AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Friday, Sept. 19, 2008:

Congress promises quick action on bailout package

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress promised quick action on a plan to buy up toxic assets, such as bad mortgages, held by troubled banks and other institutions, hoping to lift the nation out of its worst financial crisis in decades. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are crafting a plan, which they plan to soon deliver to lawmakers, after concluding they need broader powers to combat fallout from a housing and credit market meltdown that has sent shock waves through Wall Street and around the globe. Congressional leaders said they expected to get the plan Friday and act on it before Congress recesses for the election.

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Asian stocks soar on possible US rescue package

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stock markets soared Friday after a punishing week as news of a possible U.S. government plan to rescue banks from toxic mortgage debt brought hope of a letup in the world's worst financial crisis in decades. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 7 percent at the open and was up 6.5 percent at the midday break at 18,779.03. Japan's Nikkei 225 average was up 3.8 percent at 11,920.86.

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Oil rises above $98 a barrel in Asia

SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices rose Friday in Asia as investors waited for details of a U.S. government plan that could help ease a credit crisis that has roiled global markets. Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 76 cents to $98.64 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midafternoon in Singapore. Overnight, the contract rose 72 cents to settle at $97.88.

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AIG Singapore general manager resigns amid turmoil

SINGAPORE (AP) — The head of the Singapore unit of troubled insurance giant American International Group Inc. resigned Friday after 14 years with the company. Mark O'Dell, general manager of AIA Singapore, has left and Executive Vice President Kenneth Juneau will take over immediately, the company said Friday.

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Morgan Stanley, others may get federal lifeline

NEW YORK (AP) — America's battered financial services industry is close to getting the lifeline it was desperately seeking as government leaders sketched out a plan to rescue banks from bad debts that threatened their survival. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said after a meeting with congressional leaders late Thursday that there was consensus on a plan to deal with illiquid real estate and other assets on the books of financial institutions.

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Source: SEC weighs broad move on short-selling

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid the spiraling market crisis and mounting pressure from lawmakers, the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering taking the dramatic step of temporarily banning the routine practice of betting against company stocks. The move, if taken by the SEC, may well be unprecedented and a reflection of regulators' concern about the widening scope of the financial crisis as entreaties come from all quarters to stem a swarm of short-selling.

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Oracle 1Q profit cheers Street, shares climb

Investors looking for a sign that big companies are still spending on software found a measure of relief after Oracle reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that beat expectations. Wall Street took the company's positive tone at face value, sending up shares $1.10, or 5.9 percent, to $19.85 in after-hours trading. But the company's weakening guidance for new software license sales may tell a different story.

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Russian stocks resume trading

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's two main stock exchanges opened, then closed, then opened again Friday, the most extreme example of the volatility that is hitting the world's financial markets. The MICEX and RTS had been closed since Wednesday after stocks plummeted. Within an hour of the reopening, prices were up so steeply that authorities stopped trading again, in line with exchange rules.

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HSBC terminates agreement to buy South Korean bank

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — British bank HSBC Holdings PLC said Friday it has canceled an agreement to purchase a controlling stake in a South Korean bank from U.S. private equity group Lone Star Funds amid world financial turmoil. HSBC said in a statement that it "exercised its right to terminate the acquisition agreement with immediate effect." The London-based bank cited "all relevant factors including current asset values in world financial markets" for the decision. It gave Thursday as the date of the cancellation.

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Column: Uncle Sam's books could be strapped

NEW YORK (AP) — These are momentous times in the financial markets. That's why the Federal Reserve has been taking extraordinary steps to stabilize financial conditions — even to the point of stretching its own finances. The central bank has been generously using taxpayer dollars to bail out ailing financial firms and keep liquidity flowing in the battered marketplace.

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Gold Prices

NEW YORK (AP) — Gold briefly shot above $900 an ounce Thursday as panicky investors poured money into safe-haven assets, but the metal later gave back its gains after the government said it was preparing a plan to rescue banks from the toxic debt that has pummeled the financial system over the past year.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese stocks roared back Friday as investors welcomed Wall Street's overnight rally and news of a possible U.S. government plan to rescue banks from risky mortgage debt. The benchmark Nikkei 225 soared 431.56 points, or 3.8 percent, to 11,920.86, a sharp rebound from Thursday, when it slid 2.2 percent to its lowest closing level in more than three years. The broader Topix index advanced 4.7 percent to 1,149.12.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) — The dollar was trading at 106.88 yen Friday in Asia, up from 105.77 yen late Thursday.

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