SYDNEY: A key measure of Australian consumer confidence slipped for a second month in December as rising interest rates soured sentiment for those with mortgages, even as the broad mood on the economy remained upbeat. The survey of 1,200 people by Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute released on Dec 9 showed its index of consumer sentiment dipped 3.8% to 113.8 in December.

KUALA LUMPUR: Genting Malaysia Bhd on Dec 8 entered into sale and purchase agreements with Genting Bhd to acquire Oakwood Sdn Bhd and Genting Highlands Tours and Promotions Sdn Bhd (GHTP) for a cash consideration of RM212.7 million and RM15.9 million respectively.

KUALA LUMPUR: TA Enterprise Bhd on Dec 8 posted a 54% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in pre-tax profit to RM23.3 million for its third quarter ended Sept 31, 2009 (3Q2009), compared with RM51.2 million in the previous year’s corresponding period.

HONG KONG: Asia's property fund size will expand by more than 50% in the next two to three years to US$200 billion (RM678.6 billion), driven by demand from institutional investors from countries including China, industry executives said on Dec 8.

PETALING JAYA: The soil at the location of the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide, which occurred in December  2008, had shown signs of instability as early as January 2008.

SHAH ALAM: Parkson Corp Sdn Bhd will be taking up 120,000 sq ft of space at Setia City Mall in Setia Alam, Shah Alam.

Parkson is the sole department store and one of the key anchor retailers of the 700,000 sq ft retail development by S P Setia Bhd and Lend Lease Asian Retail Investment Fund 2 (ARIF).

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor State Development Corp (PKNS) is confident it can rake in RM55 million in sales from its latest medium/high-end project Ayuqaseh in Alam Nusantara, Setia Alam in Shah Alam.

MANAMA: Asian asset prices have risen sharply, which calls for vigilance, a senior official at the city state's monetary authority said on Dec 7.

LONDON: British commercial property values in November made the biggest monthly gain since records began nine years ago, rising 2.7% and marking the fifth consecutive monthly increase, the latest CB Richard Ellis Monthly Index found.

Values have been rising steadily since July when they were down 44% from the last peak reached in mid-2007.

GEORGE TOWN: One of the two projects in the heritage core zone affected by George Town's Unesco world heritage listing has received the nod to proceed after amendments were made to its original plans.