Hong Kong

Stock markets in Europe traded in fairly narrow ranges Monday as Germany's leader warned that Greece may not get its next batch of bailout cash. Chinese shares surged after authorities pledged to increase bank lending to entrepreneurs. Europe's stumbling efforts to get a handle on its debt crisis remains the focus of interest in the markets.

New startup Booktracks is creating soundtracks for e-books with technology that tracks your reading speed and syncs the sound perfectly to the text. The company promises it will revolutionize reading, and authors like Salman Rushdie and Jay McInerney are giving it a try. But do books really need a Hollywood makeover?

With the latest round of global climate change talks set to begin this week in Cancun, Mexico, the assembled delegates should be thankful they're not meeting in, say, Beijing or New Delhi. Those two cities are tied at the top of a list no city should want to be on: those with the world's most dangerous air.

A building boom -- and the constrained supply of materials due to mandated energy cuts -- sent Chinese cement, metal and building-equipment stocks up Thursday. Meanwhile, Hong Kong and Japanese exporters benefited from improving consumer sentiment and falling unemployment in the U.S.

Heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar is marketing a two-year 1 billion renminbi bond to institutional investors in Hong Kong. It's only the second multinational company to test the waters of the "dim sum" market, and its offering is five times the size of the first, a bond from McDonald's.

Hong Kong took a new step this week to let some air out of its real estate bubble, levying a heavy tax on property flippers -- a move that has already sent asking prices there downward. But Hong Kong's real estate risks are dwarfed by those in Mainland China.

Manufacturing output jumped in China and India in October, breaking with the rest of Asia. China's official Purchasing Managers Index gained to 54.7 in October, from 53.8 a month earlier, The Wall Street Journal said. A reading above 50 signals expansion and a reading under 50 means output...

AIG (AIG) raised HK$138.3 billion ($17.8 billion) from the IPO of its main Asian unit, AIA, putting the troubled insurer on track to repay its U.S. government bailout. AIG placed 7.03 billion shares at HK$19.68 a share, Bloomberg News said. The shares sold represent a 58% stake in the unit, AIA....

McDonald's Hong Kong stores are super-sizing love starting Jan. 1, when couples can officially tie the knot and become McMan and McWife under the Golden Arches. Any objections? Speak now or forever hold your Quarter Pounder. Value priced at $400, wedding packages will accommodate 50 to 100...

Italian fashion label Prada is considering an IPO with primary listing in Hong Kong, rather than home-base Milan, accroding to reports. Four of its previous attempts at an IPO have been scrapped in the past 10 years, but now the time could be right.