Author: lbostgadmin
Delta-Northwest merger creates huge US airline
WASHINGTON, October 29, 2008 (AFP) – Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it had merged with Northwest Airlines to create one of the world’s biggest carriers after winning approval from US antitrust authorities. Delta announced late Wednesday that the merger was completed, “creating a premier global airline with service to nearly all of the world’s major […]
Chinese authorities tried to cover up Melamine eggs: state media
BEIJING, October 30, 2008 (AFP) – A government in northeast China kept quiet the discovery of melamine-tainted eggs for weeks and ordered a media ban before Hong Kong authorities finally revealed the problem, state press said Thursday. The animal sanitation inspection department of Liaoning province suspected the tainted eggs came from chicken feed and ordered […]
Sri Lankan tea output seen lower
Oct 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea production is expected to fall with a religious holiday stopping plucking this week and factories focusing on making better quality teas, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Demand also improved at the Colombo auctions after […]
Sri Lanka shares sustain gains
Oct 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended higher for the second day running with brokers saying the rise on larger trading volumes may indicate improved investor sentiment and that the slide may have bottomed out. LIOC ended up 3.41 percent or 0.75 rupees at 22.75 rupees with 233,000 shares changing hands. To receive […]
Sri Lanka central bank to buy back short term bills
Oct 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has announced auctions to buy back six billion rupees of short term bills at market rates, while overnight liquidity injection volumes were at 21 billion rupees.The Central Bank Thursday offered to buy 2.0 billion rupees of 70-day bills, 2.0 billion rupees of 77 day bills and […]
Sri Lanka central bank to allow dollar peg to move
Oct 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it was allowing ‘greater flexibility’ in foreign exchange markets signaling a depreciation in the rupee that can break a dangerous sterilized intervention cycle in forex markets and bring stability back to the monetary system. In the meantime, in order to ensure the financial market stability, […]
Sri Lanka forex markets search for direction after announcement
Oct 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s forex markets and debt ran out of quotes as dealers searched for direction after the central bank said it was breaking a peg with the US dollar at 108.00 following prolonged intervention lasting over seven weeks.“We are not yet quoting a rate,” a dealer told LBO soon after […]
Sri Lanka forex markets limp back to life
Oct 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s forex markets limped back to life at 110 rupees to the dollar and edged lower to 111.35 in late trading after the central bank broke a US dollar peg kept at 108 local units. A state bank that usually represents the central bank was selling dollars to the […]
Air Raid
Oct 28, 2008 (LBO) – A fire broke out in a key power station in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo soon after lights were doused on warnings of a Tamil Tiger guerrilla air raid, officials and the military said. A lubrication oil cooler connected to the gas turbine plant GT7 in Kelanitissa was burning, officials of […]
Sri Lanka business chambers urge unity among politicians
Oct 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top business chambers have called for political unity to back government efforts to devolve power to minority Tamils and defeat Tiger rebels. The call came in a statement which also urged the government to do more to help civilians displaced by fighting between government forces and Tamil Tigers. […]
Powerful rally lifts Dow 10-pct
NEW YORK, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – A frenzied buying spree sent US shares soaring Tuesday with the second-largest point gain in history for blue chips amid hopes for a rate cut and easing of a global credit crunch. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rocketed 889.35 points (10.88 percent) to finish at 9,065.12. The gain […]
Cheap crude may hit non-oil Arab states as inflows fall
DUBAI, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – Cheaper oil prices may damage the economies of non-oil producing Arab countries because of a fall in remittances and other cash inflows from the Gulf states, analysts said. Remittances sent home by migrant workers contributed three billion dollars or 20 percent of gross domestic product in Jordan last year, […]