DUBAI

Nasdaq may sell its stake in the London Stock Exchange to Borse Dubai and make a joint bid with the Gulf exchange for Nordic exchange owner OMX, The Daily Telegraph said on Monday.

Stocks were heading for a higher open on Wednesday on optimism about renewed deal activity and speculation the Federal Reserve might cut its benchmark interest rate to calm turbulent markets.

Shareholders in OMX are weighing a $4 billion bid by Borse Dubai for the firm and waiting to see whether U.S. rival Nasdaq sweetens its $3.7 billion offer, Borse Dubai's head said on Tuesday.

U.S. casino operator Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. has made diversifying beyond Atlantic City, New Jersey, a priority and is closing in on its first deal, its chief executive said on Monday.

OMX Chairman Urban Backstrom said Borse Dubai's all-cash bid was not more attractive than Nasdaq's share-and-cash bid and called it hostile, newspapers reported on Monday.

Nasdaq is abandoning its 797 million pound ($1.58 billion) stake in the London Stock Exchange, five months after its takeover bid failed, as it focuses on buying Nordic exchange operator OMX. Nasdaq Stock Market Inc, which needs overseas acquisitions to gain an international foothold, is locked in a $4 billion bidding war with Borse Dubai for OMX.

Borse Dubai launched a $4 billion cash offer for Nordic exchange owner OMX on Friday, trumping an agreed deal with U.S. exchange Nasdaq, in a bid to create a group with global reach.

Sweden's financial regulator said on Friday it had requested information from Borse Dubai regarding its move this week to acquire shares in OMX and was considering whether a statement from the state-run firm may already represent an offer to buy all of OMX.

Dubai-based Istithmar is set to buy Jones Apparel Group Inc.'s Barneys New York for $942.3 million after Japanese casual-clothing retailer Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. on Thursday pulled out of the bidding war. The retreat by Fast Retailing ended a month-long tug-of-war over the luxury department store chain, although the operator of the Uniqlo stores has no intention of slowing down its overseas expansion drive.

India's leading biotechnology enterprise, Biocon, has inked an agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Neopharma to establish a joint venture company NeoBiocon to develop specialty bio-pharmaceutical products and provide biotherapeutics for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market.

Dubai-based private equity firm Istithmar raised its offer to acquire Barneys New York Inc. from Jones Apparel Group Inc. to $900 million on Sunday, matching a bid by Japan's Fast Retailing Co. Ltd.

Jones Apparel Group, Inc. said Tuesday that a $900 billion bid for its Barney’s unit from Japanese retailer Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. was “superior” to an agreement signed earlier with an affiliate of Dubai-based Istithmar.

The owner of Dubai stock exchange is preparing an offer for Nordic stock market group OMX, rivaling the proposed $3.7 billion merger between OMX and U.S. group Nasdaq, Telegraph.co.uk reported on Sunday.

Marriott International Inc., the top U.S. hotel operator, said on Thursday that second-quarter profit rose a better-than-expected 11 percent, but concerns about slowing growth in North America led to a decline in its shares.

Gold rose to its highest level in more than one month on Wednesday on a weak U.S. dollar and dealers said the metal was gaining momentum to hit new highs.

Fast Retailing's surprise $900 million bid for Jones Apparel Group's Barneys New York underscores the Japanese clothing retailer's dream to become a global player and find growth outside its mature home market.

Jones Apparel Group has a new, bigger bid for its Barney’s unit.

Jones Apparel Group Inc. (JNY.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it received an unsolicited bid from Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. to acquire Barneys New York Inc. for $900 million, which tops Jones' existing pact to sell the upscale clothing chain for $825 million.

Two government funds in the United Arab Emirates denied on Monday they were looking to acquire either Jaguar or Land Rover, the British luxury car brands of U.S. automaker Ford.

GLG Partners, one of Europe's largest hedge fund firms, has lined up a U.S. stock market listing to help it expand and hire top managers, using a reverse acquisition with a shell company that values it at $3.4 billion.

Jones Apparel Group Inc. is near a deal to sell the Barneys New York high-end clothing chain for $825 million to Dubai's private equity firm Istithmar, The New York Times reported on Friday.