Here is a look at Monday's top business stories:
Stocks decline in Tokyo and Hong Kong
TOKYO, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Stock prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended sharply lower, pressured by weakness in the banking sector amid renewed concerns their mountain of bad loans may thwart efforts to strengthen capital bases.
Stocks also lost ground in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Sydney, Australia.
Japan's blue-chip Nikkei Average of 225 selective issues, which lost 60.39 points Friday, fell 225.88 points, or 2.09 percent, to 10,571.00. The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index, or Topix, which lost 12.34 points in the previous session, fell 22.35 points, or 2.14 percent, to 1,023.34.
Declines outpaced advances 905 to 466, while another 110 issues settled unchanged.
Volume declined to an estimated 864.45 million shares from an estimated 928.56 million shares changing hands on Friday.
Analysts said investors were reluctant to take active buying positions given the vulnerability of the financial system to corporate bankruptcies, as well as a lack of attractive buys.
Overall the market came under pressure from weakness in the baking sector as investors were worried that the recent high-profile bankruptcy of builder Aoki Corp. and the bleak economic outlook could add to massive bad loans at the country's biggest lenders.
Losses from the bank sector triggered falls in financials and real estate issues, as many companies in those sectors are heavily in debt, traders noted.
Technology issues and export-related issues such as automakers failed to benefit from an official green light from a weakening yen that lead the Japanese currency to slide further against the dollar.
A weaker yen usually means better business for Japanese companies because it lowers prices and thus increases the competitiveness of their exports in overseas markets.
In trading, UFJ Holdings sank 11.3 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking fell 10.4 percent and Mizuho Holdings dropped 8.4 percent and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group lost 1.9 percent.
In the technology sector, NEC Corp. slipped 0.5 percent, Sony Corp. eased 1.8 percent, Kyocera plunged 5.0 percent and Tokyo Electron dropped 2.2 percent.
All of the "Big Three" automakers ended lower. Toyota fell 2.2 percent, Honda dropped 2.7 percent and Nissan slipped 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, sluggish prospects for Japan's domestic economy also led real estate shares lower. Real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan lost 2.6 percent and Mitsubishi Estate lost 1.0 percent.
Elsewhere in Asia, prices on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ended slightly lower ahead of Tuesday's policy making Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
The key Hang Seng Index fell 47.26 points, or 0.40 percent, to 11,784.90 as investors stayed away from bank shares ahead of the Fed's monetary policy meeting.
Hong Kong's monetary policy tends to follow those of the U.S. as the local currency is pegged to the dollar.
In trading, HSBC Holdings lost 1.5 percent. HSBC's unit Hang Seng Bank lost 0.6 percent while China Unicom lost 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, prices on the South Korean Stock Exchange ended sharply lower, knocked down by profit-taking and aggressive selling of blue chips by foreigners.
The key Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, sank 35.73 points, or 5.07 percent, to 668.77, giving up all their gains from Friday. The decline came after the index had gained 9.4 percent last week. Analysts noted stock prices were due for some consolidation.
In trading, Hynix Semiconductor topped the actives, falling 6.3 percent. The chipmaker said preliminary talks for an alliance with Micron Technology have been completed, and it awaits an offer from Micron.
Samsung Electronics, Korea's largest stock in terms of market capitalization, sank 8.3 percent, Korea Telecom fell 5.3 percent, SK Telecom, Korea's largest wireless carrier, declined 7.2 percent and Pohang Iron & Steel, or Posco, fell 9.8 percent.
Daewoo Motor Sales Corp., a sales affiliate of Daewoo Motor, slid 4.0 percent. The company said it could lay off an unspecified number of employees if they don't agree to a new commissions-based income scheme. A local report said about 2,000 employees may be laid off.
Meanwhile, Good Morning Securities fell 6.4 percent and SK Securities lost 5.9 percent, Korean Air Lines fell 8.4 percent and Asiana Airlines lost 2.2 percent.
Prices on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ended slightly lower for the first time in 6 trading sessions as investors judged the recent rally was overdone.
The key Weighted Index slipped 12.65 points, or 0.24 percent, to 5,321.28. Last week, the index soared nearly 20 percent as election results led to hopes that President Chen Shui-bian would gain a stronger grip on the island's politics and economy.
In trading, United Microelectronics dropped 6 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing fell 5.1 percent and Winbond Electronics rallied 6.6 percent.
Elsewhere in the Pacific region, prices ended slightly lower on the Australian Stock Exchange. The blue-chip All Ordinaries Index eased 11.10 points, or 0.34 percent, to 3,301.60.
Bucking an overall weakness, Normandy Mining rose 3.6 percent after U.S.-based Newmont Mining sweetened its bid for Australia's largest gold producer.
Another mining giant, BHP Billiton added 0.6 percent while News Corp. lost 2.3 percent.
Harrah's eliminates energy surcharge
LAS VEGAS, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Harrah's Entertainment Inc. said that, effective immediately, it has eliminated the temporary energy surcharge implemented at its Harrah's and Rio properties in Nevada last April.
The $3-per-room surcharge was announced in response to a doubling of natural gas prices and rising electricity prices during the 12 months leading up to last April.
"As we said at that time, we continued to evaluate the need to keep the surcharge in place and expressed the hope that it would be a short-term solution to rising energy costs," said Carlos Tolosa, Harrah's Entertainment Western Division president.
"We are pleased that the recent decline in energy prices has enabled us to remove the surcharge.
"We hope energy prices remain low so we won't have to reinstate the surcharge," Tolosa said. "However, we will continue to monitor electricity prices closely because our supplier, Nevada Power Company, has requested a large rate increase," he added.
Harrah's Entertainment operates 25 casinos in the United States.
