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While last year not one bank expressed interest in going public in the next 3 years, this year 12% of and 14% of banks that have mutual charters (mutuals) said they were “very” or “somewhat” likely to take their bank public in the next three years, according to Grant Thornton’s 14th Annual Survey of Bank Executives.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved in December, edged up slightly in January. The Index now stands at 110.3 (1985=100), up from 110.0 in December. The Present Situation Index increased to 133.9 from 130.5. The Expectations Index, however, declined to 94.5 from 96.3 last month.

Fitch Ratings says in a special report issued today that the credit profiles of auto manufacturers in Asia, Western Europe and the US are extremely diverse with varying outlooks for 2007. The outlook for the Japanese auto industry is positive, while that for the U.S. car industry remains negative. The outlooks for the South Korean and Chinese auto industries are stable despite challenges expected in the domestic and overseas markets. European original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") also face a broadly stable outlook, although this is at risk from unfavourable foreign exchange rates, heavy regulations and high raw material prices.

China furniture industry has made a remarkable progress as well as the whole industry level. In 2005, the furniture output was 339.9 million pieces, rising 11.41% compared to 2004; the total production value (at current price) of the furniture manufacturing industry reached RMB 138.904 billion, and the sales revenue amounted to RMB 133.706 million, each up 27.40% and 27.43% over the same period of 2004.

The January Bloomberg Eurozone Retail Purchasing Managers' Index ("PMI(R)"), an indicator based on a mid-month survey of economic conditions in the euro area retail sector and providing data one month ahead of government issued figures, fell sharply from 52.1 in December to 47.9 in January after allowing for seasonal influences. The index fall was the second-largest in the three-year history of the survey and, by slipping below the 50.0 no-change level, indicated the first drop in retail sales for ten months, with sales falling at a rate not seen for 23 months.

In the OECD area, consumer prices rose by 2.3% in the year to December 2006, compared with 2.0% in the year to November 2006. On a monthly basis, the price level rose by 0.2% in December 2006 after 0.0% between October and November 2006.

JETRO's monthly survey of Japanese companies and affiliates operating in 12 countries/regions of East Asia revealed that overall current sentiment rose into positive territory in the ASEAN region, backed by favorable economic conditions in Indonesia and Singapore, while remaining depressed in China and North Asia, as firms in Taiwan and the Republic of South Korea (ROK) reported declining sentiment in January.

The market grew steadily on the back of strong underlying economic performances, and greater market and consumer confidence. The inexorable decline in fixed voice revenue has shifted operator focus to revenue-rich sectors such as mobile data and to content delivered over upgraded IP networks.

China’s city gas industry has developed rapidly these past years: for 2005, the popularity rate reached 92%. The output and storage capacity of natural gas was up to 50-60 billion m3 and 8.23 million m3 respectively, and the consumption of natural gas and LPG achieved 17.54 billion m3 and 13.673 million tons separately.

In 2005, the total volume of gas consumed in the UK was 1,096,351 gigawatt hours (GWh) and sales were worth £16.43bn. The domestic sector accounted for the largest share of demand, followed by the electricity-generation sector. Gas is increasingly being used for power generation because it produces less `greenhouse gas' emissions than coal.