Business and City in Brief

Rolls wins pounds 24m American order

Rolls-Royce has won an order worth up to pounds 24m from Mesa Airlines for two sets of twin Tay 620 engines as part of the airline's order of two Fokker 70s.

New Mexico-based Mesa Airlines, the largest independently owned regional carrier in the US, is the first American operator to select the 79-seat Fokker 70 since its debut in the Paris Air Show this summer.

Top of the chips

Semiconductor makers in the US have retaken the lead in chip production this year, surpassing Japan for the first time in eight years. Dataquest, a market research firm, said American companies controlled 41.9 per cent of the world semiconductor market in 1993 compared with 41.4 per cent for Japanese makers. For the second year Intel was the world's largest chip maker.

Mozer jailed for fraud

Paul Mozer, the Salomon Brothers trader at the centre of the US Treasury auction scandal, was sentenced yesterday to four months in prison and ordered to pay dollars 30,000 in fines for his role in cornering several issues of two- and five-year notes in early 1991. Mr Mozer, who agreed to plead guilty to two fraud charges last year, faced a possible 10-year sentence for his crime.

Bank rescue

The Hungarian government is to make a two-stage, dollars 1.4bn rescue for 10 state-owned commercial banks whose capital was wiped out by loan losses. The first stage of the plan will inject dollars 1.1bn later this month into eight of the banks; a further cash injection next year will include the remaining two.

Tower repairs

The NatWest Tower, one of the City's best-known landmarks, is to be refurbished next year after the damage sustained in the bomb explosion last April. Work is scheduled to begin in the late summer. National Westminster has appointed the architects GMW to draw up plans. Investigations have found that the building is structurally sound.

Toyota spending

Toyota, the Japanese car maker, is to spend pounds 380m with European component suppliers next year when the local content of the Carina E, built at its Burnaston plant in Derbyshire, reaches 80 per cent.

Lehman sacks 30

Lehman Brothers has dismissed 30 of its 430-strong brokerage staff ahead of a possible 1994 initial public offering.

BA jobs boost

British Airways has opened a pounds 23m avionics repair base in Wales, creating 400 new jobs. The base at Llantrisant, Mid-Glamorgan, is capable of handling up to 130,000 avionics components a year and will maintain all electrical and electronic systems fitted to BA aircraft.

Volvo election

Volvo is to elect a new board of directors at an extraordinary meeting on 19 January.

World Markets

New York: Profit-taking by investors after yesterday's record high lowered the Dow Jones Industrial Average 21.80 points to 3,742.63 by the close.

Tokyo: Thin, narrow-range trading ended with the Nikkei average 16.8 points easier at 17,308.73.

Hong Kong: In a technical correction after five record closes in a row, the Hang Seng index fell 227.11 points to 10,021.48.

Sydney: Shares finished broadly lower in line with futures prices. The All Ordinaries index dipped 7.9 points to 2,086.6.

Bombay: Trading was suspended as brokers boycotted India's main bourses in protest at the ban on forward trading.

Johannesburg: Despite late profit-taking the overall index recorded a 47-point gain to 4,594.

Frankfurt: Profit-taking after recent gains lowered the DAX index 22.73 points to 2,150.02.

Paris: The CAC-40 index suffered a 39.81-point loss to 2,156.5.

Milan: After rising most of the day prices closed lower on concern about the Russian elections.

London: Report, page 28.