Business and City in Brief

GEC rebels call for job guarantees

Opponents of GEC's 1p-a-share bid for Ferranti have called on GEC to give job guarantees and a promise not to asset-strip the defence electronics company. Eugene Anderson, Ferranti's chief executive, was also urged to consider putting the company into administration.

John Katz, chairman of Ferranti Shareholders' Support Association, will step up his campaign this week by lobbying MPs for support.

P&O invests in China

Peninsular & Oriental, the shipping to housebuilding conglomerate, has taken a 25 per cent stake in the Shekou container terminal for pounds 27m, its first investment in China since its assets were seized after the Communist takeover in 1949.

M3 indicator up

6.8% German M3 money supply, a key indicator for Bundesbank interest rate moves, grew at an annualised rate of 6.8 per cent in October, unchanged from September. Most economists had predicted a slight slowdown.

QVC awaits ruling

QVC Network and Viacom will have to wait until tomorrow for a critical court ruling relating to their battle to buy Paramount Communications, after a Delaware judge said he needed more time. QVC has been trying to block Viacom's friendly merger with Paramount by forcing its board to formally consider the QVC offer and legally challenging lock-out and poison-pill provisions that would make a hostile takeover considerably more expensive than a friendly merger.

New chief at News

News International, the UK operating arm of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, said August Fischer, managing director, had been appointed chief executive.

Opec lobbies Norway

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has asked Norway to help it prop up sagging world crude oil prices.

Guardian profits fall

Guardian Media Group, publisher of the Guardian and Observer newspapers, reported a fall in taxable profits from pounds 14.7m to pounds 11.5m for the half-year to 6 October.

DE approves Albury

Tim Eggar, Minister for Energy, has given the go-ahead to Cairn Energy's plans for the development of the Albury gas field near Guildford in Surrey.

Bank names governor

(First Edition)

Ioannis Boutos, a former minister and MP, is to become governor of the Bank of Greece, replacing Efthymios Christodoulou.

World Markets

New York: Fears of an interest rate rise sent shares sharply lower. The Dow Jones average closed down 23.76 points at 3,670.25.

Tokyo: Index-linked selling in light trade drove the Nikkei average down 556.35 to 17,384.84.

Hong Kong: Taking its cue from Tokyo, the Hang Seng index plunged 93.3 points to 9,170.64.

Sydney: Continued nervousness over the impact of rising US bond yields was reflected in a 33.9-point fall by the All Ordinaries index to 2,049.3.

Bombay: The index closed at a year's high of 3,034.6 after adding 61.74, more than 2 per cent.

Milan: The government's poor showing in municipal elections helped to send the Mibtel index down by 470 points to 9,077.

Frankfurt: Prices closed sharply lower on the latest M3 figures, with the DAX 47.37 off at 2,030.

Paris: The CAC-40 fell 62.62 to 2,082.61 on Wall Street's losses and weaker European markets.

Zurich: Profit-taking after recent gains left shares lower, with the SPI down 19.56 at 1,713.

London: Report, page 26.