In the third quarter, 87 Israeli high-tech companies raised $381 million from venture investors. That was down about 6 percent from the $404 million raised in the previous quarter, but was 13 percent above the $336 million raised in the third quarter of 2005, according to the Israel Venture Capital Association.

In the first nine months of the year, Israeli companies have raised $1.15 billion, up 7 percent from the $1.07 billion raised in the same period last year.

"The small decrease in investment in Q3 indicated that the war, which took place during the third quarter, had only a very minor impact on venture capital investments," said Zeev Holtzman, chairman of Tel Aviv venture firm Giza Venture Capital, in a statement. Although the large skirmishes have ended, military tensions near Lebanon and the Gaza Strip continue

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  SAP Ventures, the investment arm of German-based software maker SAP, is planning to invest in India this year as it looks to expand out of its traditional base in Europe and the United States.
Lisa Reeves, senior vice president of SAP Ventures, said she saw a lot of opportunity in India and is more focused on that market than China. India’s software sector is growing quickly, while China has made few inroads into that market.

"There is certainly a lot of opportunity there (India) … It’s just getting off the ground," she said. "There we have a stronger strategic link."

SAP makes software that helps companies run processes ranging from supply chain management to payroll to compliance with market regulations. Its venture arm invests in areas such as retail applications and business process outsourcing.

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Hedge funds that trade on opportunities from corporate takeovers are likely to perform strongly into �07 as takeover activity surges, industry executives said.

Merger and acquisition arbitrage funds are seen as likely to be among the hottest hedge fund performers, led by players that spot a bid target months before a public announcement.

These funds � typically classed in the �event-driven� category � are likely to be followed by global macro funds, which bet on trends in bond, equity and currency markets, and long/short equity funds.

Merger-based funds are favourites of HSBC Republic, which also positive on macro and equity long/short funds, said Jamie Murray, head of institutional sales and business development at the firm.

�We are very positive about merger arbitrage (funds) … Overall, a continued stream of corporate activity is going to provide plenty of opportunities,� he said.

Merger arbitrage funds are booming as takeover activity everywhere is fuelled by cash-rich companies and liquid private equity funds. Global deal volumes in the year reached $3trillion on October 20, the highest level since �00, according to financial data provider Dealogic.

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India’s second largest lender ICICI Bank is poised to make significant investments on technology and manpower in the next five years to serve four major booming businesses — corporate, SMEs, wealth management and rural and agriculture.

"We are of the view that there is immense opportunity in the four sectors, which are opening up," an ICICI Bank official told PTI, but declined to specify the quantum of investments.

Priority wise, corporate sector is at the top, followed by retail, international business and rural and agri business.

"Huge investment is required by way of capital, technology and manpower in the next five years," the official said.

ICICI Bank has low-cost cutting-edge technology and will continue to make fresh investments on technology to further reduce operating cost.

The staff hirings will be mostly at the top-end to serve the boom in the banking services, he said.

Corporate Banking is growing at a faster rate and needs revitalisation.

India Inc has enormous faith on ICICI Bank as it has provided corporate banking and international banking services wherever they have gone in the world.

"We have been funding many companies since 1960s, 70s and 80s, and some of them have now become Indian multinationals," the official said.

Some of the companies financed by ICICI Bank are pharma majors Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy’s, besides Sterlite and Infosys.

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Indian Bank is launching a new `Premium’ current account (CA) with built-in Sweep facility in all its CBS (core banking solution) branches. It is targeted at corporates, traders, businessmen and professionals. The Sweep facility is also being extended to customers under the bank’s existing `SB Platinum’ account, says a release.

The facility automatically sweeps surplus funds from a customer’s current account or savings bank (SB) account and deploys it in term deposits in the form of short term deposit / fixed deposit / re-investment plan of maturity up to and inclusive of one year, earning a higher return for the customer. The period of such deposits will be from seven days to one year for current accounts and 15 days to one year for SB accounts at the option of the depositor.

On any day, if a cheque is received for payment or an ATM withdrawal is sought over and above the balance available in the SB or CA, it automatically sweeps the funds from the deposit created to the customer’s SB or current account to meet the same seamlessly without the hassles of applying for a loan or closure of deposits.

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The Toronto stock market backed off slightly Tuesday morning as investors took in a solid earnings report from Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX: CP) while transport giant Bombardier (TSX: BBD.B) announced big job cuts.

New York markets also stepped back after a triple-digit bounce in the previous session as the third-quarter earnings season picked up momentum and investors awaited Wednesday’s interest rate announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index declined 27.46 points to 12,091.69 after running up 83.58 points Monday in a broad-based advance.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrials moved down 11.76 points to 12,105.15 after jumping 114.54 points to a fresh record after a string of positive earnings reports.

Investors widely expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged, but they will be looking to the accompanying statement for the central bank’s take on economic growth and inflation.

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