Pounded

The pound fell 0.8 percent against the dol lar to $1.4246 in London after the Confederation of British Industry, the UK’s biggest business lobby, said the econ omy will contract 3.3 percent, almost twice the pace previously forecast, giving the cen tral bank more reason to cut interest rates to near zero. An analyst said the pound may de cline to $1.30 in the sec ond quarter.

Bad bet

New Jersey’s first ca sino, Resorts Atlantic City, admitted it hasn’t made loan payments since October and is trying to fight off fore closure by arguing that its lenders don’t have a casino license and therefore can’t own or operate the place. The Casino Control Com mission will hear a re quest by Resorts’ lend ers, Column Financial, to foreclose.

Queries

Antigua and Barbuda regulators will quiz Stanford International Bank officials about the bank’s high-yield certif icates of deposit, after a BusinessWeek story raised issues about some of the bank’s in vestments. No formal probe has been launched, regulators said. US regulators are looking at the bank’s parent, Stanford Group Co. of Houston, Texas.

Lip sink

French cosmetics giant L’Oreal, which makes Lancome lip stick, said annual sales rose 3.1 percent to $22.44 billion. In July, L’Oreal said it expected sales to increase 6 per cent.