On Monday, Hewlett-Packard Co unveiled a new glass-encased laptop computer as the largest computer maker stepped up its efforts for chipping away at the stronghold of rival Apple in high-end PC market.

The laptop, called HP Envy 14 Spectre, is the latest entry of the Silicon Valley company in the slim, ultrabook category of personal computers and is the first to use glass on the lid, display and palmrest. The 14-inch laptop has built-in wireless links to speakers and can transfer website links from a nearby phone to the browser on the laptop using an emerging technology.

It will be available next month for a price starting at $1,400, which makes it more than the popular 13-inch MacBook Air of Apple.

A source at the Omani bank said HSBC is in talks with Oman International Bank over a sale of its operations in the Gulf Arab state.

“OIB is negotiating the acquisition of HSBC’s operation in Oman,” a senior OIB official told Reuters.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

“They have five branches and one customer service department. We have offered a financial package which they are considering.”

Both HSBC and OIB had earlier issued statements saying the two parties were in talks about “merging their operations” in Oman without providing any additional details.

A separate source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said OIB would consider a share-swap agreement, and added that no external advisers were involved in the deal.

An HSBC spokesman in Dubai declined to comment on the announcement.

HSBC is reviewing its Middle Eastern operations, with the United Arab Emirates becoming a regional hub and other countries having their operations reduced.

The reorganization is affecting Oman, as well as Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, and the UAE.

Analysts said banks and commodity stocks dragged Britain’s top index lower on Monday because the lingering debt crisis of Greece looks likely to stall the FTSE’s progress near-term.

Investors reacted negatively after a final decision was postponed by the European finance ministers on extending a further 12 billion euros in emergency loans to Greece.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

The International Monetary Fund weighed in, saying it needed to be sure Greek reforms are on track and will be financed by the euro zone, before the lender can pay out its part of the next aid tranche for Athens.

The FTSE 100 closed down 21.55 points, or 0.4 percent, at 5,693.39, having shed 0.9 percent overall last week, its fourth straight week of losses, on concern about global economic growth and the euro zone debt crisis.

“There is clearly a shortage of good news about and the factors we see in front of us indicates that we are going to be in negative territory on and off for some considerable time,” Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners, said.

Wheeldon said the index will “bob around like a cork in a rough sea for a long time yet,” forecasting the FTSE 100 to close around 5,800 by year-end.

Italy’s Mario Draghi is expected to be appointed as the next president of the European Central Bank by eurozone finance ministers on Monday.

The drama over the arrest of IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn on sex assault charges puts a keen edge on the ECB leadership talks in Brussels.

From news.yahoo.com:

For months German media had reported that Merkel wanted him to take over the International Monetary Fund instead of the ECB when Strauss-Kahn’s term at the IMF ends in 2012.

Draghi, who heads the Italian central bank and is known in Italy as “Super Mario“, had already received the backing of the other key leader in the eurozone, French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

With the ECB spearheading herculean efforts to contain a year-long debt crisis overhanging the euro, observers would like to see a smooth transfer when Trichet steps down in October.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the Eurogroup of finance ministers, also voiced support for Draghi last week and called for a quick decision on the next ECB chief, saying it would “show a great deal of decision-making authority… in these difficult times.”

In addition to picking the next ECB president, EU finance ministers meeting on Monday and Tuesday must seal a 78-billion-euro bailout for Portugal and discuss the possibility of new aid to Greece.

The final decision on the ECB chief will be made by EU heads of state and government at a summit in June.

In a recent statement, marketing group Aegis said it is expected to meet market consensus for full-year underlying profit as it accelerates cost cuts in a more difficult than expected environment.

Aegis said first-half revenue fell 10.8 per cent organically to £636.7million ($1.04billion) but it beat the average forecast of £622.7million in a poll of analysts.

From Dailymail.co.uk:

‘Market conditions are expected to remain difficult, and we are not forecasting on the basis of any upturn in the second half, although both Aegis Media and Synovate will face easier second half comparatives,’ Aegis said in the statement.

First-half underlying operating profit fell 29 per cent at constant currencies to £51.1million.

WPP, the world’s biggest advertising agency by revenues, reported this week that first-half like-for-like sales fell 8.3 per cent, while French rival Publicis posted a second-quarter drop of 8.6 per cent.

Aegis trades at 11.8 times 2009 earnings, according to Reuters Estimates, slightly above the UK agency sector average of 10.3 times.

The company, made up of marketing division Aegis Media and market-research division Synovate, was able to maintain its interim dividend of 0.96 pence.

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