Factory orders in the United States increased by 2.1 percent in September, the strongest gain since the series began in 1992, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday.

The productivity of American workers was flat in the third quarter, the poorest showing since a decline of 0.1 percent in the final quarter of last year, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The continuing growth of the Mainland economy helps Hong Kong become a center for initial public offerings and other fund-raising activities by the Chinese mainland enterprises, Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam said Thursday.

Total amounts of private equity funds raised in Africa and overall private equity investments on the continent both declined in 2005, The Post reported on Friday.

Indonesia's telecommunication giant PT Telkom has set a target of inclusion in the world's top 500 companies in 2008, an executive said Friday.

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan are benefiting from improved exchanges and cooperation in the tourism industry, said Liu Kezhi, secretary general of the mainland's Association for Cross-strait Exchanges on Tourism, on Friday.

U.S. stocks traded lower Thursday on sluggish labor market data.

The Government Accountability Office, the watchdog agency for Congress, is beginning a broad investigation into potential deficiencies in how the government collects billions of dollars in royalties from companies that produce oil and gas on federal territory, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

Chinese officials on Thursday repudiated claims that the government's report to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on subsidies lacked transparency.

The European Central Bank (ECB) decided on Thursday to leave its benchmark refinancing rate on hold at 3.25 percent, but warned it may raise the rate in December.