Primary said it would declare A$2.65 billion offer for Symbion unconditional if it received at least 50.1% acceptances by December 10. McClintock said Primary Health Care''s objective appeared to be to acquire Symbion Health for the lowest possible price and to maximize value for its shareholders at the expense of Symbion Health.

Primary had previously used its voting power to block an early merger plan put forward by Symbion and Healthscope. It had also recently instituted legal action against Symbion and its directors.

Symbion today also said it had performed well in the first quarter of current fiscal year and expected to grow annual earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) by at least 10%. Symbion''s shares rose 2.3%.

The dollar closed stronger today after struggling to maintain a sustained rally after the re-ignition of fears of more sub-prime mortgage losses dented momentum. At the close the dollar was trading at US$0.8862/65, up from yesterday''s close of US$0.8828/34.

Of the ASX 200 index shares, Bendigo Bank Limited led the gainers with a rise of 7.3% followed by increases in Hills Industries and Oxiana Limited at 6.5%, in Sally Malay Mini of 6.4%, and in Worleyparsons of 5.8%.

Of the ASX 200 index stocks National Australia Bank led the decliners with a fall of 2% followed by losses in Paperlinx Limited of 2.02%, Challenger Finance by 2.6%, in Transfield Services by 3.1%, and in Centro Properties of 3.2%.

In the other stocks Rio Tinto gained 2.3%.

In the banking sector Australia and New Zealand Bank added 1.8%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia put on 2.3%, Westpac advanced 2.6%, Macquarie Group was higher at 1.5% and Babcock & Brown gained 1.5%.

Energy stocks gained, Santos added 2.1% and Oil Search gained 2%. In the gold sector Lihir added 1.3% but Newcrest was lower at 0.7%.

The retail sector closed stronger, Woolworths added 2.8%, Wesfarmers was up 2.6%, David Jones was higher at 2.3% and Harvey Norman gained 0.4%.

The media stocks were mixed, Seven Network gained 1.3%, News Corporation added 0.1%, and Fairfax put on 0.2% after indicating that its revenue growth in the first four months of fiscal 2008 was in ""the mid-single digits''''. Publishing and Broadcasting shed 1.2%.

Gaming company Tattersall''s rallied 2.8% despite saying that new regulations that cap poker machine numbers would make it difficult to beat last year''s operating profit.

Telstra Corp dropped 0.6% to $3.15, and Qantas gained 2.1%.


4:00AM New York, 6:00PM Tokyo - U.S. interest rate cut speculation lifts Tokyo up 1.08%. Core consumer prices rise 0.1% in October. Housing starts fell 35% dragged by permits backlogs.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 rose 1.08% or 166.93 to 15,680.67, while the broader Topix Index gained 14.71 to 1.531.88.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 10 billion shares worth 1.1 trillion yen were traded and in the second section 316 million shares valued at 5.9 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index shares 166 gained, 52 declined, and 7 were unchanged.

Isuzu Motors led advancers rising 9.32%, followed by Nippon Steel, climbing 8.54% after Credit Suisse raised the rating of steel makers to “market weight” from “underweight”.

Financial stocks also gained after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday the risks on economic outlook were “even greater than usual”, increasing expectations that borrowing costs will be slashed at the December 11 meeting. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group edged up 1.21% and Mizuho Financial Group jumped 2.06%.

Japan’s Ministry of International Affairs and Communications Statistics Bureau reported today the core consumer price index for Japan was up 100.9 or 0.3% for September and for the Ku-area in Tokyo the core consumer price index for November leapt 0.3% from October and 0.3% from last year.

Food prices in October surged 0.2% from previous month and 0.9% over the previous year, with housing remaining unchanged at 99.8. Fuel, light and water charges was 0.7% on October for the month and 1.0% for the year. In addition, clothing and footwear firmed 1.1% for the month and 0.3% from the previous year, while transport and communications further gained 0.3% in the month and 0.7% over the previous.

The Statistics Bureau that for core consumer prices for the Ku-area of Tokyo food prices slipped 1.4% in November and firmed 0.6% for the year. Food, light and water charges, transportation and communications rose 1.4% and 0.7% for the year respectively, while clothes and footwear dipped 0.1% for the year in November.

According to the statistics, the unemployment rose by a seasonally adjusted 4.0% in October, while the number of persons employed fell 0.2% in October to 64.25 million. The laborforce stood at 66.94 million with 64.24 million employed and 55.23 million are classified as employees.