IBT Staff Reporter

Retailer MFI Furniture Group said on Saturday that talks over the sale of its retail operations to a private equity group were now at an advanced stage.

European investors will focus on the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision next week and clues about the U.S. economy, while a smattering of company results will also roll on in Europe and the United States.

The world's leading industrial countries are enjoying strong growth but face the risk of rising inflationary expectations, tight energy markets and spreading protectionism

India's Centurion Bank of Punjab Ltd. (CBP) will acquire privately held Lord Krishna Bank (LKB) in an all stock deal, its Chief Operating Officer Anil Jaggia has announced.

Leading mobile operator, Idea Cellular, has tied up with U.S.-based cellular phone manufacturer, Motorola Inc. to provide user-ready Motorola handsets at economical price.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Limited (TKML), a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation and the Kirloskar Group, has initiated a rural drinking water project for the residents of Ramanagara town in collaboration with the Karnataka government.

A consortium of India's leading electronics and energy major, Videocon Industries Limited and US fund Ripplewood Holdings has emerged as the preferred bidder to buy South Korean appliances maker Daewoo Electronics.

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Kamal Nath, will participate in a high-level round table discussion on Africa-Asia Trade & Investment during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Annual Meetings in Singapore, on September 17, 2006.

Cyber scams are increasingly being committed by organized crime syndicates out to profit from sophisticated ruses rather than hackers keen to make an online name for themselves, according to a top U.S. official.

The outlook for Microsoft's next generation operating system, Windows Vista, is looking more optimistic following testing of the latest release candidate, RC1.

Investors are still hungry for a stake in small exploration firms that hunt out pockets of oil ignored by their bigger rivals

U.S. consumer prices and costs excluding food and energy both rose a modest 0.2 percent last month, the government said on Friday in a report that could reassure the Federal Reserve that inflation pressures are easing.

Wm Morrison Supermarkets' firsthalf results on Thursday will be a watershed, being the first time it shows the upside of its problematic acquisition of rival Safeway

Kuro, one of Taiwan's best-known file-sharing services, has settled with the recording industry on Friday, agreeing to pay a substantial sum as well as shutting down its networks.

The Thai government could be a threat to the expansion of Tescos in the country. Small shopkeepers in the country are concerned that the growth of large supermarkets is a threat to their business.

Britons make the largest number of cash machine withdrawals throughout Europe, a report shows, almost all of them from free to use ATMs.

The FTSE 100 held steady on Friday, with banks gaining but heavyweight oils and miners led lower by commodity prices and with trading cautious ahead of U.S. CPI data.

Yesterday Microsoft Corporation unveiled details of the first of its products to be released under its Zune brand.

A report by AXA Avenue has predicted troubles ahead for those planning to live on a state pension. The report is based upon a unique experiment in which 26 households were challenged to live for a week on a state pension.

Toshiba Corp. said on Friday it would buy certain chip-related patents from Micron Technology Inc. and secure licences for all the patents held by Micron unit Lexar Media Inc. for $288 million, ending lawsuits between the Japanese electronics maker and Lexar.

Taiwan online music file-sharing network Kuro has agreed to shut down its file swapping service and pay undisclosed damages to settle a recording industry lawsuit, the industry group behind the row said.

Oil hovered around $63 a barrel on Friday, near its lowest levels since March, as ample U.S. fuel stocks looked set to meet winter heating demand in the world's biggest consumer.

Microsoft Corp. unveiled on Thursday its new Zune portable media player, hoping its ability to share music wirelessly can win over consumers despite its late entry five years after Apple's market-dominating iPod.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the world's leading maker of HIV/AIDS treatments, has struck a deal to supply cut price AIDS drugs to Russia

Doughty Hanson & Co are planning to list Doughty Hanson & Co Investments LP Inc. as a vehicle on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange.

Rolls Royce today confirmed that it had made a deal worth potentially over $500 million with Hainan Airlines Group Company Ltd.

Italian broadband company Fastweb and the Italian unit of mobile phone giant Vodafone on Friday will announce a commercial agreement

German drugmaker Schering has entered into a deal with AstraZeneca to jointly develop a new breast cancer drug

China and its official Xinhua news agency defended new rules controlling foreign news organisations on Thursday, saying they are not aimed at commercial gain and will not give the agency unfair dominance.