BODAIBO, Russia, Dec 20- It looks like any one of remote eastern Siberia's low-lying, peat-coloured hills: only the thin trenches that scar Sukhoi Log hint at the work of generations of geologists to measure the riches beneath.
LONDON, Dec 20- Gold edged back towards $1,670 an ounce on Thursday, recovering from this week's 3-1/ 2 month low as physical buyers returned to the market, but uncertainty over negotiations surrounding the U.S. fiscal crisis kept traders on the sidelines.
LONDON, Dec 20- Oil slipped below $110 a barrel on Thursday as U.S. budget talks stumbled, stoking concern about demand in the world's biggest oil consumer. President Barack Obama has accused opponents of holding a personal grudge against him while the top Republican negotiator John Boehner called the president "irrational".
Dec 20- Private equity firm KKR& Co LP on Thursday kicked off a joint venture with Suez Environment to run the water and wastewater systems of a New Jersey city it hopes will become a model for cash-strapped local authorities in the United States.
MOSCOW, Dec 20- President Vladimir Putin said he hopes the tycoons selling out of TNK-BP will reinvest the proceeds from Russia's largest ever takeover deal back into the country, but he would not force them to do so.
HONG KONG/ SINGAPORE, Dec 20- Hong Kong's de facto central bank said it is investigating possible misconduct by UBS over its submission of interbank rates, raising the possibility that the bank could face more fines a day after it agreed to pay $1.5 billion for its role in the Libor scandal.
GENEVA, Dec 20- Japan has launched a complaint against China at the World Trade Organization to challenge anti-dumping duties levied by China on Japanese exports of high performance stainless steel seamless tubes, the WTO said on Thursday.
TOKYO, Dec 20- Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Thursday that the central bank will debate next month whether there is any room to review the level of price growth that it sees as desirable in the long run. We also received a request recently from the Liberal Democratic Party's Shinzo Abe to review our price goal.
GENEVA, Dec 20- Japan has launched a complaint against China at the World Trade Organization to challenge anti-dumping duties levied by China on Japanese exports of high performance stainless steel seamless tubes, the WTO said on Thursday. The complaint is the third brought to the global trade body by Japan this year. All three have been against China.
LONDON, Dec 20- European shares pared earlier losses to turn positive briefly on Thursday, with UK engineering group Weir among the main gainers as it benefited from a broker upgrade. Traders said equity markets were likely to remain volatile while uncertainty persists over the outcome of U.S budget talks.
*Iran average monthly exports higher in Jul-Oct vs H1. DUBAI/ GENEVA, Dec 20- Iran is becoming increasingly creative in dodging Western sanctions, managing to sell a rising volume of fuel oil to generate revenue equal to up to a third of its crude exports, which have been badly hit by restrictions.
*Tech stocks weaken after Ericsson makes writedown. LONDON, Dec 20- European equity indexes slipped from multi-month highs on Thursday after new signs of friction in U.S. budget talks, while a fall in mobile network maker Ericsson also weighed on markets.
*Investors rotate heavily into HSBC, StanChart. HONG KONG, Dec 20- Hong Kong shares ended at their highest level in nearly 17 months on Thursday trade, as investors rotated into HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered after taking profits in Chinese banks that outperformed recently.
LONDON, Dec 20- World shares retreated from 17- month highs and commodities fell on Thursday as talks to avert a U.S. fiscal crisis stalled, reigniting fears over the health of the world's largest economy.
STOCKHOLM, Dec 20- Ericsson, the world's biggest telecom network equipment maker, will take an 8 billion crown ( $1.2 billion 3/ 8 charge on its ST-Ericsson venture, underscoring the uncertainty over the loss-making project after partner STMicro said it was pulling out.
DUBAI/ NEW DELHI, Dec 20- India's tiny Islamic finance industry is hoping to expand by developing products that would work around the country's ban on sharia-compliant banking.
LONDON, Dec 20- European equity indexes fell from multi-month highs on Thursday after new signs of friction in U.S. budget talks, with many traders looking to sell shares after recent rallies to lock in profits before the year-end.
HONG KONG, Dec 20- Hong Kong shares clung to 17- month highs on Thursday, as strength in HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered outweighed weakness in Chinese banks as investors rotated out of recent outperformers. *Investors rotated heavily into HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered.
PARIS, Dec 20- General Motors Corp and PSA Peugeot Citroen have dropped plans to jointly develop a large car and will base their alliance on three smaller vehicle projects, the automakers said on Thursday.