UPDATE 1-Seven & I profit up, supermarket earnings rebound

(Reuters) - Seven & I, whose operations also include 7-Eleven convenience
stores as well as Seibu and Sogo department stores, said
operating profit for the March-May first quarter climbed to 71
billion yen .




The profit increase, helped by personnel and cost cuts at its
Ito-Yokado unit, had been flagged by the Nikkei business daily
last month.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

India steel glut to trim S.Africa coal demand

(Reuters) - Indian demand for South African coal is set to drop, threatening sharply lower prices, as iron makers there cut back, hit by falling prices in the steel market they supply and rising costs for imported coal.

India's sponge iron makers, who use coal as part of a process to make iron from ore, have relied increasingly on imported South African coal in recent years.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Dreyfus Greater China Fund Shuns Mainland, Hang Seng, to Post Top Returns

(Bloomberg) -- Hugh Simon and Nina Wu are producing
the best returns from Asia for mutual-fund investors by buying
the smallest stocks in Hong Kong and shunning mainland China,
the region's most expensive market.

The $1 billion Dreyfus Premier Greater China Fund's
holdings are less than a 10th the size of those on Hong Kong's
Hang Seng Index. They trade at 16 times estimated earnings,
compared with the average multiple of 42 for stocks on the CSI
300 Index, China's benchmark.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Bank of England May Raise Interest Rate to 5.75 Percent to Curb Inflation

(Bloomberg) -- The Bank of England may raise its
benchmark interest rate for the fifth time in a year today to
bring inflation under control, a survey of economists shows.

The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor
Mervyn King, will increase the Bank Rate a quarter-point to 5.75
percent, the highest since April 2001, according to 53 out of 60
economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The remainder forecast no
change. The bank will announce the decision at noon in London.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

JGBs edge down on Nikkei gains, euro zone bond fall

(Reuters) - "JGBs opened a bit lower since Bunds fell and are extending
their losses since the Nikkei is rising," said a senior trader
for a major Japanese bank.




September 10-year JGB futures ended the morning session down
0.17 point at 131.73 , pulling back from a three-week
high of 132.23 hit on Monday.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Steel Partners to lift stake in Japan's Tenryu Saw

(Reuters) - Unsolicited tender offers are rare in Japan as the large
number of shares owned in companies by creditor banks and
business partners makes such an undertaking extremely difficult.




Steel Partners, Tenryu's largest shareholder, offered 4,945
yen for each of the common shares it did not already own. Tenryu
Saw shares closed at 4,940 yen on Wednesday when the bid expired.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Offers 35,000 Tons of Naphtha for August Loading

(Bloomberg) -- Oil & Natural Gas Corp., India's
largest oil and gas producer, offered 35,000 metric tons of
naphtha for loading in August, the company said in an offer
document e-mailed to Bloomberg News.

Details of the refiner's offer are as follows:


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

South Korean Won Strengthens on Speculation Interest Rates Will Increase

(Bloomberg) -- The South Korean won rose, approaching
the highest this year, on speculation the central bank will raise
interest rates, boosting the appeal of fixed-income assets.

The won, the best performer in the past month of the 10
most-traded Asian currencies, also gained as Finance Minister
Kwon Okyu said today monetary policy should be aimed at
``controlling liquidity'' because prices may rise. The won added
almost 9 percent last year as the central bank raised rates three
times to 4.5 percent. It has left policy unchanged this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Ayala Land, Dah Sing, Indofood, Manila Water: Asia Ex-Japan Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in Asian markets, excluding Japan. This preview includes news
that broke after markets closed. Prices are from the local
market's last close. Stock symbols are in parentheses after
company names.

Ayala Corp. (AC PM): ARCH Capital Management Co. Ltd. said
the private equity fund set up by Ayala Corp. and its unit Ayala
Land (ALI PM) to invest in property markets in Asia outside
Japan and the Philippines has raised $294 million. Ayala Corp.,
the fourth-largest Philippine company by market value and which
has a stake in ARCH Capital, rose 15 pesos, or 2.7 percent, to
565 pesos.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Japanese Shares May Slip on Pre-Election Uncertainty; Shipowners May Drop

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Japan's best-performing
industry groups this year may drop as investors refrain from
making large bets amid uncertainty over the outcome of a general
election this month and after five consecutive days of gains.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., the country's No. 2 shipping line
operator by sales, may lead marine transport companies lower. A
measure of the stocks climbed 45 percent in 2007 to yesterday's
close. Trading companies which have gained 29 percent this year,
may slip, paced by Mitsubishi Corp.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Mexico's Currency Advances After S&P Lifts Country's Credit Rating Outlook

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's peso rose after Standard &
Poor's this week raised the country's credit rating outlook,
citing prospects legislators will approve a bill to boost the
country's tax collection.

The peso traded near a two-week high as S&P lifted the
outlook to positive from stable. President Felipe Calderon's
success in getting the opposition-controlled congress to pass a
bill in March to cut government spending on pensions raised
expectations he'll garner support for the tax proposal, S&P
said.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Oil Trades Near 10-Month High in New York After Attack on Rig in Nigeria

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil traded near a 10-month high
in New York after Royal Dutch Shell Plc said militants attacked
its rig in Nigeria, raising concern about further oil-supply
disruptions from Africa's largest producer.

Five expatriate contractors working for Lonestar Drilling
Nigeria Ltd. were taken hostage, said Precious Okolobo, a
spokesman for Shell's Nigerian venture. The attack occurred early
this morning in the Soku field, where the rig was drilling a
well. No production was affected, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Hilton Shares Gained Most Since 2005, Options Trading Surged, Before Bid

(Bloomberg) -- Hilton Hotels Corp. shares rose the
most since the end of 2005 before the second-largest U.S. hotel
chain announced its agreement to be acquired by New York-based
Blackstone Group LP for about $20 billion in cash.

Shares of Hilton climbed $2.18, or 6.4 percent, to $36.05
yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Blackstone, the world's biggest publicly traded buyout firm, will
pay $47.50 a share for Beverly Hills, California-based Hilton.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Rand firms as dollar struggles overseas

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand held firm against the dollar on Wednesday in a market rendered very quiet by the Independence Day public holiday in the United States, traders said.

The rand was at 6.9651 versus the greenback at 1500 GMT, up 0.36 percent from New York's Tuesday close of 6.99.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa's Eskom says strike would be illegal

(Reuters) - South Africa's state electricity utility Eskom said on Wednesday the country's labour court had ruled any employee strike over wages would be illegal.

Eskom said the labour court had ruled that proposed industrial action by the union Solidarity would contravene the Labour Relations Act.


Read more at Reuters Africa

BCE rating could fall over 6 notches -S&P

(Reuters) - However, if enough equity is contributed to achieve initial
leverage of under 7 times and further reductions in debt were
expected in the medium-term, the rating would likely be at the
mid-to-low end of the BB category, the agency said.




BCE said on Saturday its board recommended shareholders
accept a C$42.75 a share offer from a consortium including the
Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Teachers Private Capital,
Providence Equity Partners Inc. and Madison Dearborn Partners,
LLC.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Corn Falls to Eight-Month Low, Soybeans Decline as Midwest Rains Aid Crops

(Bloomberg) -- Corn fell to the lowest in eight
months in Chicago and soybeans dropped from a three-year high as
rain improved conditions for the two biggest U.S. crops.

Some fields from Iowa to Ohio may receive as much as 1 inch
(2.5 centimeters) of rain in the next 72 hours, boosting soil
moisture and cooling temperatures, said John Dee, president of
Global Weather Monitoring in Mohawk, Michigan. A second storm
front may move into the Midwest beginning July 9, bringing
heavier and more widespread rains, Dee said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Libya to Auction Natural Gas Permits and Boost Supplies to Europe

(Bloomberg) -- Libya, the site of Africa's largest oil
reserves, will hold its first auction of natural-gas exploration
rights in December, as the nation seeks to increase its sales of
the fuel to Europe, the state-run oil company's chairman said.

Libya will disclose ``in the next few days'' the exact
plots of land where drilling rights will be offered to foreign
oil companies, Chairman Shokri Ghanem of National Oil Corp. said
in a telephone interview yesterday evening from Tripoli. The
licenses to explore will be awarded in an auction in early
December in which companies will bid openly, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Cocoa Gains for Second Day as Ivory Coast Tensions May Disrupt Supplies

(Bloomberg) -- Cocoa rose for a second day in London
on speculation political tension in Ivory Coast will disrupt
supplies from the world's biggest grower of the beans.

Cocoa prices have soared to the highest since 2003
following an assassination attempt against Ivory Coast Prime
Minister Guillaume Soro at an airport in Bouake on June 29. The
attack fueled speculation that a peace plan that ended the civil
war in the West African country will collapse.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Nordic Power Falls to One-Month Low as Wet Weather Boosts Reservoir Levels

(Bloomberg) -- Nordic power prices for the fourth
quarter fell to their lowest in a month as forecasters predicted
wet weather will continue, potentially increasing generation
capacity at reservoirs. Next-year power also dropped.

Electricity for the fourth quarter on the Nord Pool ASA
exchange, the most-traded contract in the region, lost 2.1
percent to 37.95 euros ($51.70) a megawatt-hour at 9:55 a.m. Oslo
time.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Lead Futures Advance to Record $2,810 a Ton on the London Metal Exchange

(Bloomberg) -- Lead rose to a record for a third
consecutive day on the London Metal Exchange.

Lead for delivery in three months on the LME gained $40, or
1.4 percent, to $2,810 a metric ton as of 9:08 a.m. local time.
That beat the previous record set yesterday by $10.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Yuan Drops From Highest Close Against Dollar as China Seeks Two-Way Move

(Bloomberg) -- The yuan fell from its highest close
since the end of a dollar link in 2005 on speculation the
central bank wants to increase two-way exchange rate movements
to deter wagers on continued currency gains.

``China is unlikely to let up on its effort to keep hot
money from coming into the country,'' said Jin Di, a foreign-
exchange trader at Bank of China's branch office in Shanghai.
``The two-way fluctuations of the yuan will continue.''


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Thailand adopts deficit budget to spur growth

(Reuters) - The budget bill, introduced in parliament by Prime Minister
Surayud Chulanont, included a 24.3 percent annual rise in
defence spending for the year starting Oct. 1, the second hefty
raise in a row after a 33.8 percent rise a year earlier.




The bill provided little detail of why the military, which
ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup
last September, wanted more money.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Credit Suisse Advises Buying Turkish Stocks on Political, Rate Outlook

(Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group advised investors
to increase holdings in Turkish equities, especially banks,
because of the country's political and interest-rate outlook.

Switzerland's second-largest bank said investors should
increase holdings of Turkish stocks to 10 percent above their
weighting in benchmarks, strategists Alexander Redman, Yavuz Uzay
and Berna Bayazitoglu wrote in a report dated July 3 and
distributed today.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News