TMCnet News
Kyodo news summary -8-+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NEW YORK, Dec. 4_(Kyodo) _ ---------- N.Y. stocks plunge on economic concern NEW YORK - New York stocks plunged Thursday on deepened concern over the U.S. economy amid the worldwide recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which gained 270 points Tuesday and 172 points Wednesday, turned sharply lower, losing 215.45 points to 8,376.24. ---------- Crude oil futures end at 47-month low in higher $43 range per barrel NEW YORK - The benchmark crude oil futures in New York sank to a 47-month in the higher $43 level per barrel Thursday on expectations of slower demand amid the worldwide recession. The January contract for West Texas Intermediate crude fell $3.12 from Wednesday to $43.67 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending at the lowest level since January 2005, according to U.S. media. ---------- Baseball: Japanese pitcher Tazawa signs 3-year major deal with Red Sox BOSTON - Japanese amateur pitcher Junichi Tazawa has signed a three-year major league contract with the Boston Red Sox, the ball club announced Thursday. The ace of the Nippon Oil corporate team arrived in Boston Monday and spent the past several days for preparations to finalize the deal, including taking his physical. ---------- Japan, China, S. Korea eye ministerial talks on disaster preparedness TOKYO - Japan, China and South Korea will agree at their upcoming trilateral summit to inaugurate ministerial meetings on disaster preparedness and hold the first such gathering in Japan next year, according to a draft joint statement to be issued at the summit. The document, recently obtained by Kyodo News, also notes that the three East Asian nations will enhance cooperation with relevant emergency relief organizations and envisions a framework for swift joint relief operations if a disaster strikes one of the three countries. ---------- S&P lowers GM's debt rating to junk status NEW YORK - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Thursday lowered its credit rating on struggling U.S. auto giant General Motors Corp. below investment status, citing concerns about its debt-for-equity swap plan. The downgrading of GM's credit rating by three notches -- from CCC-plus to CC -- was in response to the automaker's offer to reduce its current debt burden by more than half by exchanging some or all of it with equity or new debt at a steep discount to face value. Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc. |