REUTERS BUSINESS SCHEDULE AT 0930 GMT OCT 29, 2012 Receive this schedule by email: www.reuters.com/skeds
The Reuters business schedule runs at the following times: 0230,0630 GMT - Mathew Veedon +65 6870-3827 0830,1230 GMT - Malcolm Davidson +44 20 7542 6958 1530,1930 GMT - Franklin Paul, Chris Kaufman +1 646 223 6200
TOP STORIES Sandy menaces U.S. coast, closing markets and businesses Hurricane Sandy, a mammoth storm menacing the East Coast, takes aim at the most densely populated U.S. region, forcing hundreds of thousands to seek higher ground, halting public transport and closing schools, businesses and government departments (STORM-SANDY/ moved, pix, tv, graphic, 910 words)
UBS shares jump on expected radical overhaul ZURICH - Shares in UBS jump more than 5 percent after media reports that the Swiss bank will announce cuts of up to 10,000 jobs and split off of its fixed-income operations into a separate division to be ultimately wound down (UBS (UPDATE 1), moved, by Emma Thomasson, 510 words)
Growth concerns hit shares, U.S. hurricane impact eyed LONDON - World share markets and commodities fall as downbeat corporate earnings reports add to worries over global growth, while the impending arrival of Hurricane Sandy on the U.S. East Coast limits activity (MARKETS-GLOBAL (WRAPUP 5), expect by 1015, by Richard Hubbard, 600 words)
Greek editor goes on trial over Swiss accounts list ATHENS - A Greek editor goes on trial for publishing the so-called ``Lagarde list'' with names of over 2,000 wealthy Greeks who hold Swiss bank accounts (GREECE-CORRUPTION/ (UPDATE 1), pix, tv, expect by 1200, 600 words)
ECONOMY Spanish retail sales drop sharply after VAT hike MADRID - Spanish retail sales fall at their sharpest pace in at least six years in September, according to official data, after a sales tax hike further hobbles already battered consumer confidence (SPAIN-RETAIL/(UPDATE 1), moved, 240 words)
Russian developer bets on 'Manhattan on the Seine' PARIS - For a city whose priciest apartments boast mansard roofs and wrought-iron balconies, it's an audacious bet: a pair of shimmering luxury towers that might look more at home in Dubai or Singapore (FRANCE-PROPERTY/TOWERS), expect by 1100, by Christian Plumb, 845 words)
HK property shares slump on curbs to cool soaring prices HONG KONG - Hong Kong real estate stocks sink as investors locked in profits in the outperforming sector on worries that surprisingly tough new measures to cool soaring property prices will sap demand from non-resident buyers (PROPERTY-HONGKONG-STOCKS/ (UPDATE 3), moved, pix, by Clement Tan and Alison Leung, 660 words)
S.Korea pension fund needs more contributions, investments SEOUL - The first payouts from South Korea's state pension fund only started in 2008, but faced with the fastest ageing population among developed nations and one of the lowest birth rates, the country needs to deal with a looming funding crunch (KOREA-FUND/ (INTERVIEW), moved, pix, graphics, by David Chance and Joyce Lee, 700 words)
India pledges fiscal deficit cut but short on specifics NEW DELHI - The Indian government pledges to nearly halve its fiscal deficit by March 2017 in a bid to avoid a credit rating downgrade and persuade the central bank to cut interest rates to help the ailing economy, but it offers few concrete steps to meet the ambitious target (INDIA ECONOMY/DEFICIT (UPDATE 2), by Rajesh Kumar Singh and Henry Foy, 500 words)
+ See also: - INDIA-ODISHA, moved, pix, graphic, by Prashant Mehra, 1,250 words
COMMODITIES Gold holds slight gains, but firm U.S. dollar weighs LONDON - Gold edged up after robust U.S. economic data lifted prices in the previous session, but gains could be capped by a firmer U.S. dollar, as well as lingering concerns about Greece's debt woes and a possible bailout for Spain (MARKETS-PRECIOUS, expect by 1030, by David Brough, 500 words)
Copper hits 7-week low on growth, earning worries LONDON - Copper hit a 7 week low as concern about global growth, disappointing corporate earnings and leadership change in the U.S. and China dented risk appetite, though losses were cushioned by the prospect of a recovering U.S. economy (MARKETS-METALS, expect by 1030, by Maytaal Angel, 500 words)
What's eating Australia? Foreign buyers at the farm gate SYDNEY/CANBERRA - Australia risks losing an opportunity to become a farmyard for Asia, as growing unease over foreigners buying rural land threatens to provoke protectionist policies that may deter much needed investment in agriculture (AUSTRALIA-AGRICULTURE/ (ANALYSIS), moved, by Lincoln Feast and James Grubel, 1,050 words)
COMPANIES Pearson confirms Random Penguin merger LONDON - Pearson is to merge Penguin Books with Bertelsmann's Random House, opting to counter rapid market changes by creating the world's leading consumer publisher, rather than wait for a possible offer from a media buyer like Rupert Murdoch (PEARSON/ (UPDATE 2), expect by 1000, by Kate Holton, 650 words)
+ See also - (EREADERS-FUTURE/ (ANALYSIS), moved, pix, graphic, by Jeremy Wagstaff, 1,200 words)
Small should have been beautiful; how Toyota misread China BEIJING - Toyota Motor Corp blames its China underperformance on the widespread anti-Japan protests triggered by a territorial row. Some company insiders and dealers, though, say the world's biggest car maker has misread the world's largest market (TOYOTA-CHINA/ (ANALYSIS, UPDATE 1), moved, pix, by Norihiko Shirouzu, 1,150 words)
+ See also - (HONDA-EARNINGS/ (UPDATE 4), moved, pix, by Yoko Kubota, 830 words)
Nomura returns Q2 profit on fixed income gains TOKYO - Nomura Holdings, Japan's largest investment bank, posts its fourth straight quarterly profit as an upswing in its fixed income operations helps it counter weak equity markets and the fallout from an insider trading probe (NOMURA/EARNINGS (UPDATE 2), moved, 570 words)
Long road to recovery for Anglo without Carroll LONDON - Anglo American investors hoping for a quick boost from the announced exit of boss Cynthia Carroll are likely to be disappointed, with a long-speculated break-up or acquisition by a rival - talking points once again - unlikely any time soon. Instead, analysts and industry sources point to a long, and potentially painful, road to recovery for the global miner (ANGLOAMERICAN/, expect by 1300, by Clara Ferreira-Marques, 550 words)
GSK raises bet on AIDS drug with new Shionogi deal LONDON/TOKYO - GlaxoSmithKline raises its bet on a promising drug for HIV/AIDS by redrawing a deal with Japan's Shionogi, giving it a much bigger economic interest in the new product (SHIONOGI-HIV/GSK (UPDATE 1), expect by 1030, by Ben Hirschler and Mayumi Negishi, 500 words
France's ``sleepy'' retail banks seen ripe for cost cuts PARIS - The job of working at a French bank branch, which for years has been as simple as taking client savings and plonking them in tax-free deposit books or life insurance, is set to get tougher (FRENCHBANKS-RETAIL/CUTS), expect by 1200, by Lionel Laurent and Matthias Blamont, 705 words)
Petronas agrees to renew bid for Canada's Progress-sources KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian state oil firm Petronas will renew a bid for gas producer Progress Energy Resources, Petronas sources say, seeking to assure the Canadian government that the C$5.17 billion ($5.2 billion) deal will benefit the country (PROGRESS-PETRONAS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, by Niluksi Koswanage, 500 words)
China's Sany Heavy poised for economic ``golden age'' SHANGHAI - China's construction equipment sector is slowly but surely digging itself out from under a mountain of inventory and will return to growth in the second or third quarter of next year as the economy recovers, the president of Sany Heavy Industry Co (CHINA-SANY/, moved, pix, tv, by John Ruwitch, 750 words)