PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions

SINGAPORE, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print and Web site editions on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL TIMES (www.ft.com)

-- Foreign investors slashed their holdings of U.S. securities by a record amount as the credit squeeze intensified, according to the latest Treasury figures.

-- Crude oil prices soared to a fresh record above $88 a barrel as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries suggested it would not increase its production in the short-term.

-- The U.S. economy will suffer further damage from the downturn in the American housing market, Hank Paulson, U.S. Treasury secretary, warned on Tuesday.

-- Ericsson (ERICb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, issued a severe profit warning that wiped out a quarter of its market value and triggered a sweeping change to its business strategy.

-- The chief executive of BAE Systems (BAES.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Europe's biggest defence company, resigned unexpectedly on Tuesday, just months after saying he wanted to head the company for five more years.

-- China Investment Corp, the country's new $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, will aim for transparency in its operations and will not be a destabilising force in global markets, the fund's head said.

-- China's Citic Bank (601988.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is in talks to take a stake in Bear Stearns Cos, a senior Commnunist party official revealed.