HSBC

The market for gold and other commodities is cooling and it is the dollar that has gained the most. The Reuters CRB Commodity Index is down 8.4 per cent over last one week.

The FTSE 100 share index rose on Wednesday by 85.8 points to 5,853.5 after dropping for five consecutive days.

The FTSE 100 share index dropped 1.1 per cent on Monday after poor performances by banks and oil companies and worries of a possible U.S. recession. Overall the FTSE 100 dropped 65.7 points down to 5,818.6.

Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank, may need more capital from outside investors despite raising billions of dollars after reporting large write-downs related to bad investments in the U.S. subprime mortgage market, the CEO of Gulf state firm Dubai International Capital LLC said Tuesday, according to a report.

HSBC's profits rose 10 percent last year as buoyant growth in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia helped Europe's biggest bank absorb $17.2 billion in bad debts as the U.S. housing crisis deepened. Hong Kong profits rose 42 percent while Asia earnings grew by 70 percent. North America was managed a small gain.

U.S. and European banks including Citigroup Inc and HSBC Holdings PLC are considering selling off

U.S. and European banks including Citigroup Inc and HSBC Holdings PLC are considering selling off parts of their businesses as they prepare for tough times ahead, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Hong Kong stocks on Thursday increased for a seventh straight session after a U.S. jobs report indicated growth in the jobs market, easing worries about a recession.

US stocks were nearly flat in Mid-day trading on Monday, recovering after earlier losses following continued concerns over a weakening credit market and a worsening subprime mortgage situation.

ABN AMRO said on Thursday its private banking arm had hired a team of six private bankers from rival HSBC Holdings Plc in Taiwan, the latest move to highlight the industry's fierce battle for talent in high-growth Asia.

Major finance houses went some way on Wednesday to reassure investors that after months of credit market havoc, fallout from the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown is containable.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank, said its third-quarter profits were ahead of last year's and revenue growth across the group offset a jump in its charge for bad debts in the United States. The trading update on Wednesday reassured investors that HSBC was not further exposed to big debts in mortgage-related financial products and was benefiting from its broad spread, and its shares jumped over 4 percent.

Europe's biggest bank HSBC Holdings is expected to report another big hit from its exposure to the U.S. mortgage crisis on Wednesday, when it will also release a group trading update.

HSBC Holdings, Plc, the largest european bank, said Thursday that it was stopping all sales and trades of mortgage-backed securities as a result of closing its U.S. mortgage desk, according to reports.

HSBC Holdings Plc helped start a group of indexes that includes benchmarks for global Islamic and Middle East conventional bonds to encourage trading as a global credit crunch delays sales and doubles spreads.

HSBC Holdings wants to increase its stake in China's Bank of Communications over the next 12 months, BoCom's chairman said on Thursday.

HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank, said on Monday it has not participated in talks with big U.S. banks forming an US$80 billion fund to buy ailing mortgage securities and other assets, and added there are no plans for a similar fund in Europe.

HSBC has applied for a review of its $6.3 billion purchase of a stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) to South Korea's Fair Trade Commission, the anti-trust body said on Tuesday.

HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank, is entering insurance markets in China and Taiwan as part of its broader strategy to tap the fast-growing Asian region.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank, said on Friday that it would close its U.S. subprime mortgage unit, cutting 750 jobs and taking $945 million in charges and write-downs, because the business is no longer sustainable. It was the latest blow from the meltdown in the U.S. market for loans to home buyers with poor credit histories.

Europe's biggest bank HSBC Holdings has rejected calls from activist investor Knight Vinke Asset Management for it to review its strategy and shake up its corporate governance, the Financial Times reported.