at 3,121.32. It had hit a high of 3.138.74 in late afternoon trade.

The broader OMX Helsinki index climbed 0.97% to 11,910.56, with volume in line with recent averages at just over 1.4  billion Eur.

UPM-Kymmene rose 2.70% to 14.43 Eur and Stora Enso 2.09% to 11.26 Eur.

Abitibi-Bowater said last night it will reduce its newsprint and commercial printing papers production capacity by about 1 million metric tons per year beginning in the first quarter of 2008.

Analysts said the move is positive news for European newsprint producers as overproduction in North America has put downward pressure on prices in Europe.

Nokia, almost ten times more traded than UPM and Stora, gained 1.00% to 27.27 Eur, the stock showing little reaction to news that Ed Zander of rival Motorola is stepping down as chief executive. He will be replaced by chief operating officer Greg Brown.

Amer Sports rose 3.56% to 18.63 Eur and Rautaruukki 4.20% to 32.28 Eur, while other major gainers included Wartsila, up 2.75% at 52.30 Eur, and Outokumpu, up% at 3.33% at 22.02 Eur.

Metso added 1.53% to 37.09 Eur, aided by news it has won an order to supply a power boiler to Stora Enso's Langerbrugge Mill in Belgium. The value of the contract was not disclosed, but Metso said such orders are typically worth between 50-90  million Eur.

Neste Oil gained 0.80% to 23.96 Eur, after dropping 2% yesterday. The refiner said it will build the world's largest renewable diesel plant in Singapore at a cost of 550  million Eur.

Packaging maker Huhtamaki put on 3.18% to 8.75 Eur after being upgraded to 'accumulate' from 'reduce' at Helsinki-based brokers eQ Bank on valuation grounds, with an unchanged target price of 9.40 Eur.

Defensive stock Fortum dropped 0.78% to 29.38 Eur, while TietoEnator shed 3.42% to 14.67 Eur to undo yesterday's rise.

Norway saw Oslo shares continue the trend.  Share prices closed higher, led up by DNO after the firm said its Tawke find may hold significantly more oil than previously thought, and by Norske Skog and Tandberg Data, while Tandberg Storage continued lower, and Aker Kvaerner fell on disappointing 2008 guidance, dealers said.

The OSEBX Benchmark index closed 5.29 points higher at 492.83 and the OSEAX All Share index rose 6.07 points to 572.79.

Total turnover amounted to 16.91  billion NKr.

DNO closed 1.15 NKr higher at 9.99 after the group said its Tawke find in Northern Iraq is likely to hold significantly more oil than previously thought, dealers said.

The well capacity of Tawke is now up to about 90,000 bpd, after a series of recent tests achieved average flow rates of 23,000 bpd, up from 19,685 bpd in the third quarter.

StatoilHydro added 0.4 to 180. The group's recent oil find at production license 265 in the Sleipner area of the North Sea is likely to hold between 5-10  million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil.

Global Geo Services (GGS) rose 0.01 to 1.42 after the group posted widening losses at both the operating and pretax levels for the third quarter, on a combination of foreign currency losses and a writedown of its seismic libraries.

For the third quarter, GGS posted an operating loss of 48.2  million NKr, widening from 22.2  million last year, while pretax loss widened to 70.0  million from 41.9  million a year ago.

The Norwegian drilling-to-seismic firm blamed the result on foreign currency losses related to hedging transactions, which has left it with an unrealised financial loss of 24.6  million for the third quarter. On top of this, GGS said it has written-down the value of its seismic library by 28.3  million NKr.

Reservoir Exploration Technology (RXT) was unchanged at 61. Parkmead Group said it has bought a 0.84% stake or 215,400 shares in the marine geophysical company for 1.1  million stg.

Petroleum Geo-Services shed 0.25 to 159.

Seadrill was 1.5 higher at 120.5 after the group posted better-than-expected third-quarter results and confirmed that its newbuild programme remains on track, dealers said.

Seadrill posted third-quarter operating profits ahead of expectations on surging demand for its offshore vessels, although pretax earnings slumped below forecasts on rising debt and the negative impact of a weaker US Dollar.

Carnegie, which has an 'outperform' recommendation on Seadrill, said it has upgraded its 2009 earnings estimates by 3% following yesterday's results.

Subsea 7 shed 4.5 to 127.5. Goldman Sachs cut its rating on Subsea 7 to 'neutral' from 'buy' as part of a review of the energy sector. The broker cut its target for Subsea 7 to 150 NKr from 165 and said the group only sports an average upside potential and is trading at a premium to shares in Acergy.

Acergy fell 7.5 to 118.5 as Carnegie cut its price target on the stock following yesterday's weaker-than-expected guidance for 2008, dealers said.

Yesterday afternoon Acergy issued a 2008 revenue target of 3.0  billion usd, below the 3.1  billion usd figure the market had been expecting. The firm also reported a 2007 sales guidance of 2.7  billion usd, slightly lower than the 2.7 to 2.8 previously given, citing some operational problems.

Carnegie said it has cut its price target on the stock to 120 NKr from 155 following the weaker guidance. 'We'll cut EBITDA for 2007-09 by 5-6%,' the broker said.

Morgan Stanley, which has the stock at 'overweight', cut its target price to 180 NKr from 220. DnB NOR Markets cut its target for Acergy to 160 NKr from 175, while repeating its 'buy' stance.

Jinhui Shipping was up 1.5 at 67.5. Yesterday, the stock rose after the shipping company issued a bullish statement on its prospects despite posting third-quarter results below expectations.

The stock was helped by further rises in the Baltic Dry Index over bulk freight rates, which added 1.2% today.

Norske Skog climbed 4.75 to 39.85 after key competitor AbitibiBowater said it will reduce its newsprint and commercial-printing paper production capacity by about one  million tonnes a year during the first quarter of 2008, dealers said.

Yara International rose 10.5 to 211.

Tandberg Data was up 0.25 at 2.12, recovering from recent falls that were driven by fears that unless short-term funding is found soon, the firm could be forced into baNKruptcy.

Tandberg Data, which specialises in IT hardware, is the distributor and only customer of Tandberg Storage, which extended recent falls, shedding 0.01 to 1.13.

Tandberg rose 3.25 to 124.5 and Telenor was up 1.5 at 128.75.

Aker Kvaerner fell 13.5 to 158.25 after analysts expressed disappointment at the engineering firm's 2008 guidance, despite 'encouraging' targets for 2009-10.

Aker Kvaerner said at its annual capital markets day in Oslo it is targeting an EBITDA margin of 9-11% by 2010, up from 7% last quarter, as part of a bullish set of operational targets for the 2008-10 period.

The engineering firm added its sales in 2008 are likely to be in line with this year, before rising to an annual growth of between 8-10% between 2009-10.

Earnings per share growth is seen at between 15-20% annually between 2008-10, while capital expenditure for investments, excluding potential acquisitions, is expected to be in the range of 1.0-1.2  billion NKr.

Analysts said they were 'slightly disappointed' by the nearer-term guidance.

Aker Kvaerner was awarded a 105  million NKr deal to supply steel tube umbilicals to Woodside Petroleum's Pluto field. Delivery is scheduled for July 2009.

Aker Yards rose 0.5 to 85.5 and Norsk Hydro added 2.5 to 76.5.

Schibsted was up 2 at 252. The group is selling its office building in Copenhagen for 110  million DKr, giving a fourth-quarter accounting gain of about 70  million DKr.

Orkla fell 0.5 to 10.25, while Renewable Energy Corporation was 11 higher at 272, Storebrand rose 2.3 to 62 and DnB NOR added 1.9 to 86.9.

Sweden continued the trend and in Stockholm Shares closed higher on continued bargain hunting after recent losses, with truck maker Scania and defence group Saab leading the market higher.

The OMX Stockholm index closed up 0.88% at 359.20, while the OMX Stockholm 30 index closed up 0.69% at 1,106.71. Turnover was 30.57  billion SKr.

The main sub-indices movers today were technology hardware & equipment, down 1.26%, while banks were up 1.43%, and industrials were up 1.44%.

The major movers within these indices were Ericsson B, down 1.64% at 15.60, SEB A, up 2.89% at 178, and Scania B, up 4.23% at 160.

Saab B closed up 5.01%, still benefiting from positive sentiment created recent order wins.

TeliaSonera closed up 0.41% at 60.75. Russia's Alfa Group's Altimo telecoms holding company said all parties involved in the dispute over the ownership of Russia's fast-growing Megafon mobile operator (in which TeliaSonera has a 44% stake), have agreed to end all court actions and renounce legal claims against each other.

Altimo's now holds an undisputed 25.1% stake in Megafon, while Bermuda-based IPOC owns 8%.

And rounding out the Nordic arena this week we go to Copenhagen where, not surprisingly, markets also closed on a positive note for the week.

Share prices closed higher, led up by DS Norden and DS Torm on firm bulk and oil transport rates, while AP Moller-Maersk fell on target price cuts, dealers said.

The OMXC20 index closed 2.21 points higher at 471.76 and the OMXCB Benchmark index rose 4.66 points to 451.08.

The OMXC All Share index closed 3.54 points higher at 454.84 on turnover of 4.32  billion DKr.

DS Norden closed 13 DKr higher at 552 and DS Torm rose 6.75 to 196, lifted by firm bulk and oil transport rates, dealers said.

The Baltic Dry Index over bulk freight rates added 1.2% today, while oil transport rates have strengthened in the past days, dealers said.

Sydbank said in a note to investors following Norden's third-quarter report yesterday that it expects the shipping group's high earnings level to continue into 2008 driven by the attractive development of the dry bulk market. Sydbank repeated its 'overweight' stance on the stock.

AP Moller-Maersk A fell 1,200 to 59,800 and the B-shares shed 700 to 60,700. According to newswire RB-Boersen, ING cut its target price for the stock to 55,000 DKr from 65,000, and S&P Equity Research, which conducts share analyses for Nordea Bank, cut its target on Maersk to 65,000 DKr from 72.000.

Vestas Wind Systems was up 11.5 at 484, extending yesterday's rise, which was driven by progress made by a new US bill that is seen benefiting suppliers to renewable energy, such as Vestas, dealers aid.

GN Store Nord rose 0.5 to 39.5. The group restated its earnings following its decision to retain its GN ReSound hearing aid unit, which it previously tried to sell to Swiss peer Sonova before the deal was blocked by German anti-trust authorities.

In the restated report for the third quarter, operating profit is 59  million DKr, up from a loss of 33  million, and sales are 1.428  billion DKr, down from 1.513  billion.

In the third-quarter report released on Nov 6, GN Store Nord posted operating profit of 12  million DKr, up from a 128  million DKr loss a year earlier. The group's sales came in at 673  million DKr, down 5% from a year earlier.

Peer hearing aid maker William Demant Holding added 13.5 to 463.

Elsewhere, Novo Nordisk B rose 7 to 647, Coloplast added 5 to 475, Lundbeck shed 2 to 146.5, Carlsberg B was up 6 at 649, Royal Unibrew added 28 to 586, Danisco was unchanged at 376, Novozymes fell 13 to 557, Danske Bank rose 1.75 to 204.55, Topdanmark added 22 to 765, TrygVesta was 6.5 higher at 399 and FLSmidth closed up 16 at 516.

Warming up a little, we now go to the Med' where in Greece Athens' shares closed sharply higher, buoyed by positive international market sentiment and led up by soaring blue chips as the nine- month corporate results release period came to a close.

The ASE general index rose 1.5% to 5,050.1, lifted by the blue chip index which soared 2% to 2,700.8 after the last blue chips announced solid nine month corporate results. Mid caps fell 0.4% to 6,138.4, weighed by several weak nine month corporate results in the construction sector. Small caps jumped 2.1% to 1,036.3.

Advancers outnumbered decliners 142 to 106 while 80 remained unchanged in modest trade of about 400  million Eur.

National Bank of Greece grew 5.5% to 45.9 Eur. After the close of trade yesterday, it said that its nine-month net profits rose 66% to 1.313  billion Eur, which was above expectations. Deutsche Bank raised its target price to 55 Eur from 52 Eur following the results, while UBS said it remains its top pick in the Greek banking sector.

Electricity utility Public Power Corp jumped 3% to 33.48 Eur after the Greek Ministry of development announced that its has approved tariff increases and a mechanism to adjust for international fuel prices.

Construction holding company Hellenic Technodomiki reversed early gains and dropped 3.8% to 9 Eur on profit taking. Yesterday, it announced solid nine month results where its net profits jumped 131.2% year-on-year to 105.8  million Eur.

Telecom incumbent Hellenic Telecoms (OTE) shed early gains and closed just 0.1% higher at 24.72 Eur. OTE has recently announced nine month results in line with expectations, has agreed to sell Infote for 300  million Eur and is nearing the 90pct squeeze out right for its purchase of Cosmote's minorities. Additionally, Thomson Financial News reported that OTE is currently under-fire by the press and political parties for hiring the minister of labour's daughter in a temporary position.

Lottery operator OPAP gained 0.5% to 26.56 Eur. Its target was upped to 32 Eur from 31 Eur at HSBC Pantelakis Securities and its rating kept at 'buy' on the broker's optimistic outlook on its new CEO's plans.

Bottler Coca-Cola HBC rallied late in the session on buying and grew 6.9% to 29 Eur.

Construction and holding company GEK fell 2.2% to 10.7 Eur after it reported that its nine-month net profits rose 77.8% year-on-year to 22.2  million Eur.

Construction holding company Technical Olympic fell 1.2% to 0.82 Eur after it announced that it booked a net loss of 400.8  million Eur in the first nine months of 2007, down from a 16.7  million Eur net profit in 2006, on weak US operations.

Defence and technology company Intracom dropped 3.2% to 3.66 Eur after it said its nine month net losses decreased to 24.9  million Eur from 27  million Eur booked in 2006.

Neighbours Italy saw the Milan market close higher, supported by the impact of lower oil prices in boosting the wider economy.

The Mibtel index rose 1.01% to 29,837 points and the S&P/Mib gained 0.97% to 38,975.

Volume traded was an estimated 6.243  billion Eur.

Brokers said speculation of a US interest rate cut continues to support shares, with latest US economic data not contradicting this speculation.

One broker said it being the last day of the month was another positive factor, with investors looking to boost month-end valuations.

In the construction sector, Impregilo was up 3.85% to 4.51 Eur. Italcementi rose 1.28% to 14.16 and Buzzi Unicem was up 1.82% to 18.95.

Atlantia rose 2.65% to 25.97, which brokers said was a rebound after recent weakness on latest regulatory queries on tariffs. However, they added the size of the bounce was unjustifiably large.

Among banks, Unicredit gained 2.48% to 5.825. Intesa Sanpaolo rose 1.23% to 5.45. BMPS added 0.05% to 3.825. BPM was up 2.01% to 9.905.

In the insurance sector, Unipol rose 2.36% to 2.65, buoyed by prospects of an extraordinary dividend decision shortly.

Generali fell 0.13% to 31.35.

Energies were in focus, including on developments at the Italy/France summit meeting in Nice where Enel signed an agreement with EDF on cooperation and access to EDF capacity in France.

Enel was up 0.31% to 8.19.

Brokers said the content of the Enel deal was widely discounted and welcome all the same after three years of talks.

One broker said the deal is tipped in Enel's favour.

Terna was up 0.08% to 2.675. The grid operator reached a deal on expanding interconnections with its French counterpart.

Eni gained 1.25% to 24.37. The company announced an agreed deal with the UK's Burren Energy. The 1,230 pence Sterling price is in line with the 1,200-1,300 deemed acceptable by analysts.

One broker said Burren will add further production for Eni, offsetting ongoing demands from the Kazakh government on the Kashagan field.

Saipem was down 2.10% to 27.50, reacting to the oil price fall.

Alitalia lost 0.72% to 0.818. Italy's prime minister Romano Prodi said Air France-KLM is one of three candidates to take control of the airline.

Telecom Italia rose 0.49% to 2.1725. One broker said likely new management has political support with new CEO Franco Bernabe seen closely allied to Prodi.

Gemina ended down 2.08% to 1.411, off its lows, after being suspended during the morning ahead of a statement on a S&P credit rating downgrade at its Aeroporti di Roma unit.

Penultimately in Europe, we go to Portugal where in Lisbon Shares closed higher, in line with positive sentiment in major European markets, as conglomerate Sonae, pulp stocks and media group Impresa led gainers.

The PSI 20 index closed up 56.21 points at 13,120.68, after trading in a range of 13,069-13,207.

Equities opened higher, thanks to overnight strength in Asian markets, and extended gains over the morning, supported by buying in Sonae, BCP and EDP. In the afternoon, shares added to midday gains but then declined around the close.

Sonae gained 0.04 Eur or 1.99% to 2.05, after the group's nine-months to September net profit, released last night, beat analysts' estimates.

At a conference call this afternoon, Sonae's CEO Paulo Azevedo said that a Cushman & Wakefield's about 212  million Eur valuation of the assets of its soon to be spun off Sonae Capital unit is about 70  million Eur higher than the valuation of the same assets by Portuguese banks involved in the spin-off operation.

In the same group, Sonae Industria climbed 0.18 or 2.37% to 7.78, while Sonaecom rose 0.03 to 3.84.

Pulp stock Altri rose 0.20 or 3.49% to 5.92 after BCP hiked the pulp and paper stock's year-end 2008 price target to 7.25 Eur per share from 6.95 Eur for year-end 2007, reiterating its 'buy' stance.

Peer Portucel gained 0.08 or 3.42% to 2.42, while Portucel's parent Semapa was up 0.23 or 2.34% at 10.07.

Among other gainers, small cap media stock Impresa was up 0.10 or 4.95% at 2.12 on follow-through buying after its investor day yesterday. Traders also said that the media group was recovering from recent underperformance.

In the energy sector, heavyweight EDP edged up 0.01 to 4.61, recovering slightly from declines Thursday.

Galp was up 0.04 at 14.81 after analysts were positive on press reports this morning that the company plans to join a consortium exploring a further three oil prospecting blocks in Angola.

Jeronimo Martins shed 0.03 to 5.49, after the retailer's new earnings targets to 2010 were released this morning. Dealers said much of the good news was already factored in the price.

Among banks, blue chip BCP was flat at 2.99. An official source at BCP declined to comment on reports that chairman Jorge Jardim Goncalves plans to announce his resignation from the bank's supervisory board on Dec 4.

In the same sector, Banco BPI shed 0.02 to 5.44, while BES was up 0.18 at 15.88.

Outside the PSI 20, Mota Engil subsidiary Martifer rose 0.11 to 8.65, after press reports citing the chairman confirming the group's plans to enter the Indian market for metallic structures in 2008.

Mota Engil rose 0.02 to 5.18.

And last but by no means least in Europe this week we head to Madrid where Spain's bourse closed higher, boosted by a late end of month rally, with banking stocks leading the pack, while Iberia remained firm as the M&A angle heated up again.

The IBEX-35 index closed up 103.30 points at 15,759.90, after trading in a range of 15,643-15,799.

Equities opened higher, boosted by a firm close in the US and Asia and as US futures climbed amid increasing hopes for a rate cut there.

The market remained overall firm into the afternoon, with the banks still the main drivers, but just shortly before the close dipped into negative territory on some light profit-taking.

This was short lived however, as some late end-of-month trades fuelled fresh gains on the IBEX-35 to the close.

Banesto was the bank in the limelight today, up 0.85 Eur or 5.88% at 15.30, after a local press report said Merrill Lynch sees the possibility of Banesto and peer Bankinter merging, in a defensive move by Bankinter core shareholder Jaime Botin.

Bankinter closed up 0.52 or 3.75% at 14.37, as the battle for control between Botin and Credit Agricole continued to excite investors.

Amongst other financials, BBVA was up 0.15 at 17.01, Santander was up 0.10 at 14.64, as market watchers weighed up where the banking giant might make its next acquisition, and Popular put on 0.16 to 12.10.

Insurer Mapfre gained 0.13 or 4.35% to 3.12.

Other blue chips were firm, with Telefonica up 0.03 at 22.91 and Repsol YPF rising 0.28 to 25.18, extending yesterday's gains.

Iberia was also a favourite, up 0.12 or 3.87% at 3.22, on reports that Caja Madrid is looking to negotiate with parties interested in bidding for the airline, as well as that Air France-KLM is the Gala consortium's preferred industrial partner.

Other gainers today included Abertis, up 0.63 at 22.88, FCC up 1.45 at 57.75, NH Hoteles, adding 0.47 to 13.67, REE up 1.77 at 42.18 and Enagas 0.93 higher at 20.58.

BME put on 1.24 to 48.87, on the news it has bought a 10% stake in the new Columbian Central Counterparty (CCP), which aims to guarantee the success of buy and sell orders on stock markets.

Main losers included Antena 3, down 0.12 at 10.47, extending recent losses on expectations the stock will leave the IBEX-35 index from Jan 2.

Other media issue Sogecable was down 1.29 at 24.18, after a downgrade to 'sell' from 'neutral' at Goldman Sachs with a target price cut to 21 Eur from 27.

Inditex saw profit-taking after recent gains, down 2.63 at 47.62.

Other small and mid cap gainers included Avanzit up 0.55 at 6.14, and Grifols, 0.72 higher at 15.81, on hopes it will replace Antena 3 in the IBEX-35 from 2 January 2008.

UK Market - Recruitment consultants were in focus on Friday on hopes the sector could be entering a period of consolidation.

The catalyst was news that Randstad and Vedior, two Netherlands staffing groups, were in discussions about a merger, prompting talk that the market leader Adecco could respond by launching a bid for Hays in the UK.

Rumours that the Swiss group was considering a 180p-a-share offer sent Hays 2.2% higher to 127¼p while its rival Michael Page gained 5.6% to 326¾p. SThree lost 2.4% to 195¾p as a trading update disappointed.

In the wider market, hopes of a cut in US interest rates before the year-end helped the FTSE 100 rally for a third successive session. The main index ended 1.3%, or 83.4 points, higher at 6,432.5 while the mid-cap FTSE 250 rallied 0.8%, or 84.1 points, to 10,748.8.

The rally helped the main index to a weekly gain of 2.7% while the mid-caps rose 2.1%.

The mining sector was driven by continued M&A speculation, with Vedanta Resources up 5.1% to £23.04 in spite of denials that it was in talks with the Chinese.

Anglo American rose 4.2% to £32.86 on continued speculation of bid interest from Xstrata, up 3.2% at £34.19.

Bank stocks rebounded at the end of a week in which Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley reassured the market about their financial strength. A&L rose 6.4% to 730p; B&B fell 0.7% to 300.75p.

Cazenove on Friday incr­eased its exposure to the UK banking sector by adding Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS to its FTSE 100 model portfolio in anticipation that next year would bring a “less hostile operating environment than current valuations imply”.

A late rally helped Northern Rock close up 1.1% at 118p in spite of reports that its borrowing from the Treasury was approaching £30bn and rumours that JC Flowers was ready to end its interest in the troubled lender.

Another bank, Standard Chartered, was the biggest blue-chip gainer, up 6.6% at £19.14, ahead of it being added Friday night to the MSCI global index, which is closely followed by fund managers. Also added to the index was Tullow Oil, up 5.6% to 671p.

As new figures showed that consumer confidence fell to its lowest level for four years, consumer-facing stocks came under selling pressure.

Diageo lost 2% to £10.93, Marks and Spencer dropped 1.8% to 583½p, Enterprise Inns slid 1.8% to 532p and Whitbread eased 1.5% to £14.41.

Kingfisher fell 3.4% to 152.3p as Investec reiterated its “sell” on the owner of the B&Q home improvement chain.

David Jeary, analyst, wrote: “[Kingfisher] shares continue to trade at a premium to the sector, reflecting recovery hopes. Our view of the UK housing market and consumer spending suggest this is unlikely in 2008.”

Concerns about consumer confidence were behind the fall in BSkyB, down 1.5% at 625p. Goldman Sachs said the perception that European pay-TV was a defensive play against a consumer slowdown was “essentially untested” and slashed its stance on the stock from “neutral” to “sell”.

Mitchells & Butlers lost 1.4% to 577p as ABN Amro downgraded the All Bar One owner from “buy” to “hold” and said it was unconvinced by proposals to spin off M&B's pubs into a real estate investment trust.

Colt Telecom created early excitement as reports that AT&T had offered up to 250p-a-share for the business telecoms group sent its shares as high as 209p.

A swift denial from Colt ended the story, but Cazenove said a deal would help AT&T fulfil its European ambitions. Colt was the leading mid-cap gainer, up 28% at 182¼p.

Burren Energy rose 9.4% to £12.49 after agreeing a £1.7bn takeover from ENI of Italy. Seymour Pierce said the £12.30-a-share offer was fair and it did not anticipate a counter bid.

Japan & Asia Pacific - Most Asian stock markets extended their gains for the second day Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reinforced the possibility of a further cut in US interest rates next month, a move that could help the world's biggest economy avoid a recession.

The Chinese stock market bucked the rally in Asia as huge initial public offerings diverted market liquidity.

Japanese shares closed higher Friday as investors snapped up stocks on a weaker Yen.

The blue-chip Nikkei 225 Stock Average finished up 166.93 points or 1.1% at 15,680.67, off a high of 15,751.20 and a low of 15,520.53. The Nikkei gained 5.3% over the week.

The broader TOPIX index was up 17.41 points or 1.2% at 1,531.88. It gained 6.6% over the week.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 1,229 to 406, with 84 issues unchanged.

Volume traded rose to 2.62 billion shares from 1.95 billion Thursday.

During the course of a volatile November the Nikkei shed more than 2,000 points to hit a 16-month intra-day low of 14,669.85 on Nov 22. It ended the month with a loss of more than 1,050 points.

Stocks were higher across a broad front, with the iron and steel, nonferrous metals and shipping sectors the most notable gainers.

Nippon Steel rose 33 Yen or 5.2% to 665 and Mitsubishi Materials was 28 Yen or 5.3% higher at 554. Mitsui OSK Lines was up 88 Yen or 5.6% at 1,651.

Banking shares turned higher, with Mizuho Financial Group up 12,000 Yen or 2.1% at 595,000, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group up 31,000 Yen or 3.4% at 951,000 and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group 13 Yen or 1.2% higher at 1,089.

Fujitsu was 10 Yen or 1.3% lower at 777 after the Nikkei newspaper reported that the electronics maker plans to join forces with Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs to develop a chip that will be the core technology of the next generation of wireless broadband communications.

Nippon Sheet Glass was up 15 Yen or 2.5% at 605 Yen after the Nikkei reported that the company has stopped producing glass substrates for liquid crystal display televisions because of declines in prices and the financial burden of up-front investment.

Sony was down 30 Yen or 0.5% at 6,010, after gaining for five consecutive days on news that a Dubai investment company is buying a stake.

South Korean shares closed higher Friday, with the key KOSPI index regaining the 1,900-point level for the first time in two weeks.

The KOSPI closed up 28.44 points or 1.5% at 1,906.00, after trading between 1,884.92 and 1,918.12. The closing level was the higher since it reached 1,926.20 on Nov 16.

The benchmark index finished the week with a 7.5% gain.

Volume traded reached 330 million shares worth 6.5 trillion Won.

Gainers beat decliners 568 to 231, with 73 issues unchanged.

Institutions were net buyers of shares worth 440.3 billion Won, while retail investors were net sellers of 488.3 billion Won-worth and foreign investors were net buyers of 38.8 billion Won-worth.

Heavy industry and steel stocks rallied on strong institutional support.

Hyundai Heavy rose 5,000 Won or 1.1% to 470,000 Won and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard added 5,500 Won or 1.8% at 319,500 Won.

STX Shipbuilding surged 5,200 Won or 9.3% to 61,000 Won after securing a contract worth 264 million Dollars to build four product carriers for a ship owner in the Middle East.

POSCO climbed 10,000 Won or 1.7% to 587,000 Won.

Woori Finance gained 450 Won or 2.6% at 17,700 Won on reports that a consortium including the company has been named as the preferred bidder for a South Korean insurer, LIG Life Insurance.

Hynix Semiconductor rose 1,400 Won or 5.7% to 25,900 Won, extending solid gains into a second session after the WTO ruled that Japan's punitive tariff on memory chips made by Hynix are a violation of international trade rules.

Samsung Securities fell 900 Won or 1.0% to 89,600 Won on news of a raid by prosecutors on the brokerage's headquarters as part of their investigation of the entire Samsung Group following allegations of bribery. The group's flagship, Samsung Electronics, dipped 2,000 Won or 0.4% to 565,000 Won.

Hong Kong share prices closed Friday higher as optimism surged for an interest rate cut next month by the Fed to bolster the US economy and avert a recession.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 161.07 points or 0.6% at 28,643.61, off a high of 28,792.30 and a low of 28,436.71.

The index gained nearly 8.0% this week after tumbling for three successive weeks in November.

Volume was thin at 10.1 billion shares worth 116.5 billion Hong Kong Dollars.

Local property stocks continued to take the lead on optimism for lower borrowing rates and higher demand for homes in the city.

The property sub-index was up 426.88 points or 1.1% at 38,179.32.

Lower interest rates may encourage Hong Kong citizens to withdraw their deposits and invest the funds in real estate and other assets, said Alex Tam, research analyst at CSC Securities HK Ltd.

Analysts are expecting a 15-20% increase in residential property prices over the next year, driven by higher demand and tight supply.

Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd, billionaire Li Ka-shing's flagship property company, advanced 2.40 Dollars or 1.7% to 146.30 Dollars.

Wharf, the ports-to properties conglomerate gained 3.10 Dollars or 7.2% at 45.90 Dollars.

Losses in market heavyweights HSBC Holdings and Bank of China limited the benchmark index's gains.

Shares in HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, fell 20 Hong Kong cents or 0.2% to 132.10 Dollars, after Moody's cut its rating outlook on the stock to 'stable' from ' positive'.

The rating agency said the revision reflects the deterioration in the intrinsic financial strength of HSBC's US operations, most notably HSBC Finance Corp. The stock also came under pressure from news that Lehman Brothers International (Europe) has cut its stake in Europe's biggest bank to 3.48% in five days after raising it to 4.09% last week, according to reports on Friday. Investors did not rush to exit HSBC, although it has been plagued by subprime woes in the US, as the bank is seen posting strong growth in its Asia-Pacific and Middle-East businesses.

Local banks surged on optimism of further rate cuts. Hong Kong-based lenders have cut their lending rate by 75 basis points this year. Their loan growth tipped 14% in the nine months period, helped by the higher number of initail public offerings on the local bourse and high demand for realty.

Bank of East Asia rose 80 cents or 1.7% to 47.35 Dollars, while BOC Hong Kong gained 59 cents or three% to 20.35 Dollars.

Bank of China slid following small gains on Thursday as Temasek's share sale weighed on sentiment.

The stock was five cents or 1.2% lower at 4.05 Dollars, having lost nearly 4.5% since the market's close on Monday when Temasek, Singapore government's investment arm, sold shares worth 571 billion US Dollars in the mainland lender.

Shares in China Cosco Holdings Ltd reversed course in the afternoon, closing 65 cents or 2.3% higher at 29 Dollars, after Merrill Lynch raised its target price on the stock to 38 Hong Kong Dollars as it expects record breaking net profit for the company in the second half of 2007 and 2008.

China A-shares closed sharply lower, with investors locking in profits from yesterday's rally amid liquidity fears prompted by a major wave initial public offerings.

Among the imminent IPOs are China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd (CPIC), which plans to issue 1  billion A-shares in Shanghai. The securities regulator will review the insurer's IPO plan on Monday.

Heavyweights such as PetroChina, China Life and Baosteel dragged down indices.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 131.56 points or 2.63% at 4,871.78, ending the week down 3.19%.

Turnover fell to 70.50  billion RMB from 81.20 in the previous session.

Next week, the subscription period opens for Hong Kong-listed China Shipping Container Lines Co Ltd, which plans to issue up to 2.337  billion A-shares in Shanghai.

Last week, the Shanghai Composite Index lost more than 5% when China Railway Group Ltd locked up a record 3.383 trln RMB worth of IPO share applications.

PetroChina, the heaviest weighted stock, closed down 1.53 RMB or 4.63% at 31.52, after hitting a new low of 31.50. It failed to hold on to yesterday's gains after falling in the previous eight trading days.

China Life Insurance Co Ltd, the country's largest life underwriter, lost 1.60 RMB to 54.83.

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China Ltd fell 1.25 RMB to 108.73. It surged 7.45% yesterday after announcing that its Ping An Life unit acquired a 4.18% stake in Benelux financial company Fortis Group for 1.81  billion Eur.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gave up early gains and closed down 0.03 RMB at 7.99. The lender's fund joint venture, ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management Co Ltd, said it has Won regulatory approval to launch its first fund product under China's Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme.

China B-shares closed sharply higher following sustained gains on Wall Street amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month.

Sharp gains in large property firms such as Vanke helped boost major indices.

The Shanghai B-share Index rose 12.23 points or 3.70% to 343.01 on turnover of 1.37  billion usd and the Shenzhen B-share Index rose 26.25 points or 3.95% to 690.91 on turnover of 820.64  million hkd.

In Shenzhen, China Vanke Co Ltd surged 2.02 hkd or by the 10% daily limit to 22.17.

China Merchants Property Development Co Ltd rose 2.95 hkd to 34.00.

In Shanghai, Shanghai Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone Development Co Ltd gained 0.208 usd to 2.368.

Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal Co Ltd rose 0.806 usd to 9.216.

The FTSE/Xinhua China B 35 Index was up 613.51 points at 11,578.99.

In Taiwan, markets also rose on Friday.

The weighted index closed up 139.37 points or 1.65% at 8,586.40, after moving in the range of 8,499.23 and 8,590.63.

Turnover was 131.92  billion twd.

For the week, the index is up 244.20 points or 2.93%.

Risers led decliners 1,525 to 581, with 358 stocks unchanged.

A total of 47 stocks closed limit-up, while 30 were limit-down.

The transport sector was up 3.90%, food sector jumped 3.58%, construction sector gained 3.58%, cement increased 2.98%, electronics rose 1.64% and financials added 1.53%.

The Taiwan Dollar ended the morning session at 32.258 to the US Dollar, compared with the previous close of 32.300.

Asia Cement closed up 2.80 twd or 6.33% at 47.00, Uni-President Enterprises rallied 1.7 twd to 41.75 and Evergreen Marine was limit-up 1.80 twd or 7% at 27.70.

Cathay Financial Holdings rose 2.30 twd to 72.40, Shin Kong Financial Holdings gained 0.80 twd to 25.55; and U-Ming Marine was limit-up 5.60 twd or 7% at 86.40 on strong interest in conglomerates.

Novatek Microelectronics shed 5.00 twd or 3.76% to 128.00 while Cheertek was limit-up 1.90 twd or 7% at 29.40 after the companies announced that they will merge via a share swap. The swap ratio represents a premium of nearly 30% for Cheertek.

Winbond Electronics, which owns 26% of Cheertek, rose 0.44 twd or 5.02% to 9.21.

United Microelectronics, which owns about 11% of Novatek, added 0.15 twd to 19.30.

Far EasTone Telecommunications fell 0.30 twd to 42.00 after forecasting 3.44  billion twd in parent pretax profit for the fourth quarter, compared with 3.49  billion achieved in the third.

President Chain Store rose 1.00 twd to 87.50 after it said its e-commerce joint venture with Japan's Rakuten, which is due to start in the second quarter of 2008, should post a profit in 2009.

Among other gainers, TSMC gained 0.60 twd to 60.60; Hon Hai Precision Industry was steady at 206.00, MediaTek advanced 16.50 twd or 4.07% to 421.50, Powerchip Semiconductor surged 0.70 twd or 5.96% to 12.45, and AU Optronics rose 1.50 twd to 62.50.

In Manila, the Philippine market was closed for a Holiday.

Malaysian shares closed mixed Friday, but the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) was higher on the listing of the world's largest palm oil grower, Sime Darby.

Sime Darby is the product of an 11 billion Dollar merger between three oil palm growers and their subsidiaries. The shares wield the biggest influence on the KLCI, with a market capitalisation of 65.977 billion Ringgit. The Malaysian stock market is capitalised at 1.12 trillion Ringgit.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 22.66 points or 1.7% at 1,396.98, off a high of 1,408.32. For the week, the KLCI was up 43.43 points or 3.2%.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30 large-cap index gained 195.46 points or 2.2% to 8,945.05 but the FTSE Bursa Malaysia second board index was down 45.24 points or 0.7% at 6,699.01.

Decliners led gainers 469 to 339, with 289 counters unchanged and 228 untraded.

Volume was 970.322 million shares valued at 2.602 billion Ringgit. The value of shares traded is the highest since November 16.

Sime Darby closed up 2.10 Ringgit or 23.6% at 11.00 Ringgit. It traded to a high of 12.10 Ringgit in early deals, up 36% from its reference price of 8.90 Ringgit.

The country's third largest cellular operator DiGi.com was the other winner today, jumping 1.85 Ringgit or 7.7% to 25.75 Ringgit. KNM, which fabricates process equipment for the oil and gas industry, was up 50 sen or 8.3% at 6.55 Ringgit.

Among decliners, IOI Properties dropped 70 sen or 4.9% to 13.70 Ringgit, while gaming stock Tanjong was down 40 sen or 2.3% at 17.10 Ringgit.

Brewer Guinness Anchor declined 40 sen or 7.1% to 5.25 Ringgit after reporting its first-quarter net profit rose 16.3% to 43.106 million Ringgit.

National carmaker Proton gained 2 sen or 0.6% to 3.60 Ringgit ahead of the release of its second-quarter results. After the market close, the company said it made a net profit of 3.506 million Ringgit from a loss of 250.343 million. Sales rose to 1.307 billion Ringgit from 1.275 billion.

PPB Group dropped 30 sen or 2.9% to 10.00 Ringgit. The company said third-quarter net profit rose 32.8% to 218.51 million Ringgit due to higher contribution from associate company Wilmar International Ltd.

Among index heavyweights, state-run Telekom Malaysia was down 20 sen or 1.8% at 10.80 Ringgit, while national power company Tenaga added 20 sen or 2.2% to 9.25 Ringgit. Maybank, the largest banking group in the country by asset, was down 20 sen or 1.7% at 11.40 Ringgit.

Thai share prices closed higher on Friday, supported by hopes for another US interest rate cut in early December.

Sentiment was also firm in line with gains across the region.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index rose 1.64 points or 0.19% to 846.44, and the blue-chip SET-50 index added 1.32 points to 622.63.

Losers led gainers 161 to 154, with 121 stocks unchanged on turnover of 2.1 billion shares worth 19.7 billion Baht.

The Thai Baht was quoted at 33.84-85 to the Dollar, unchanged from Thursday. Against the Euro, the Thai currency finished at 49.90-50.00 from 49.80-50.00.

Thailand's top energy firm PTT rose 6.0 Baht to 380.00, but its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production was unchanged at 152.00. Thai Oil added 1.50 to 86.00.

The kingdom's top lender Bangkok Bank fell 2.00 to 115.00.

Thai Airways International lost 1.00 to 36.75, but the kingdom's biggest mobile phone operator, Advanced Info Service, increased 1.50 to 92.50.

Indonesian shares closed lower Friday as investors opted to lock in gains in late trade ahead of the release of November's consumer inflation data on Monday.

The composite index closed down 11.49 points or 0.4% at 2,688.33, off a high of 2,733.94.

The LQ-45 index was down 2.78 points at 591.87. For the week, the main index gained 103.98 points or 4.0%.

Decliners led gainers 108 to 76, with 59 stocks unchanged.

Volume was 6.53 billion shares valued at 6.92 trillion Rupiah.

The Indonesian Rupiah was trading at 9,365/9,375 to the US Dollar, compared to 9,375/9,385 late Thursday.

Index heavyweight Telkom fell 350 Rupiah or 3.3% to 10,150, while its rival, Indosat, dropped 200 Rupiah or 2.4% to 8,300.

Astra International fell 800 Rupiah or 3.1% to 25,000, off a high of 26,750, Timah lost 850 Rupiah or 3.3% to 25,000, after rising to 26,400 and oil and gas company Energi Mega edged down 20 or 1.5% to 1,350 Rupiah.

Coal producer Bumi Resources gained 50 Rupiah or 0.9% to 5,650, off a high of 6,100, its peer Bukit Asam added 300 Rupiah or 2.5% to 12,100 and gas distributor Perusahaan Gas Negara rose 350 Rupiah or 2.5% to 16,900. Nickel miner Inco rose 750 Rupiah or 0.8% to 94,250.

Plantation company Astra Agro surged 1,550 Rupiah or 6.5% to 25,450, oil and gas company Medco Energi rose 100 or 1.9% to 5,400 Rupiah and United Tractors edged up 100 Rupiah or 0.9% to 11,250.

Bank Mandiri was up 25 Rupiah or 0.7% at 3,550, off a high of 3,600 and Bank Rakyat Indonesia gained 200 Rupiah or 2.6% to 7,800.

Singapore share prices closed higher Friday, tracking regional market gains.

The benchmark Straits Times Index advanced 43.05 points or 1.2% to close at 3,521.27, off a high of 3,536.91 and a low of 3,496.10.

Trading volume was 2.0 billion shares valued at 3.0 billion Singapore Dollars.

Gainers beat decliners 488 to 278, with 948 stocks unchanged.

Volumes of stock market trade normally tend to dwindle toward the end of the year, preventing a broad-based market rally, especially as investors this time are likely to be sidelined by fears of a possible US recession.

At the end of Friday trade, banking shares were higher, with DBS Group up 30 Singapore cents at 20.10 Dollars, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp up 5 cents at 8.50 Dollars and United Overseas Bank up 30 cents at 19.80 Dollars.

Select property stocks have mostly recovered from recent losses, with City Developments up 10 cents at 14.40 Dollars and CapitaLand up 5 cents at 7.0 Dollars. Keppel Land was steady at 7.50 Dollars.

Singapore Airlines slipped 10 cents to 7.90 Dollars. The national carrier announced plans to raise fuel surcharges by Tuesday to cope with soaring jet fuel prices.

Among other blue chips, Singapore Telecommunications added 6 cents to 3.78 Dollars and ST Engineering rose 4 cents to 3.78 Dollars.

SembCorp Marine closed 4 cents higher at 4.40 Dollars, extending recent gains after the company filed a criminal complaint against former group finance director Wee Sing Guan. SembCorp is blaming Wee for the 303 million US Dollars of potential foreign exchange losses for the company as a result of allegedly unauthorized transactions.

COSCO Corp (Singapore), a bulk shipping operator that owns a shipyard in China, jumped 65 Singapore cents or 10.1% to 7.10 Dollars after Credit Suisse initiated coverage of the company with an 'outperform' rating and a target price of 7.90 Singapore Dollars per share.

Credit Suisse said it is expecting an increase of about 32% in COSCO's net order book to 12.5 billion Dollars next year on the assumption that it will get a 10% share of new bulk carrier orders and 3% of new container ships contracts received by Chinese shipyards in 2008.

China-based shipbuilder Yangzijiang Shipbuilding also gained 3 cents to 1.98 Dollars after Credit Suisse started coverage of the company with an 'outperform' rating and a target price of 2.45 Dollars, on expectations of strong earnings through to 2010, given the healthy expansion in its order book.

Indian shares finished the month with an advance of nearly 2%, as hopes about a Fed rate cut in December were further supported by better-than-expected GDP data for the second-quarter.

India's GDP for the quarter ended September slowed to 8.9% from 10.2% recorded a year earlier, but which, according to analysts and economists, is better than was expected.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex rose 1.89% or 359.93 points to 19,363.19, led by gains in banks and software companies, while the National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty was up 2.27% at 5,762.75 points.

Among the BSE 30, 26 shares gained and 4 lost. In the broader market 1,747 shares advanced, 1,050 declined and 63 were unchanged.

State Bank of India rose 1.34% to 2,300.30 Rupees after winning government approval for selling shares through a rights issue.

Software exporters gained on bottom-fishing after being heavily battered during the month on US economic growth concerns and a weakening Dollar.

Software bellwether Infosys Technologies Ltd rose 2.19% to 1,604.05 Rupees. For the month, the company's shares are down 13.36%.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, a larger peer, gained 3.81% to 1,013.95 Rupees, while Wipro Ltd advanced 2.18% to 460.30 Rupees. For the month, Wipro is down 9.69%.

Tata Steel Ltd rose 2.94% to 825.70 Rupees after the company said it has entered into an agreement with Riversdale Mining Ltd for a special purpose joint venture to develop a hard coking and thermal coal project at key coal exploration tenements held by Riversdale in Mozambique.

GMR Infrastructure Ltd rose 3.02% to 254.50 Rupees. A newspaper reported it will participate in the bidding process for privatisation of the state-run airport in Prague. The company also said its Vemigiri power plant located in the southern Indian city of Rajahmundry will start generating power Jan 2008 onwards.

Punj Lloyd Ltd, another infrastructure player, rose 7.36% to 509.95 Rupees after the company said its subsidiary, Sembawang Engineers and Constructors Pte Ltd, has been awarded architectural, civil and structural work at the proposed Bayfront MRT station in Marina Bay, Singapore, for 12.72  billion Rupees.

And now 'Down Under' where New Zealand shares closed little changed Friday after losses in Fletcher Building offset gains in Telecom and a positive lead from overseas markets.

The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 3.65 points to close at 4,062.89 on heavy turnover worth 313.5 million New Zealand Dollars.

Fletcher Building slid 37 cents to 11.85 Dollars, Telecom was up 5 cents at 4.32 Dollars and Contact Energy lost 4 cents at 8.70 Dollars.

Vector rose 19 cents to 2.38 Dollars, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 12 cents at 3.51 Dollars and Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 6 cents at 3.42 Dollars.

Pay television operator Sky TV was down 7 cents at 5.56 Dollars, Auckland Airport lost five cents at 2.84 Dollars and Sky City was flat at 4.79 Dollars.

Tower rose 10 cents for the second straight day, closing at 2.22 Dollars, after saying Thursday it will pay its first dividend in five years.

Australian shares closed higher Friday for the second session in a row after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke suggested another interest rate cut might be on the way, lifting sentiment in the market.

Volume traded was 2.3 billion shares worth about 11.31 billion Australian Dollars. The heavier than normal volume was due to the expiry of exchange-traded options in the previous session.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 716 to 538, with 355 unchanged at the close.

The yield on the 10-year bond rose 0.015percentage point to 5.97%, while the yield on the 90-day bills was up 0.007percentage point at 7.247%.

Among resource majors, Rio Tinto surged 5.94 or 4.3% to a record 145.19 Dollars while its rival BHP Billiton was 98 cents or 2.3% higher at 42.98 Dollars.

BHP's proposed three-for-one share offer for Rio Tinto has been rejected by the miner and investors now expect BHP to return with a higher bid.

The major banks, with the exception of National Australia Bank, extended recent gains.

Commonwealth Bank gained 1.36 Dollars or 2.3% to 59.65 Dollars, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group advanced 51 cents or 1.8% to 28.16 Dollars and Westpac was up 73 cents or 2.6% at 28.33 Dollars.

National Australia Bank was down 78 cents or 2% at 38.30 Dollars amid concerns about the bank's acquisition of Great Western Bank in the US.

Banking and insurance group Suncorp Metway fell 38 cents or 2% to 18.68 Dollars after its investment team walked out to join Wilson HTM Investment Group's subsidiary Pinnacle Investment Management.

Publishing and broadcasting group Fairfax Media managed a 1 cent gain to 4.74 Dollars after reporting a strong trading performance in the four months to October.

Gambling, wagering and lottery group Tattersall's climbed 11 cents or 2.8% to 4 Dollars after providing a positive outlook at its annual general meeting.

Commodities - Crude oil prices tumbled $9 during the week to their lowest level in a month.

Fears about lower US economic growth and talk of an increase in production by Opec at its meeting next week prompted massive selling.

After a rollercoaster week, traders said sentiment could be turning bearish. Even events such as a plot in Saudi Arabia to attack oil installations and an explosion in an important pipeline system between Canada and the US failed to support the level of oil prices.

Nymex January West Texas Intermediate crude on Friday dropped $1.70 to $89.33 a barrel, its lowest price since October 25, having reached a peak of $99.11 a barrel in the week. ICE January Brent fell $1.54 to $88.68 a barrel.

Analysts said the break below $90 a barrel meant the market's next line of support was closer to $80 a barrel, leaving prices vulnerable to waves of technical selling.

Opec will discuss whether to increase production at a ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

The cartel has been considering an increase of 500,000 barrels a day to prevent record oil prices damaging the world's economy.

However, with prices falling sharply this week, sentiment among the cartel's oil ministers could turn round, traders said.

Ali Naimi, Saudi oil minister, said that supplies were “absolutely” ample. Asked if that meant that Opec would not increase its production, he said: “That remains to be seen.”

The oil price fall and range-bound Dollar-trading dragged down gold. Spot bullion in London Friday fell to $778.85 an ounce, down $45 on the week.

Base metals traded higher, with the exception of nickel, supported by a large drop in copper inventories in China but capped by concerns about the health of the US economy.

On the London Metal Exchange, copper rose 4.7% on the week to $7,010 a tonne. Chinese copper inventories in Shanghai for the week fell by 10,417 tonnes, or about 23%, to 34,438 tonnes, leaving enough for three days of domestic use.

Nickel fell 7.2% on the week to $26,900 a tonne, its lowest level since early September.

Aluminium rose 0.2% to $2,511 a tonne while tin moved above $17,000 a tonne, up 2.3% on the week.

Agricultural commodities ended mixed, with CBOT January soyabeans slightly lower after touching a 34-year high of $11.14 a bushel this week.

Currencies - The Yen was the big loser this week as a sharp rally in global equity markets weighed on the low-yielding currency.

Stocks surged as news that Abu Dhabi was set to take a stake in Citigroup, the largest US bank, soothed some concerns over the health of the financial sector.

Meanwhile speeches from Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Donald Kohn, vice-chairman, signalled the Fed was leaning towards more interest rate cuts.

Futures markets, which were already pricing in a 25 basis point cut in US interest rates, moved to price in a 30% chance of a 50bb move at the Fed's meeting on December 11.

The resulting rise in risk appetite boosted demand for carry trades, in which low-yielding currencies are sold to fund the purchase of riskier, higher-yielding assets elsewhere.

The Yen fell 2.7% to Y111.20 against the Dollar over the week, 1.8% to Y163.35 against the Euro and 2.3% to Y229.10 against the Pound. It tumbled 3.2% to Y98.25 against the Australian Dollar and 3.6% to Y85.35 against the New Zealand Dollar.

Higher-yielding currencies also advanced against the Dollar, with the Australian Dollar gaining 0.4% to $0.8850 and the New Zealand Dollar climbing 0.9% to $0.7675.

The Dollar fared better against lower-yielding currencies, pulling away from November 23's record low of $1.4968 against the Euro. This was in spite of the reduction in yield support implied by increased expectations for further cuts in US interest rates and an above-forecast reading of Eurozone consumer price inflation.

The Dollar rose 1% to $1.4690 against the Euro on the week, 0.4% to $2.0535 against the Pound, 2.4% to SFr1.1290 against the Swiss franc and 1.4% to C$1.0010 against the Canadian Dollar.

The United Arab Emirates dirham rose to a 17-year high against the Dollar as speculation persisted that the country might move to ditch its link to the struggling US currency ahead of next week's summit of Gulf Arab states.

The currency, which has been fixed at Dh3.6725 against the Dollar since 1997, hit a high of Dh3.6564 Friday, while the forward market moved to predict a 3.6% appreciation in the UAE Dirham in one year's time.

In South Africa, the Rand remained on the front foot in late trade Friday, buoyed by firmer equity markets which have received a lift from expectations of another rate cut in the US. Surprisingly, the Rand's response was muted to the news that South Africa had recorded a shocking 14.73 billion rand trade deficit for October, which was the biggest deficit in the country's history.

By 16:10 the Rand was bid at 6.7497 to the Dollar from its overnight close of 6.8190. It was bid at 9.9551 to the Euro from a previous 10.0746 and at 13.9459 against Sterling from 14.0548 before.

And as always, rounding out currencies here in China we go to the RMB which finished at 7.4000 to the Dollar on the over-the-counter market, down from Thursday's record close of 7.3824.

China - China's yuan headed for its biggest monthly gain since a link to the Dollar was scrapped in July 2005 as international pressure on the nation to strengthen its currency mounted because of visits by European officials.

The currency was also set for a secondly weekly advance as Zhang Xiaoqiang, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, yesterday said China's foreign-exchange reserves rose to a record $1.46 trillion last month. The trade surplus jumped to $27 billion in October, stoking tensions with the US and Europe and threatening to fuel inflation at a decade high.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, along with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, met Chinese leaders this week to push a faster appreciation of the currency. Trichet on Nov. 28 said China may allow the yuan to rise more quickly against the Euro.

French president Nicholas Sarkozy also visited the Asian nation on Nov. 25 to seek faster gains in the yuan.

``Such a massive reserve is both our strength as well as our huge responsibility,'' China's Premier Wen Jiabao said on 19 November in Singapore.

The yuan has gained 12% since a decade-old Dollar peg was abandoned in favor of managing it against a basket of currencies including the Euro, Yen, South Korea's Won and the British Pound.

*************************************************************************

The China Foreign Exchange Trading System (CFETS) set the reference rate this morning for seven-day repurchase agreements at 2.9200% against 2.9000% yesterday.

The overnight repurchase rate was set at 1.8700% against 1.8867% previously.

The rates, based on the median trading level from 9.00 to 11.00 am, are released daily at 11.00 am on the CFETS website.

CFETS began the daily fixing of overnight and seven-day repurchase rates in March 2006 to provide a reference for derivatives such as interest rate forwards, swaps and short-term interest rate futures.

*************************************************************************

Trading in shares of PICC Property and Casualty Co Ltd, China's top non-life insurer, was suspended on Friday, the Hong Kong exchange said.

No further details were immediately available.

PICC said earlier on Friday its premium income for its compulsory third party motor insurance for the 12 months ended in June amounted to 21.4 billion yuan (US$2.90 billion) and total premium earned was 9.8 billion yuan.

*************************************************************************

China managed to reduce the energy intensity of its fast-growing economy by 3% in the first nine months of this year, officials said on Thursday.

But the pace of the fall in energy required to generate each unit of gross domestic product remains below that needed to meet the government's target of a 20% cut over five years.

Beijing also appears highly unlikely to meet its other top environmental target, a 10% reduction in emissions of selected pollutants between 2006 and 2010.

China has been seeking to reduce reliance on energy-hungry heavy industry such as steelmaking for growth, as part of a broad push to ensure economic and environmental sustainability.

Improving energy intensity is also seen by Beijing as a way to show it is addressing global warming.

In spite of its smaller economy, China is forecast by the International Energy Agency to overtake the US this year as the world's biggest emitter of the gases blamed for climate change.

Although inefficiency in industry should in theory make early gains relatively easy, China cut energy consumption per unit of GDP by just 1.33% last year, far below its 4% goal. In the first six months of this year energy intensity fell by 2.78% year-on-year, suggesting an improvement in the third quarter.

The slow progress has been blamed on the difficulty of effectively regulating business and on local officials' continuing emphasis on economic growth.

Beijing has made clear that energy efficiency is a political priority and that officials will be judged in large part on conservation and pollution results.

The State Environmental Protection Agency announced this month the first fall for four years in emissions of acid rain-causing sulphur dioxide, accomplished in spite of rapid electricity generation growth.

The progress suggested a drive to force coal-burning power plants to install and use de-sulphurisation equipment was having an impact, with SO2 emissions down 1.81% year-on-year in the first nine months. Chemical oxygen demand, a key water pollution indicator, also fell slightly.