In Brief

Oil closes in on US$62 SINGAPORE – Oil prices extended a sharp rally to within reach of US$62 a barrel yesterday, staying at their highest in nearly a month after a steep fall in US crude oil inventories and more signs that Opec is committed to cuts.

US light crude was at US$61,69 a barrel, rising for a third day. London Brent crude was up at US$62,24 a barrel.Prices spiked to their highest since October 2 on Wednesday.Gold Fields halts construction in Peru JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Gold Fields Ltd said yesterday it had halted construction of its Cerro Corona mine project in Peru due to an illegal road blockade.Chief Executive Ian Cockerill told a results conference call that he expected the authorities to remove the blockage erected by activists within a few days and probably there would be no major delay to the completion of the gold mine.Sun International revenue up JOHANNESBURG – South African leisure and gaming group Sun International’s revenue for the quarter to end-September increased by 16 per cent compared to the year-ago period, the firm said yesterday.Sun International said in a trading update that its overall earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin was 34,3 per cent, compared to 31,2 per cent in the same period a year ago.Colombia, N Korea supply fake US$ WASHINGTON – Colombia and North Korea are the top producers of counterfeit US banknotes, US authorities said in a report released here, which estimated that one in 10 000 US bills in use worldwide is fake.But the joint report by the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Board and US Secret Service on the use and counterfeiting of US currency abroad, issued here Wednesday, said that counterfeiting activity is low despite the widespread use of US currency.Nampa-Reuters-AFP-APLondon Brent crude was up at US$62,24 a barrel.Prices spiked to their highest since October 2 on Wednesday.Gold Fields halts construction in Peru JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Gold Fields Ltd said yesterday it had halted construction of its Cerro Corona mine project in Peru due to an illegal road blockade.Chief Executive Ian Cockerill told a results conference call that he expected the authorities to remove the blockage erected by activists within a few days and probably there would be no major delay to the completion of the gold mine.Sun International revenue up JOHANNESBURG – South African leisure and gaming group Sun International’s revenue for the quarter to end-September increased by 16 per cent compared to the year-ago period, the firm said yesterday.Sun International said in a trading update that its overall earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin was 34,3 per cent, compared to 31,2 per cent in the same period a year ago.Colombia, N Korea supply fake US$ WASHINGTON – Colombia and North Korea are the top producers of counterfeit US banknotes, US authorities said in a report released here, which estimated that one in 10 000 US bills in use worldwide is fake.But the joint report by the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Board and US Secret Service on the use and counterfeiting of US currency abroad, issued here Wednesday, said that counterfeiting activity is low despite the widespread use of US currency.Nampa-Reuters-AFP-AP