The complex is to be located on the northern highway linking Doha International Airport with the proposed Bahrain Causeway and will include a retail center, an entertainment park and two hotels. Construction for the 433,000 square-meter project will begin in early 2011, the release said. The first retail phase is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2012 and the remaining two phases will be completed by 2015. Al-Futtaim group members IKEA, ACE Toys “R” Us, Marks & Spencer and Intersport have confirmed as the project’s anchor tenants, it said.

Al-Futtaim is one of the biggest family-owned enterprises in the region.

Copyright © 2010 Dow Jones Newswires

By Corbett B. Daly

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A further downturn in thebattered U.S. housing market has put the Obama administrationin a tough spot with few tools to stem foreclosures ahead ofcongressional elections in which Democrats face big losses.

The administration has a billion war chest to fightforeclosures, yet only around 0 million has been disbursedin a program narrowly tailored to help responsible borrowers.

A more aggressive effort is politically unpalatable andcould fall short of solving a problem that has been made worseby rising unemployment.

“At this stage in the game, there does not exist thepolitical wherewithal to do anything that would meaningfullychange the pace or the ultimate magnitude of the foreclosurecrisis,” said Raj Date, chairman of the Cambridge WinterCenter, a financial services policy think tank.

“It is very very difficult to engineer some kind oflarge-scale foreclosure relief that doesn’t benefit at leastone of two parties that (voters) don’t want to help,” he said,referring to mortgage bond investors and homeowners who boughthouses they could not afford.

A report on Thursday showed contracts to buy previouslyowned U.S. homes rose in July, but any rise in sales would becoming off an extremely depressed level.

Sales plunged a record 27.2 percent to the lowest level in15 years in July, while banks repossessed the second highestmonthly number of homes on record. Data company RealtyTracexpects more than 1 million homes to be repossessed this year.

The administration has taken a number of steps to combatthe rising tide of foreclosures, but they have fallen short ofexpectations and financial markets continue to speculate aboutpossible new programs.

But any major push, such as the wholesale forgiveness of ahomeowner’s principal debt, is unlikely to find support amongpolicymakers, both because of the cost and the big potentialfor a political backlash from any move that was seen aspossibly rewarding reckless behavior by banks and borrowers.

With the November 2 elections fast approaching, PresidentBarack Obama next week will unveil a number of steps aimed athelping the overall economy.

While he has pointed toward a number of possible options,including more tax cuts for businesses to encourage hiring,Obama and other officials have been silent on housing.

The administration has “very few options” left to addresshousing directly, said Howard Glaser, a consultant to mortgagelenders and a former housing official in the Clintonadministration.

MICRO SOLUTION TO MACRO PROBLEM

The government is already lending the sector extraordinarysupport.

More than 80 percent of new mortgage originations in thethree months through June were directly or indirectly backed bythe government, including loans backed by the Federal HousingAdministration and those securitized by government-controlledFannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

But the administration’s marquee foreclosure preventioneffort, the Home Affordable Modification Program, issputtering. Since its inception in April 2009, nearly half ofthe 1.3 million homeowners who have received initial help havedropped out. In fact, in recent months, more borrowers havebeen dropping out of the program than signing up.

Celia Chen, senior director at Moody’s Analytics, saidabout half a million homeowners are expected to get a permanentmodification to their mortgage payment by 2012 when the programends, well short of the administration’s initial goal of threeto four million.

“It’s not working very well,” Chen said. “I suppose savingsome homes from foreclosure is better than none.”

The Obama administration, however, sees the glass as halffull and argues the program has been a catalyst for loanmodifications taking place outside of the program, which Chenexpects to reach about 1.5 million by the end of 2012.

“HAMP has been essential to assisting homeowners during theworst housing crisis in generations,” said Treasury AssistantSecretary Herb Allison. “The Obama administration remains fullycommitted to helping responsible, hard-pressed homeowners avoidforeclosure during this difficult time.”

The original HAMP goal was simply too ambitious, accordingto Michael Larson, a real estate analyst at Weiss ResearchInc.

“It’s a post-bubble environment. All the king’s horses andall the king’s men can’t put it back together again,” he said.

Larson notes that the lofty level of unemployment, whichclimbed to 9.6 percent in August, makes the housing crisis muchharder to address than if it were simply a problem ofadjustable rate mortgage payments about to skyrocket.

“They are combating a macroeconomic problem withmicroeconomic solutions,” he said.

Larson said that without the pressure of another crisis,there would be little appetite for massive interventions and,without an improvement in the jobs market, little prospect fora quick turnaround in the market.

“I think we are going to continue on this muddle-throughpath for a while unless or until we get some kind of shock.” (Editing by Tim Ahmann and Andrea Ricci)

Sloan was most recently the company’s head of commercial banking, real estate and specialized financial services. He had held that position since 2006, and he has been with the company since 1987. He begins in his new job effective immediately.

“Tim has demonstrated the kind of business acumen and leadership that inspires teams to higher levels of performance,” said Chairman and Chief Executive John Stumpf. “He is a trustworthy and effective ambassador for the company, having cultivated long-term relationships with many valued clients.”

Stumpf noted that the company wants to have “a more holistic approach to how we communicate our brand, engage with the communities we serve and develop our people.”

Sloan will be in charge of “the company’s brand, reputation-management, stakeholder-engagement and people-development efforts,” Wells Fargo said.

Wells Fargo shares recently rose 3% to .85.

Copyright © 2010 Dow Jones Newswires

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The Crown Estate, which manages a diversified GBP6 billion portfolio across the U.K. on behalf of the U.K. sovereign, Friday said it had shortlisted a number of potential investment partners to buy a 25% stake in its GBP1.6 billion Regent Street estate in London.

The Crown Estate said the matter is still at an early stage and that detailed discussions will be required with the shortlisted potential partners before a final decision is taken.

The preferred shortlist was drawn from a list of U.K. and international potential buyers, a spokeswoman for the Crown Estate said.

As the estate isn’t allowed to borrow, selling a stake in the portfolio to a partner would allow it to raise cash for investment.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Estate said the cash will “enable us to invest further in Regent Street and our St James’s portfolios - demonstrating our continued commitment to the West End as well as enabling us to invest elsewhere in the U.K.”

Regent Street is home to world famous toy store Hamleys, and houses flagship stores for brands such as National Geographic, Apple Inc. (AAPL) and fashion retailer Aquascutum. The Crown Estate owns all of Regent Street, where it is implementing a GBP750 million regeneration program to create an international retail and business destination.

The estate pays all of its profit to the U.K. Treasury. It paid GBP210.7 million to the Treasury in the year 2009/10 and has paid some GBP1.9 billion over the past 10 years.

The Crown Estate has a property portfolio that comprises farms, forests and parks, as well as commercial holdings in London’s Regent Street, Regent’s Park and St James’s.

It said it remains committed to Regent Street and its investment for the long term and will retain management control, so occupiers and other stakeholders won’t see any change to the way Regent Street is managed. It will also keep 100% of the Regent Street freehold.

Its urban estate includes around 1.3 million square meters of office and retail space throughout the U.K. along with over 2,500 residential units.

Copyright © 2010 Dow Jones Newswires

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich signed the loanagreement on a visit to China that began on Thursday. It is thefirst trip to China by a Ukrainian leader.

During the visit “an agreement was … signed securingChina’s credit support to a 30-kilometre railway project andconstruction of auxiliary facilities for an airport in Ukraine’scapital, Kiev,” the English-language website of China’s People’sDaily said, quoting the China Daily newspaper.

“The railway project, contracted to a Chinese firm, willcost 0 million and construction will begin next year,” itsaid, adding that the project would take three years tocomplete.

Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted Ukranian official incharge of the project, Vladyslav Kaskiv, as saying that Ukrainewould be able to finance the full cost of the project using theloan.

There was no mention of the rail deal in the jointdeclaration signed between China and Ukraine, a copy of whichwas posted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website(www.mfa.gov.cn).

Government officials in China could not be reached forcomment on the deal. (Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Additional reporting by BenBlanchard in Beijing)

The site has an area of 2,808 square meters and maximum gross floor area of 8,424 square meters. The opening bid will be HK.053 billion, the government said.

The site, located at No. 3 and 5 Ede Road, is adjacent to the parcel of land won by Kerry Properties Ltd. on Tuesday for HK.285 billion.

Copyright © 2010 Dow Jones Newswires

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who arrived in Chinaon Thursday for a state visit — the first by a Ukrainian leader– has already signed the loan agreement.

During the visit “an agreement was … signed securingChina’s credit support to a 30-kilometre railway project andconstruction of auxiliary facilities for an airport in Ukraine’scapital, Kiev,” the newspaper said.

“The railway project, contracted to a Chinese firm, willcost 0 million and construction will begin next year,” itsaid, adding that the project would take three years tocomplete. (Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Dmitry Sergeyev andLouise Ireland)

(Updates to close, changes byline)

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on lowvolume Thursday as data showed improvement in housing andthe job market a day ahead of the critical monthly payrollsfigures.

Investors built on Wednesday’s sharp advance as indicatorsprovided the latest reason for optimism the economy couldavoid another downturn. But the nascent rally could bederailed if Friday’s jobs data disappoints investors.

“Money seems to be flowing out of bonds and into the stockmarket,” said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist atSchaeffer’s Investment Research in Cincinnati.

“Obviously, tomorrow comes the big news with theemployment data. But in the near term, it shows how explosiverallies can be when we get decent economic data, because themarket is pricing a double-dip recession.”

Chipmaker shares rose for a second day running and thePHLX semiconductor index gained 2.1 percent to closeabove its 14-day moving average for the first time since lateJuly.

Broadcom Corp, up .63 at .71, posted a 9.2percent advance in the last two sessions, its largest suchgain since May 2009.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 50.63points, or 0.49 percent, to 10,320.10. The Standard & Poor’s500 Index rose 9.81 points, or 0.91 percent, to1,090.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 23.17points, or 1.06 percent, to close at 2,200.01.

About 6.6 billion shares traded on the New York StockExchange, the Nasdaq and the American Stock Exchange, aboutaverage for the past month, but still way below last year’sdaily average of 9.65 billion. Volume is typically light inthe days just ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend.

The housing and labor markets have long been consideredtwo of the biggest headwinds the economic recovery faces.Friday’s payrolls report is expected to show about 100,000jobs were lost in August.

Data from the National Association of Realtors showedpending home resales rose unexpectedly in July and a separatereport showed new claims for unemployment insurance fell for asecond straight week.

Shares of Hovnanian Enterprisesrose 5.4 percentto .88 on the home sales data and after the sixth-largestU.S. builder reported a narrower quarterly loss lateWednesday.

“Homebuilders, semis are doing well, the riskier trade iskind of back on,” said Detrick.

The biggest open interest on an ETF that tracks the S&P500 was at September 9 on the call side and September 0on the put side. Since the SPDR S&P 500was at 109.47,the open interest suggests options investors are not expectinga major move after the payrolls report.

The S&P 500’s moving average convergence-divergence orMACD generated a ‘buy’ signal after having been a ’sell’ sinceAug. 11. The last time the signal turned bullish was July 9,foreshadowing an advance that ended a month later and madeJuly the best month for the index in a year.

“At least in the near term, that’s a sign things areimproving. That’s usually the first step. We need thatpositive MACD for bigger future gains,” Schaeffer’s Detricksaid.

The Morgan Stanley Retail index rose 2.4 percentand Nordstrom Inc jumped 8.1 percent to .76 as U.S.retailers posted better-than-expected sales in August.

“Today’s data is positive, but given the high level ofunemployment, it’s hard to be too optimistic about theconsumer,” said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist atRDM Financial in Westport, Connecticut.

Burger King Holdings Inc agreed to sell itself toinvestment firm 3G Capital for about .26 billion, pushingthe stock up 25.1 percent to .59.

In the end to an extended bidding war, Hewlett-Packard Co raised its buyout offer for data storage company 3PARInc to a share, topping an earlier bid from DellInc. The higher bid prompted Dell to bow out.

Shares of 3PAR rose 2.5 percent to .88 while Dellgained 2 percent to .36.

HP, a Dow component, rose 1.2 percent to .68.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE bya ratio of about 7 to 3, while on the Nasdaq, about eightstocks rose for every five that fell. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Additional reporting by RyanVlastelica and Angela Moon; Editing by Jan Paschal)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) finished up 50.33 points, or 0.49%, at 10319.80. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose 1.06% to finish at 2200.01 while the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index (SPX) gained 0.91% to 1090.08.

Better-than-expected housing and retail data provided some encouragement to investors, but caution prevailed following Wednesday’s big run-up.

If the government’s jobs report falls short of already guarded expectations, “that’s going to reverse what happened” on Wednesday, when stocks jumped 255 points, said John Canally, economist and investment strategist at LPL Financial.

Canally said that while economic data has come in mixed recently, “the preconditions for a double dip are not here.” Strong manufacturing data on Wednesday “puts the burden of proof back on the double dippers,” he said.

Retailers led Thursday’s small climb after sales for the back-to-school buying month of August largely came in better than expected. Nordstrom (JWN) jumped 8%, Limited Brands (LTD) advanced 6% and J.C. Penney (JCP) rose 3.2%.

Homebuilders were also strong, as investors were heartened by an unexpected increase in pending sales of used homes, a surprising reversal after the index fell two months in a row following the April 30 expiration of a tax credit for buyers. D. R. Horton (DHI) rose 2.5%, PulteGroup (PHM) added 2.4% and Lennar (LEN) climbed 1.8%.

However, the retail-sales reports came on easy comparisons, and Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, warned that the housing market’s recovery would still be a long one.

The Dow traded in a tight range of just over 50 points for most of the day before breaking higher in the final hour of trading, led by consumer discretionary and industrial stocks. More defensive sectors, including utilities, telecommunications and health-care stocks, were the three worst performers of the day.

Thursday’s data had its disappointments. U.S. factory orders rose less than expected in July, while the level of U.S. workers filing new jobless claims last week suggested lingering troubles in the job market, and second-quarter productivity fell more than previously thought.

“We’re sort of stuck in the mud,” said Barry Knapp, managing director, equity research at Barclays Capital. While he noted that the housing and retail sales data topped expectations, Knapp said, “nothing in the data to me points to a change in trend. It points to continued slow growth.”

Meanwhile, the government’s monthly employment report loomed. Unemployment currently stands at 9.5%, and that figure Friday is expected to creep up to 9.6% as U.S. employers drop another 110,000 people off the payrolls.

“The recovery is stumbling along at this point,” said Edmund Hyland, managing director and a global investment specialist for JPMorgan Private Bank’s southeastern region. “It’s been carried by strength in the corporate sector. What the market would like to see is that it starts to translate to jobs because consumers still account for a significant portion of GDP.”

Volume was low, with just over 3.8 billion shares changing hands in NYSE Composite trading. The 2010 daily average is about 5 billion shares, although the August average was just over 4 billion shares.

The euro (CUR_EURUSD) edged up to .2822, from .2803 late Wednesday, after the European Central Bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low 1%, as expected. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB would extend its tool box of additional bank funding on a “full allotment” basis, citing continued uncertainties in the economy.

Treasurys were mixed, with an increase in the two-year note pushing its yield down to 0.50% while a decline in the 10-year note lifted its yield up to 2.63%. Crude-oil futures edged up to about a barrel, while gold futures also advanced.

Among stocks in focus, Burger King Holdings (BKC) soared 25% to .59 as the fast-food chain confirmed that 3G Capital has signed a deal to buy the company for a share.

Meanwhile, computer maker Dell (DELL) withdrew from the bidding war for 3PAR (PAR), surrendering the storage maker to rival Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) after the tech giant lifted its offer to .1 billion. 3Par, which makes storage products used in cloud computing, accepted H-P’s offer, valuing the company at a share. H-P gained 1.2%, while Dell rose 2% and 3PAR climbed 2.5% to .86.

Copyright © 2010 Dow Jones Newswires

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pending sales of previouslyowned U.S. homes rebounded unexpectedly in July and new claimsfor jobless benefits fell last week, helping quell fears theeconomy could face a double-dip recession.

The data released Thursday, including sturdy sales fromU.S. retailers last month, followed a report Wednesdayshowing a surprising gain in manufacturing and suggested theeconomy retained some underlying strength.

“This is an economy that has hit a soft patch. It’s not aneconomy that appears to be heading towards a double-diprecession,” said Brian Levitt, an economist at OppenheimerFundsin New York.

Investors appeared to agree that fears of a double-diprecession might have been overdone as they sold U.S. governmentdebt for a second straight day and bought stocks. The broadStandard & Poor’s 500 Index ended up 0.91 percent.

The National Association of Realtors‘ Pending Home SalesIndex, based on contracts signed, rose 5.2 percent in July fromJune. Analysts had expected the index, which leads actual salesby a month or two, to fall 1 percent.

Home sales have dropped sharply since a popular tax creditfor home buyers ended in April and the surprise gain in pendingsales raised hopes the sector could soon stabilize.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed initialclaims for state unemployment benefits dropped for a secondstraight week last week, slipping 6,000 to 472,000.

RETAILERS POST STRONG SALES

Investor sentiment was also lifted by better-than-expectedAugust data reported by retailers which showed sales getting alift as consumers sought bargains during the key back-to-schoolselling season.

While new jobless claims declined last week, they are stillhigh for this stage in the recovery. Two weeks ago they hit anine-month high and they remain above where they stood at thebeginning of the year.

“We’re still uncomfortably high given where we are at thisjuncture of the recovery, but that we’re moving towards 400,000rather than 500,000 is indicative of at least some measure ofjob creation,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategistat Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

The government is expected to report Friday that nonfarmpayrolls dropped 100,000 in August, the third straight month ofjob declines, with private sector employment increasing only41,000, according to a Reuters survey.

The claims data offered few hints of whether thoseforecasts are on track, since it fell outside the survey periodfor the closely watched monthly jobs report.

The weak labor market threatens to derail the U.S.economy’s recovery from the most painful recession since theGreat Depression. Growth is losing steam as the boost from a4 billion government stimulus package and the rebuilding ofinventories by businesses fade.

FED WATCHING RECOVERY

The Federal Reserve has acknowledged the slowing recoverypace but the minutes of the U.S. central bank’s last policymeeting released this week showed several policymakers felt theoutlook would have to deteriorate “appreciably” to spur freshmonetary support.

Growing unease over the economy’s health and the highunemployment rate are weighing on President Barack Obama’spopularity and dimming the Democratic Party’s prospects ofkeeping control of Congress in November’s mid-term elections.

The economy grew at a 1.6 percent annualized rate in thesecond quarter, less than half the 3.7 percent pace seen in theJanuary-March period.

The lackluster recovery was underscored by a second reportfrom the Labor Department Thursday that showed U.S. businessproductivity contracted at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in thesecond quarter, instead of the previously reported 0.9 percent.It was the largest decline since the third quarter of 2006.

While falling productivity will hurt corporate profits,some analysts said it also signaled job growth was imminent.

“When productivity peaks and starts to go lower, it meansthat businesses have basically gotten as much out of theirworkers as they can and usually that is a pretty good indicatorfor future job creation,” said OppenheimerFunds’ Levitt.

The report showed unit labor costs, a gauge of potentialinflation pressures, rose at a 1.1 percent rate rather than thepreviously estimated 0.2 percent. It was the biggest increasesince the fourth quarter of 2008.

Other data Thursday showed new orders received by U.S.factories edged up 0.1 percent last month after falling 0.6percent in June. (Additional reporting by Glenn Somerville in Washington andRyan Vlastelica in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish)