Hong Kong  - Some of Asia's wealthiest people were Sunday preparing to shrug off the slump by spending hundreds of thousands of US dollars on a small, pungent, edible fungus.

The super-rich, including nine Hong Kong tycoons, were gathering in Tokyo to take part in the 10th Annual World Alba White Truffle Auction.

The Hong Kong bidders have a rich history in the annual charity auction and are favorite to win Sunday night's auction for the delicacy which is nicknamed "white gold" because of its rarity and high price.

Last year, the winning bid at the Alba Truffle Auction came from a consortium of property developers from Hong Kong who paid bid 208,000 US dollars for a comparatively small 750 gram truffle.

Khar (Pakistan), Nov 8: At least 2

Hanoi - The global financial crisis might bring economic benefits for countries in South-East Asia, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Friday at a regional summit in Hanoi.

"The rich people in Europe, the buyers in America will not buy expensive clothes produced in Europe anymore but the cheaper goods produced in Cambodia and Vietnam," Sen said.

Most of the other businessmen and political leaders at the summit focused on the need to integrate South-East Asian economies to create a larger market more resilient to economic shocks.

Tokyo - Asia-Pacific stocks ended the week mixed as Wall Street's overnight plunge prompted investors to sell but interest-rate cuts in some markets led to afternoon recoveries.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average plunged 3.55 per cent on Toyota Motor Corp's sharp cut in its earnings forecast for this fiscal year, but South Korean and Hong stocks took big jumps on the rate cuts.

The Nikkei was the region's big loser as it shed 316.14 points to close at 8,583 but still managed to end the week up 0.07 per cent.

Hong Kong - India and Indonesia have Asia's highest levels of consumer confidence in the face of the global economic slump, according to a survey published Friday.

India ranked first in the global survey of consumer confidence conducted in September and October while Indonesia finished third behind Denmark, the South China Morning Post reported.

Australia ranked fifth in the survey of 52 countries and territories while New Zealand was joint eighth, Vietnam ninth and mainland China joint 10th.

Tokyo - Asian stocks took a big dive Thursday, reacting to a sharp fall overnight on Wall Street and wiping away gains from earlier in the week.

The largest falls in Asia were seen in Hong Kong and Seoul. Hong Kong shares plunged 7.08 per cent as the blue-chip Hang Seng Index lost 1,050.12 points to close at
13,790.04.

The losses came 24 hours after the index surged by more than 3 per cent on news of Barack Obama's win in Tuesday's US presidential election.