Archive for March 18th, 2008

Swiss company irks U.S. with multibillion-dollar deal with Iranian gas producer

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Swiss energy trading company EGL has signed a multibillion dollar contract to buy natural gas from Iran's national gas producer over the next 25 years, the Swiss company announced Monday. According to the contract, the National Iran ...

"Challenging times": "The Fed is on high alert…"

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

U.S. financial experts say the Federal Reserve is ready to slash a key interest rate even lower Tuesday in an effort to contain spreading financial wildfires that threaten the nation with an economic meltdown. President Bush declared ...

Yellowpages, Microsoft ink local search-site deal

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Microsoft Corp. and AT&T Inc.'s Yellowpages.com subsidiary on Monday signed a distribution agreement that will let consumers view its content and ad listings on Microsoft's local search sites. Yellowpages.com expects the deal to begi ...

Japan lends Indonesia $200 mln for macroeconomic stability

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

The Japanese government has agreed a loan of 22.08 billion yen, equivalent to 200 million U.S. dollars, to help economic and fiscal reform in Indonesia, local press said Tuesday. The loan was intended to support the government's ref ...

Tokyo stocks close higher for 1st time in 4 days

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Tokyo stocks closed higher Tuesday for the first time in four trading days. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 176.65 points, or 1.50 percent, to 11,964.16. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the T ...

Japan’s central bank chief nominee pledges to seek independence from gov’t

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Koji Tanami, Japan's central bank chief nominee on Tuesday vowed to seek the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) independence from the government on monetary policy decision. In a speech at a hearing held by the lower house, the former vice financ ...

Mercedes-Benz to set up bus assembly plant in Indonesia

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

The German top auto firm Mercedes Benz will build its first bus assembly plant in Indonesia with an investment of 10 million Euros, an executive said Tuesday. "Mercedes buses control the biggest market share in the world. We are con ...

SIA’s A380 kicks off first commercial flight to London

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

The Singapore Airlines' A380, the world's biggest passenger plane, kicked off on Tuesday its first commercial flight to London, also the first one to Europe. Flight SQ308 carrying 449 customers on board took off from Singapore's Cha ...