From January to November, the total profit of China's industrial enterprises with annual sales of more than $724,600 reached $348.78 billion, an increase of 4.9 percent year over year but down 31.8 percentage points compared with the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics of China on December 26.

- State-owned and state-controlled firms: $115.72 billion, down 14.5%
- Collective-owned firms: $9.96 billion, up 29.5%
- Share-cooperative firms: $2.43 billion, up 19.2%
- Joint-stock firms: $195.17 billion, up 11.4%
- Foreign-funded firms: $92.38 billion, down 3.1%
- Private firms: $79.64 billion, up 36.6%

Taxes paid totaled $265.42 billion, up 20.7% year over year, and combined revenue totaled $6.37 trillion, up 24.1% year over year. By the end of November the total volume of net receivables totaled $652.26 billion, up 12.3%, and the total value of finished products reached $334.99 billion, up 25%.

Sectors

- Oil and natural gas: up 37.2%
- Coal: up 133.7%
- Iron and steel: down 13.7%
- Architectural materials: up 27.7%
- Chemicals: up 0.2%
- Smelting and pressing of nonferrous metals: down 34.1%
- Special-purpose machinery: up 9.4%
- Transportation equipment: up 15.7%
- Electronic communication equipment: up 1.1%
- Electric power: down 84.1%
- Chemical fibers: down 74.9%

The petroleum processing and coking industries lost $18.26 billion compared with a profit of $3.55 billion in the same period last year.

The supply of cooking gas remains tight for small retailers even as the Energy department’s inspection has so far cleared some suppliers from allegations of hoarding.

In a phone interview, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association (LPGMA) President Arnel U. Ty said there are still long queues for the commodity in suppliers’ depots.

He said the supply situation is expected to ease on Saturday with the arrival of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports.

The Energy department has ordered during the holiday break an inspection of major and so-called independent LPG retailers to ensure steady supply in the market after small sellers complained of supply lack to meet the holiday demand.

The department has cleared, among others, Petron Corp.’s facility in Bataan province of hoarding after an inspection conducted on Jan. 2.

Col. Felipe Perez of the Presidential Task Force on the Security of Energy Facilities and Enforcement of Laws and Standards said they will also inspect other major suppliers Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., which sells Shellane, and Total Philippines, Inc., which retails TotalGaz, but he did not indicate a specific date.

"We are looking at inspecting them this month, we can’t do it all at the same time since we lack manpower," Mr. Perez said in an interview at the weekend.

Mr. Ty earlier said the supply lack forced their members to operate only every other day and that this has affected 30% of their operations.

LPGMA members, who operate only in Luzon, control 30% of the market.

Liquigaz, which supplies LPGMA members, earlier said there is enough supply for its customers.

LPGMA members include Pinnacle Gas, Cat Gas, Omni Gas, Nation Gas and Island Gas.

LPG prices remain steady at P380 to P464 per 11-kilogram cyinder tank.

U.S. stocks last week advanced the most since November after fewer Americans filed for jobless claims and oil's biggest weekly increase in two decades lifted energy stocks.

Marathon Oil and Baker Hughes led energy producers, climbing more than 15 percent as the price of crude oil reached $46.34 a barrel, the highest in a month. SanDisk staged the steepest rally among technology companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, adding 21 percent as investors speculated that it may be acquired. The S&P 500 gained 6.8 percent during the holiday-shortened week, to 931.80. The Dow Jones industrial average added 6.1 percent, to 9034.69. The Nasdaq composite index rose 6.7 percent to 1632.21.

"If we get some letup in risk aversion, we could easily see double-digit" percentage gains in U.S. stocks this year, said E. William Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management. "We only know two things: Typically, the market moves before the economy does, and valuations are reasonable."

More than $30 trillion was erased from global equity markets in 2008. The S&P 500 plunged 38 percent, the most since 1937, as the economy entered a recession and the biggest financial firms lost more than $1 trillion on subprime-related loans and securities.

Energy stocks increased the most among 10 S&P 500 industry groups, jumping 9.6 percent. Companies that rely on growing consumer spending rose 8.4 percent, the second-biggest gain. Industrial, financial and technology companies advanced more than 7 percent and every group added at least 3.8 percent.

Crude futures gained 23 percent last week, the most since August 1986, as the conflict in Gaza increased concern that Middle East supplies would be cut and Russia curbed natural-gas shipments to Ukraine. Oil fell 54 percent last year, the first annual drop since 2001.

The Labor Department said new jobless claims were depressed by the shortened Christmas workweek even as the total number of people collecting benefits reached a 26-year high. There were 492,000 new claims for the week ended Dec. 27, below the 575,000 average estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The Treasury will auction $32 billion of three-month bills and $22 billion of six-month bills on Monday. They yielded 0.11 percent and 0.32 percent, respectively, in when-issued trading. The Treasury will sell $16 billion of 10-year bonds on Thursday. They yielded 2.37 percent.

Crude oil prices were lower and gold prices rose as trading resumed after the New Year holiday.

Crude oil prices fell in New York, extending their worst yearly drop, on concern that a global economic contraction would limit fuel demand.

Crude oil for February delivery dropped as much as $2.06, or 4.6 percent, to $42.54 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold rose in Asia after an eighth straight annual gain as demand increased for the metal as a hedge against inflation and an alternative asset.

Gold advanced 5.8 percent in 2008 on demand for a store of value, as a financial crisis pushed major economies into recession and drove equity markets lower.

Bullion for immediate delivery gained $2.10 an ounce to $881.55 at 9 a.m. in Singapore, after earlier rising as much as 1 percent to $888.35. Gold for February delivery fell 0.2 percent to $882.40 in after-hours electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Among other precious metals for immediate delivery, silver fell 0.4 percent to $11.345 an ounce, platinum was little changed at $935 an ounce, and palladium rose 1.1 percent to $189 an ounce as of 8:54 a.m. in Singapore.

Oil fell 54 percent in 2008, the first annual decline since 2001 and the biggest drop since futures trading started in 1983. The February contract rose $5.57 to $44.60 a barrel on Dec. 31, the highest settlement since Dec. 12.

Fuel consumption in the United States was down 3.7 percent during the four weeks ended Dec. 26 from a year earlier, according to the Department of Energy. Oil rose 14 percent on Dec. 31 after a report showed American fuel stockpiles climbed less than expected and the conflict between Israel and Hamas raised concern that Middle East supplies may be disrupted.

“That rally on the 31st didn’t have too much behind it so we’re seeing crude come back to a level more reflective of the fundamentals,” said Toby Hassall, an analyst with Commodity Warrants Australia in Sydney. “We still don’t have a clear picture of when a global recovery is going to take place.”

Crude oil may rise next week as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries makes record production cuts to counter the deepest economic slump since World War II.

Iran's 2009-10 budget is expected to be based on an oil price of $37.5 per barrel, a "logical" level in view of last year's price fall, Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari was quoted as saying on Sunday.

An Iranian newspaper last month said the government and a parliament committee had an initial agreement to base the budget starting in March on an oil price of $45, lower than previously suggested.

"The price of oil in next year's budget has been envisaged at $37.5 (per barrel) which seems to be a logical price considering the drop in prices," Nozari was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr News Agency.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) website carried a similar report, saying the government and parliament had agreed on this price for the budget, which has yet to be presented to the legislature.

Oil prices have plunged by some $100 per barrel since mid-July to around $46, pulled down by a slowing world economy.

Some 80 percent of the foreign exchange earnings of Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, come from crude sales.

Economists say Iran's government, which has enjoyed windfall oil earnings in recent years, would likely have to cut spending in 2009 when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to run for re-election, unless crude prices rebound to $80 or so.

The head of parliament's economic commission Gholam-Reza Mesbahi said the lower oil price was expected to cause a 33 percent drop in government revenue in the next budget, the Jahan-e Eghtesad business daily reported.

"In view of the drop in income from crude oil exports one of the necessities of the budget would be for it to be contractionary," Mesbahi was quoted as saying.

He said raising taxes would not be possible and that borrowing from the Iranian banking system would fuel inflation. Financial sanctions imposed on Iran over its disputed nuclear plans hindered borrowing from foreign banks, he said.

A government official said in October Iran was planning for an oil price of $55 to $60 in the next budget, but oil prices have continued to slide since then.

The oil price set for Iran's budget indicates government expectations but does not give a full picture.

Economists said last year's budget was officially based on a price of about $40 a barrel but, when withdrawals from an oil revenue reserve fund and other crude-related earnings were taken into account, the state needed $70 or more to balance its books.

The government has been seeking to reduce subsidies, a heavy drain on state coffers, including discussing utility bill hikes.

Ukraine sought support Friday in European capitals a day after Russia cut off gas supplies and hardened its stance on prices.

Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that it, too, was ready to explain its position in the dispute to Europe, asking for a special session of the European Commission to address the question.

But there were no face-to-face talks between Ukraine and Russia as of late afternoon Friday, a day after Russia's state-controlled energy giant Gazprom cut off gas to Ukraine, saying it had failed to pay an outstanding $2.1 billion bill.

For the moment, the two countries instead fought a public relations war.

A Ukrainian delegation headed by Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan, and including the deputy chief of gas company Naftogaz, Volodymyr Chuprun, visited Prague, the Czech Republic, and Bratislava, Slovakia, on its way to Brussels for meetings with officials.

"Our aim is to explain our position to our European partners on the situation which arose in the gas sphere," Bohdan Sokolovsky, energy adviser to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Bratislava. "We are informing them on how the negotiations are going, we are stating our negotiating position."

Sokolovsky said Ukraine was trying to reassure its neighbors that it would not interrupt gas supplies.

"We told them that Ukraine is fulfilling all of its transit obligations and they have no doubts about that," he said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Friday Russia was ready to go to Brussels as well to make its case to the European Union.

Many in the West viewed a 2006 Russian cutoff of gas to Ukraine as an effort to punish Ukraine's political leaders for their pro-Western policies.

That cutoff, which temporarily affected supplies to Europe, also led to accusations that Russia was an unreliable source of energy and led to calls for greater energy independence from Moscow.

This year, Russia has taken pains to paint the conflict as a purely commercial matter, and both countries have pledged they would keep gas flowing through Ukraine's pipeline system to the rest of Europe. As of late Friday afternoon there were no reports of interruptions in shipments beyond Ukraine.

Despite the apparent absence of talks, there seemed to be little sense of urgency. Experts say both Ukraine and Europe have significant stockpiles of gas.

Germany's E.ON Ruhrgas utility said it had seen no disruption to Russian gas deliveries as of Friday — although it said any effects would not be noticeable until the beginning next week because of the distance the gas travels.

In any case, "we have nearly 25 percent of our annual needs ... in reserves, so that even if gas volumes from Russia were to be reduced, we are well prepared," German Economy Ministry spokeswoman Beatrix Brodkorb said in Berlin.

Thomas Steg, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, called on both sides to "negotiate quickly and constructively" on a new contract.

The cutoff came after Ukraine made a $1.5 billion overdue payment, but Russia demands another $600 million, including $450 million penalties for the late payment for gas shipped in November and December. The two sides also have not agreed on prices for 2009.

Gazprom also wants to charge Ukraine higher gas prices for 2009. Ukraine, meanwhile, says Russia should pay more to ship through its pipelines, which carry 80 percent of the gas Russia sells to European Union customers.

The dispute also reflects strained relations between the two former Soviet nations that developed after Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, which brought a pro-Western government to power.

Ukraine has since sought to join NATO and supported Georgia during its brief war with Russia in August — moves that angered the Kremlin.

The recent decline in energy prices has hit Russia hard, and Gazprom faces a sharp drop in demand for energy.

Experts say efforts to resolve the dispute are also hampered by divisions within Ukraine's leadership. President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko are bitter political rivals.

At one point Gazprom said it would accept $250 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, close to the $235 that Ukraine has offered.

But late Thursday Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller toughened his company's stance, resuming an early demand of $418 per thousand cubic meters, the price Russia will charge European customers over the next few months.

Those prices are expected to slide considerably later this year, as the gas market begins to reflect the fall in world oil prices. Last year, Ukraine paid $179.50 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas.

Russian natural gas was reaching Europe in full measure Friday, one day after Russia cut supplies to Ukraine in a contract dispute, the European Union said.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said Friday Russia and Ukraine were honoring their promise to maintain natural gas supplies to their European customers, reported RIA Novosti, the Russian news agency.

Russia cut its natural gas supplies to Ukraine Thursday after talks on a 2009 contract broke down, but increased shipments to European countries.

The European Union urged both sides to continue discussions, RIA Novosti said.

"All existing commitments to supply and transit (natural gas) must be honored," the European Union, the Czech Republic and the European Commission said in a joint statement.

Recurring disputes between Moscow and Kiev have raised concerns among European countries about Russia's reliability as a supplier, the Russian news agency said. Ukraine transports about 80 percent of Russian gas, shipped to EU members.