PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions
SINGAPORE, May 8 (Reuters) - The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print and/or Web site editions on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
FINANCIAL TIMES (www.ft.com)
-- Retail prices for laptop computers are set to rise as contract manufacturers move to raise prices for the first time in the face of soaring raw material and assembly costs, particularly labour costs in China, where the main production bases are.
-- Concerns are rising over Myanmar's future rice self-sufficiency following the havoc wreaked by Cyclone Nargis on the country's most important rice-growing area. The storm is also helping to keep rice prices near a record high.
WALL STREET JOURNAL (www.wsj.com)
-- Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. [HWT.UL] is considering the sale of a multibillion-dollar stake in its mobile-devices division to a foreign investor that could help the closely held Chinese telecommunications-equipment maker navigate the North American market, according to people familiar with the situation.
-- China Merchants Bank (3968.HK)(600036.SS) has re-entered the bidding for Hong Kong's Wing Lung Bank Ltd. 0096.HK, according to people familiar with the situation, building tension in what could be a sale exceeding $5 billion; China Merchants, China's sixth-largest bank by assets, had submitted a non-binding bid in the first round but didn't make the original shortlist.
