IBT Staff Reporter

Santander will sell Spanish property assets for 4 billion euros (2.7 billion pounds) to help fund its participation in a bid for Dutch bank ABN AMRO , an official at the Spanish bank said on Wednesday. The official, confirming a report in El Pais newspaper, said Santander, one of Europe's biggest banks, would make capital gains of 1.4 billion euros from the sales and wanted to go ahead with them even if the ABN deal fell through.

Expectations of higher global interest rates pushed U.S. government bond yields to five-year highs on Wednesday, lifting the dollar to a 4-1/2 year peak against the yen but weighing on stocks.

Gold fell to a three-month low on Wednesday when the dollar extended its ascent against major currencies as markets dropped expectations of lower U.S. interest rates later in the year.

Jones Apparel Group Inc. (JNY.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is nearing a deal to sell its Barneys New York department store chain for $950 million to a private equity firm owned by the Dubai government, according to The New York Post.

The U.S Department of Justice gave the green light for two of the largest futures exchanges to merge, saying the merger would not hurt competition.

The Nikkei average slipped 0.16 percent on Wednesday as Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. and other property firms fell on concerns about rising interest rates, while a slide in metal prices hit metal shares.

European stocks fell on Wednesday, mirroring losses in U.S. and Asian markets as government bond yields hovered near five-year highs and stoked worries of higher borrowing costs.

Mobile handset firm Nokia's ultra low power short-range wireless technology is to be developed as a new version of Bluetooth to connect devices such as watches and heart monitors, the company said on Tuesday.

Taiwan smartphone maker High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) said on Tuesday it will launch one of its own-brand touch-screen phones in the United States by the end of the year, as it seeks to compete with Apple's iPhone.

Japan still lacks a culture of shareholder activism but that may change as it tries to keep up with rapid shifts in the global financial environment, European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said on Wednesday.

The chief executive of German conglomerate RAG has had his contract extended by four years, the company said on Wednesday, a move that will help a planned multi-billion-euro flotation of certain RAG units.

Flickr.com, one of the world's most popular online photo-sharing sites and owned by Yahoo Inc., is likely being blocked by the Chinese government, Yahoo's Hong Kong unit said on Tuesday.

Merchants Securities Co., the brokerage arm of China's top port operator Merchants Group, has hired Chinese joint ventures of UBS and Goldman Sachs to underwrite its proposed domestic IPO, sources close to the situation said on Wednesday.

Japan's current account surplus rose more than expected in April thanks to firm exports and gains in investment income, a sign that the world's second-largest economy continues to enjoy a solid recovery.

Barclays has drawn up contingency plans for a big cash sweetener to strengthen its all-share offer for Dutch bank ABN AMRO, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Web search leader Google Inc. and semiconductor maker Intel Corp. launched a broad-based program on Tuesday to introduce more energy-efficient personal computers and server systems to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A strong minority of Yahoo Inc. shareholders challenged the Web company's direction on Tuesday by voting against board-nominated directors at the annual meeting, and investors confronted Chief Executive Terry Semel.

Openads, a supplier of free software used by Web sites to manage online ad campaigns, has received $5 million in initial funding, bolstering it to prepare for increasing competition globally with Google Inc.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, his ideological mentor and ally, for six hours on Tuesday, Cuba's state television said.

Blockbuster Inc. introduced on Tuesday an Internet-only DVD rental service priced below a similar Netflix plan, sending Netflix shares down 9 percent as the online movie rental war heated up again.

The Nikkei average edged down 0.41 percent on Tuesday as shares of shipping firms and airlines fell on concern about higher fuel costs and investors took profits in Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. and other recent gainers.

European shares ended lower on Tuesday, dragged down by losses in technology and banking stocks amid concern about higher interest rates.

Hong Kong stocks edged up 0.1 percent on Tuesday after investors bid up China Mobile amid a renewed focus on the prospect of 3G licences to spur a widely expected industry restructuring.

The dollar rallied against the euro for the fifth consecutive session on Tuesday to an 11-week high, according to Reuters data, as rising U.S. Treasury yields lured investors.

The leading share index ended down 0.7 percent on Tuesday, with banks worst hit as U.S. and European markets were knocked by fears that strong global growth would force interest rates higher around the world.

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday as bond yields shot to their highest in five years, stoking fears that higher borrowing costs could cut into corporate profits and discourage takeovers.

Mexican markets fell sharply on Tuesday, following a steep drop in U.S. Treasury prices as investors worried about the possibility of higher global interest rates.

Chemicals maker A. Schulman Inc. warned on Tuesday its fiscal 2007 earnings would fall short of its previous forecast due to weakness in Europe and North America.

Oil prices dropped below $66 a barrel Tuesday amid expectations that gasoline supplies rose for the sixth straight week, easing worries of a crunch during the summer vacation season.