IBT Staff Reporter

Asian stock markets took a breather on Monday with Tokyo's Nikkei slipping on fresh concerns about the economy, and the yen traded in a small range in a session likely to be dulled by the U.S. Labor Day holiday.

Hurricane warnings were posted for coastal Honduras as a potentially catastrophic Hurricane Felix, a top-ranked storm with 165 mile-per-hour (270 km per hour) winds, threatened Central America on Monday.

Gaz de France and Suez on Monday cleared the way to create the world's third-largest electricity and gas company after their boards approved the revised terms of a politically charged merger.

HSBC's purchase boost's its profile in Asia's third-largest banking market.

Many U.S. clothing retailers think the skirt may be the next dress.

Flips and scams blamed in Southern Californian housing decline

Scientists observe how water makes its way to newly forming planets.

Brewer Scottish & Newcastle Plc expects quick growth in India, China and Vietnam, with its ventures in these markets contributing a larger share of its overall revenue, a senior company official said.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Friday it expects its group's worldwide sales to expand to 10.4 million vehicles in 2009, up 18 percent from last year, as it grabs a bigger share in mature markets and taps growing demand in China and other emerging countries.

Japanese ADSL provider Acca Networks Co Ltd signed up NTT DoCoMo Inc to its WiMAX joint venture, tapping the mobile phone giant's resources to launch ultra high-speed wireless Internet access.

Sweden's IKEA said on Friday the contribution from Asia-Pacific to the group's total sales could triple to 10 percent in 5 to 6 years, creating a huge challenge for the world's largest furniture retailer.

Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co shares rose 43 percent on Friday after Lone Star Funds said it was prepared to buy the subprime mortgage lender at a lower price than it previously agreed to pay.

Honda Motor Co Ltd is on track for a 3 percent increase in U.S. sales in 2007, an executive said on Friday, but he also called on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to boost consumer confidence.

Stock markets ended one of the most volatile months in years on an impressive note, but this coming week still won't be any easier for investors as the employment report and housing turmoil remain high on radar screens.

U.S. stocks surged on Friday as President Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reassured investors they would do what was needed to shelter the economy from market turmoil. Banks and brokers, which have borne the brunt of the recent credit crisis, rose in thin trading before a long holiday weekend.

Gold rose on Friday, aided by firm stocks and a strike at a gold mine, as speeches by U.S. President George W. Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke calmed financial markets ahead of the three-day U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend.

The Federal Reserve on Friday reassured investors it would take any steps needed to shelter the U.S. economy from a global credit squeeze, while President George W. Bush promised to help struggling homeowners refinance their mortgages. Chairman Ben Bernanke also said the central bank would not bail out investors who had made mistakes.

President George W. Bush's plan designed to limit the number of Americans who default on subprime mortgages might be a small positive for the commercial and investment banks exposed to them but does little to alleviate broader concerns about credit losses, analysts said.

Oil rose on Friday as investors kept watch on a gathering storm in the Atlantic Ocean that renewed concern of possible damage to offshore oil rigs this hurricane season.

U.S. regulators said on Thursday they had proposed penalizing three wireless carriers which the government says failed to meet new stricter standards for being able to locate cellular telephone callers in an emergency.

NXP will start shipping its single-chip solution for ultra-low-cost phones to Samsung from the fourth quarter of this year, Chief Executive Frans van Houten told Reuters on Friday.

Imagine cramming 30,000 full-length movies into a gadget the size of an iPod.

A group of state attorneys general said on Thursday that the consent decree that settled the landmark antitrust case against Microsoft Corp has failed to reduce the company's monopoly, disagreeing with the assessment of U.S. antitrust officials.

Panasonic expects demand for large plasma televisions to slide in the next two years but to hold steady after that at about 30 percent of the total market for large, flat-screen TVs, an executive said on Thursday.

Manufacturers of satellite navigation devices are loading up their gadgets with features from audio sightseeing guides to three-dimensional city views as they seek to differentiate themselves in a crowded market.

NBC Universal has decided not to renew its contract to sell television shows on iTunes, becoming the second major media company to challenge Apple Inc's dominance in digital entertainment.

Google Inc is giving more credit to the original reporting of news agencies like the Associated Press while setting the stage to generate advertising revenue from Google News, the company said on Friday.

L'Oreal said on Friday it was confident on the outlook for 2007, despite signs of a slowdown in the United States, thanks to booming demand in new markets and the launch of new brands like Sanoflore and Diesel.

Virgin Group boss Richard Branson said on Friday he would aim to avoid buying fuel-thirsty four-engined airplanes in future to curb fuel costs and the environmental impact of his fast-growing airlines.