Business and City Summary

No complaints

over ecu loans The Bank of England said that by 5pm yesterday it had not received any formal complaints against banks involved in last week's 10bn ecu borrowing by the Government.

Market sources have complained about alleged leaks, claiming that some banks profited as a result of the information. The Bank has said it will not launch a full inquiry unless there is a formal complaint.

Generale stake

Societe Generale, the French banking group, has acquired a 30 per cent stake in the share capital of Crosby Group, the Hong Kong-based independent merchant banking business.

EC trade gap

European car makers have urged the EC and the Japanese government to find ways to boost Japanese car imports to help rectify the EC's growing trade gap with Tokyo.

Diamond price

De Beers says it has no plans to change the price it pays for rough Russian gems, even though the world diamond market is in the doldrums.

Early opening

Liffe, the London financial futures market, will open an hour early on 21 September, the day after the French Maastricht referendum.

Oil demand

Opec suggests that demand for the group's crude oil will be around 25.2 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of this year, industry sources say.

Lufthansa loss

The German airline Lufthansa will continue to run at a loss during reorganisation of the company, Jurgen Weber, chairman of the management board, said.

Nadir trial

The trial of Asil Nadir, chairman of Polly Peck International, on charges relating to an alleged multi-million-pound fraud is expected to begin on 8 March 1993.

Aid pledge

The Treuhand privatising agency has pledged to step up aid for eastern Germany's former state-owned firms.

German budget The federal German government plans to allocate DM92bn ( pounds 32.8bn) in its 1993 budget to finance unification, up from DM86bn this year.

World Markets

New York: Closed (Labor Day).

Tokyo: Profit-taking eroded gains to leave the Nikkei average 115.12 adrift at 18,440.18.

Hong Kong: Trade friction between the colony and the US was a factor in a 43.1-point fall by the Hang Seng to 5,664.41.

Sydney: With the weak Australian dollar compounding other worries, the All Ordinaries index fell 15.4 points to 1,514.9.

Bombay: Hectic trading, restricted to one hour against the normal two, lifted the index 60.42 points to 3,226.52.

Johannesburg: Gold shares advanced on the back of a firmer bullion price. The overall index eased four points to 3,178.

Paris: Early buying gave way to a bout of profit-taking, and the CAC-40 index finished a choppy session just 0.32 of a point to the good at 1,779.3.

Frankfurt: The DAX index came off its high to end 4.13 points firmer at 1,540.63.

Milan: Still affected by Friday's discount rate rise, the MIB plunged 3.02 per cent to 707.

London: Report, page 27.