Business Briefs Platinum down 17% from record

LONDON – Platinum fell more than six percent to US$1 155 an ounce in Europe yesterday as investors decided to take profits from the metal’s record-high prices the previous day, dealers said.

Spot metal was quoted at US$1 155/1 175 an ounce by 0926 GMT, sharply down from US$1 230/1 235 in New York late on Tuesday, when platinum spiked as high as US$1 395 on talk of the launch of an exchange traded fund. Oil eases after rally LONDON – Oil eased near US$60 yesterday following big gains the previous day spurred by disruption of Alaskan crude exports and ahead of US government data expected to show declining stocks of heating and transport fuels.US light crude for January delivery was trading 17 cents a barrel lower at US$60 a barrel by 0941 GMT, while London Brent crude was down 21 cents at US$60,18.On Tuesday, US crude had risen by around two per cent.Regulators said the disruption might last until today.Airbus’s super-jumbo on test trip BEIJING – An Airbus A380 received a red-carpet welcome in China yesterday on the third leg of a series of test flights, before it goes into service as the world’s largest passenger plane.The aircraft’s welcome ceremony at the Baiyun International Airport in the south Chinese city of Guangzhou was televised live on state broadcaster China Central Television.The A380 visit is part of an 18-day trip to 10 different airports to test operations before it seeks an airworthiness certificate by mid-December for European and US aviation safety authorities.Scandal, drought dog Australian wheat exporter SYDNEY – Australia’s scandal-hit monopoly wheat exporter AWB posted disastrous full-year results yesterday which it blamed on extreme drought and fallout from a probe into bribes allegedly paid to Saddam Hussein.The “big dry” devastating rural Australia and a lower contribution from domestic grain trading drove a 68,4 per cent decline in net profit to US$45 million, the company revealed.But the poor results were still a major achievement in light of worsening seasonal conditions, uncertainty over the outcome of the Iraq kickbacks inquiry and management changes, AWB new managing director Gordon Davis said.Davis, just nine weeks into the top job at the troubled agribusiness, would not make a forecast for the current year to September 2007.Nampa-Reuters-AFP-APOil eases after rally LONDON – Oil eased near US$60 yesterday following big gains the previous day spurred by disruption of Alaskan crude exports and ahead of US government data expected to show declining stocks of heating and transport fuels.US light crude for January delivery was trading 17 cents a barrel lower at US$60 a barrel by 0941 GMT, while London Brent crude was down 21 cents at US$60,18.On Tuesday, US crude had risen by around two per cent.Regulators said the disruption might last until today.Airbus’s super-jumbo on test trip BEIJING – An Airbus A380 received a red-carpet welcome in China yesterday on the third leg of a series of test flights, before it goes into service as the world’s largest passenger plane.The aircraft’s welcome ceremony at the Baiyun International Airport in the south Chinese city of Guangzhou was televised live on state broadcaster China Central Television.The A380 visit is part of an 18-day trip to 10 different airports to test operations before it seeks an airworthiness certificate by mid-December for European and US aviation safety authorities.Scandal, drought dog Australian wheat exporter SYDNEY – Australia’s scandal-hit monopoly wheat exporter AWB posted disastrous full-year results yesterday which it blamed on extreme drought and fallout from a probe into bribes allegedly paid to Saddam Hussein.The “big dry” devastating rural Australia and a lower contribution from domestic grain trading drove a 68,4 per cent decline in net profit to US$45 million, the company revealed.But the poor results were still a major achievement in light of worsening seasonal conditions, uncertainty over the outcome of the Iraq kickbacks inquiry and management changes, AWB new managing director Gordon Davis said.Davis, just nine weeks into the top job at the troubled agribusiness, would not make a forecast for the current year to September 2007.Nampa-Reuters-AFP-AP