Rand still range-bound, eyes metal prices

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand was a touch easier against the dollar in early Tuesday trade and looked likely to stay in the narrow ranges in which it has been anchored for nearly two weeks as import demand largely matched inflows, traders said.

At 0635 GMT the rand was trading at 6.9780 to the dollar, slipping 0.13 percent from Monday's close of 6.9688 in New York.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Sinopec Completes Beijing Oil Pipeline, Boosting Supplies Before Olympics

(Bloomberg) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. has
completed construction of a 101.5-kilometer oil-product pipeline
linking a refinery to storage facilities in Beijing, the
nation's capital, the company said on its online news Web site.

The company also completed expansion of one of five oil
storage facilities, in the Fengtai district of Beijing,
Sinopecnews.com.cn said yesterday, without giving details on the
new capacity.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

S.Korea SK Telecom denies interest in Sprint

(Reuters) - The Korea Economic Daily cited brokerage sources as saying SK
Telecom had been contacting several private equity funds during
the first half of 2007 about a joint bid for Sprint Nextel.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.S. Gasoline Inventories Increased Last Week, Survey of Analysts Suggests

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. gasoline inventories probably
rose as refineries increased operating rates, a Bloomberg News
survey indicated.

Gasoline stockpiles climbed 825,000 barrels in the week
ended July 6 from 204.4 million barrels the prior week,
according to the median of responses by 14 analysts before an
Energy Department report this week. Thirteen of the analysts
expected a gain and one said there was a decline.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Carrefour, Dane-Elec Memory, Danone, Evolis, Virbac: French Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of the following companies
may rise or fall on the Paris stock exchange. Stock symbols are
in parentheses and prices are from the last close.

The benchmark CAC 40 gained 1.97, or less than 0.1 percent,
to 6104.66. The broader SBF 120 Index was also little changed,
gaining 1.32 points to 4449.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

SK Telecom Shares Rise on Report, Denied by Company, It May Acquire Sprint

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of SK Telecom Co., South
Korea's largest mobile-phone carrier, had their biggest gain this
year on a report, denied by the company, that it may buy Sprint
Nextel Corp., a U.S. wireless operator valued at $63 billion.

SK Telecom's stock rose as much as 4.5 percent. The Seoul-
based company, with one-third the value of Sprint's, has
contacted private equity funds to help acquire the third-biggest
U.S. carrier, the Korea Economic Daily reported today, citing an
unidentified industry source.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Philippine Exports Expand Slower Than Expected as U.S., Japan Sales Drop

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine exports grew at a slower
pace than economists expected in May as shipments to the U.S.
and Japan, the nation's two biggest markets, declined.

Overseas sales gained 6.1 percent from a year earlier to
$4.12 billion, the National Statistics Office said in Manila
today. Economists expected an 8 percent advance. Exports rose a
revised 5.1 percent in April, the slowest pace this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Yangtze Power's First-Half Profit May Rise 50 Percent on Bank Share Sale

(Bloomberg) -- China Yangtze Power Co., operator of
the world's biggest hydropower project, said its first-half net
income probably rose by more than 50 percent because of
investment gains from selling shares.

The company's investment gains increased ``substantially''
after it sold in April 400 million shares of China Construction
Bank Corp, the country's third-biggest lender, Yangtze Power said
in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Buybacks, earnings forecasts buoy indexes

(Reuters) - J&J gained 1 percent after the health-care company announced plans for a $10 billion share buyback. ConocoPhillips, which nearly quadrupled its repurchase plan to $15 billon, rose 3.7 percent.




Alcoa gained 1.7 percent during the regular session and was a top performer among the Dow industrials. The aluminum producer kicked off the second-quarter earnings season after the bell, reporting a profit that matched estimates but revenue that fell short of the consensus.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Dollar narrowly mixed ahead of Bernanke

(Reuters) - A surprisingly robust employment report for June late last week dashed some of the remaining expectations that the Fed would cut the funds rate from the current 5.25 percent later this year.




Still, the data was not enough to make market participants believe that the dollar's yield advantage against the euro will stop narrowing or that yield gaps between the dollar and higher-yielding currencies, such as sterling, will stop widening.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Japan May Set Record High Coupon on 5-Year Government Notes, Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's Ministry of Finance may set
a coupon of 1.6 percent on five-year notes it will sell today,
the highest rate on record, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

Five of six traders, investors and analysts surveyed
yesterday said the ministry would put the coupon at 1.6 percent,
the highest since the government started selling the notes in
February 2000. One said the interest payout would be 1.5 percent,
the same as last month.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Oil Is Steady After Falling From 10-Month High as Refineries Shut Units

(Bloomberg) -- Oil was little changed in New York
after falling from a 10-month high yesterday on signs demand for
crude will decline as U.S. refineries shut units and the end of
the peak demand season for gasoline approaches.

BP Plc is shutting the largest of three crude units at its
Whiting, Indiana, refinery, a person familiar with the plant said.
Units were shut at refineries in Texas and Kansas last week. Oil
rose last week on unrest in Nigeria, Africa's biggest producer.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Alcoa, Dow Chemical, GameStop and TJX: U.S. Equity Option Market Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
with unusual option trading in U.S. exchanges today. Stock
symbols are in parentheses after company names. Option trading is
as of 6 p.m. in New York, while stock prices are as of 4 p.m.

Each call option gives investors the right to buy 100 shares
of a company at a certain price, called the strike price, by a
given date. A put conveys the right to sell 100 shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Chile retailers agree to $138 mln Peru joint venture

(Reuters) - In statements to the Chilean stock exchange, they said
Malls Peru, a unit of Falabella, and Padebest Peru, a unit of
Ripley, would each have a 40 percent stake in the tie-up.




The remaining 20 percent would be held by a subsidiary of
another Chilean retailer, Plaza Oeste, owned by Mall Plaza.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

J&J OKs $10 bln stock buyback plan, shares rise

(Reuters) - J&J, which is based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, has almost 2.9 billion shares outstanding. It will finance the stock repurchases through a combination of available cash and debt.




Company spokesman Jeffrey Leebaw declined to comment on the stock buyback plan, saying J&J officials will discuss it with investors during a second-quarter earnings conference call on July 17.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Ex-North Fork CEO Kanas steps down at Capital One

(Reuters) - Kanas led North Fork before selling the Melville, New
York-based company at the beginning of December to Capital One
for about $13.2 billion.




The merger made McLean, Virginia-based Capital One, the
largest independent U.S. credit card issuer, into one of the
nation's 15 largest banking companies.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

RLPC-UPDATE 1-Swift & Co. pulls $600 mln junk bond deal--sources

(Reuters) - J.P. Morgan was leading the Rule 144A private placement
deal with a "Caa2" rating by Moody's Investors Service and
"B-minus" rating by Standard & Poor's, according to KDP
Investment Advisors. The bond offering is backed by a $600
million bridge loan.




The offer consisted of a $200 million senior cash-pay
tranche due 2015; a $200 million senior toggle tranche due
2015; and a $200 million senior floating-rate tranche due
2014.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Theravance says mid-stage study of antibiotic meets main goal

(Reuters) - The study also met key secondary goals, the company said in
a statement.





Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

May consumer credit rises $12.9 billion

(Reuters) - The May jump was back on the pace of March's increase of $12.94 billion. April's gain was much smaller at a revised $2.29 billion, initially reported as a $2.60 billion increase.




May revolving credit, made up of credit and charge card debt, rose $7.25 billion, or at a 9.8 percent rate, to $894.80 billion, marking the biggest increase since November 2006.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 1-General Growth buys out portfolio partner

(Reuters) - General Growth said the purchase would not change its
previously projection of 2007 core funds from operations of
$3.25 per share to $3.27 per share.




Chicago-based General Growth said it funded the purchase
primarily through a $750 million bank loan, which includes
amortization of fees. The loan bears interest at LIBOR plus 1.4
percent. The acquisition also includes the assumption of about
$1.05 billion of existing mortgage debt.



Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.S. flags hundreds of colleges on student loans

(Reuters) - Seventy percent or more of student loans were provided by a single lender at as many as 800 colleges in the last school year, said Jeff Baker, policy liaison at the U.S. Department of Education's federal student aid office.




"That was a little flag to us that perhaps, just perhaps, the institution isn't quite being open enough to their students and parents about who they could borrow from," he told an annual meeting of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Susquehanna Bancshares takes restructuring charge

(Reuters) - Susquehanna disclosed the charge in a U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission filing. The company has about $8.2 billion
of assets, and through three banking units operates 163
branches in mid-Atlantic states. Its shares were down 20 cents
to $22.70 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.




Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-Spencer Capital reports 6.8 pct stake in Borders

(Reuters) - Spencer Capital said in a filing with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission that it owns about 4 million shares of
the second-largest U.S. bookseller.




According to the filing, Spencer Capital -- a New
York-based investment manager -- had conversations with
Borders' chief financial officer concerning the company's
business late last month.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Lear accepts sweetened Icahn bid

(Reuters) - Pzena Investment Management LLC, which holds some 6.6 million Lear shares, or an 8.6 percent stake, said it plans to vote against investor Icahn's latest offer for the auto parts company, saying the company should remain independent.




Icahn, who said just weeks ago that he would not raise his offer for the auto parts maker, lifted it to $37.25 per share from a prior $36 offer that proxy advisory firms and several shareholders called too low.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Canada Dollar Reaches 30-Year High on Rate Boost Speculation, Weak Dollar

(Bloomberg) -- Canada's dollar rose against the
dollar for a fourth day, reaching a 30-year high, as investors
anticipated a Bank of Canada rate increase tomorrow and the U.S.
currency weakened against most of its major counterparts.

The currency's rally is its longest since April. The
central bank will lift the overnight rate by a quarter-
percentage point to 4.5 percent, according to 28 of 29
economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Policy makers on May 29 said
rate increases may be needed ``in the near term,'' citing
``excess demand'' in the world's eighth-biggest economy.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Banks losing up to $52 bln over subprime

(Reuters) - The global financial system can absorb such losses, the analysts said, but the prospects for the subprime mortgage sector remains murky. The risks of CDO downgrades by rating agencies and further depreciation in the U.S. housing market could result in erosion in CDO values, according to the report.




Meanwhile, the analysts said European banks will suffer smaller subprime CDO losses than their U.S. counterparts.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Google to buy Web security co Postini for $625 mln

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 9 - Google Inc. said on Monday it has agreed to buy Web-based security provider Postini for $625 million, expanding its package of online applications to compete with Microsoft Corp.'s Office.



Postini provides security and encryption services, protecting instant messaging, e-mail and other communications, to more than 35,000 businesses and 10 million users worldwide. Google said the deal would enable it provide organizations with more Web-based services similar to its Google Apps package, which includes its e-mail service Gmail, Calendar, and Talk, its messaging service.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Almunia of EU, Trichet of ECB Say Sarkozy Must `Respect' EU Budget Rules

(Bloomberg) -- European policy makers pressed France to
stick to budget-deficit rules, challenging President Nicolas Sarkozy's
plan to apply a ``growth and confidence shock'' to the economy.

``It is crucial that France has good economic growth and indeed
also budgetary discipline,'' European Union Monetary Commissioner
Joaquin Almunia told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with Sarkozy
and euro-region officials in Brussels today. European Central Bank
President Jean-Claude Trichet said ``the stability and growth pact has to
be respected.''


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Apollo raises bid for Huntsman to $6.5 billion

(Reuters) - Huntsman declined to comment on the new bid, but a spokesman said the board of directors was in contact with both suitors and its advisors.




Basell, controlled by U.S. industrial group Access Industries, last month agreed to buy Huntsman for $25.25 for each of the 233 million Huntsman shares outstanding.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UK Commission to look at Murdoch's media control

(Reuters) - LONDON, July 9 - A Competition Commission investigation into satellite group BSkyB's purchase of a stake in ITV will look at the wider case of whether Rupert Murdoch's media empire has too much influence in Britain.



The Commission is investigating BSkyB's controversial purchase of a 17.9 percent stake in Britain's biggest commercial broadcaster ITV and on Monday outlined the scale of the probe.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-Moody's raises United Arab Emirates' rating

(Reuters) - Moody's raised United Arab Emirates' foreign and local
currency government bond ratings to "Aa2," the third-highest
investment grade rating.




"Persistently high oil prices have allowed the government
to continue to accumulate significant foreign assets at a rapid
rate," said Tristan Cooper, Moody's vice-president and senior
analyst. "This has led to a further strengthening of the
government's fundamental credit-worthiness."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. mortgage bond prepayments fall in June

(Reuters) - Overall fixed-rate agency prepayment speeds fell 7 percent
in June, with the paydowns decreasing to $40 billion from $42
billion, according to JPMorgan.




Net fixed-rate, mortgage-backed securities issuance was
about $44 billion, the company said in a research report.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Axsys Technologies raises 2007 earnings outlook

(Reuters) - The elimination of AST's results will be more than offset
by stronger-than-expected performance in the Optical Systems
Group, together with accretion from the recent acquisition of
Cineflex Camera Systems, the company said.




The sale of the non-strategic business will allow Axsys to
focus on its optics business and the proceeds would be used to
pay down its existing debt, the supplier of optical components
to aerospace and defense industries added.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Wall Street opens higher on earnings optimism

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday as investors bet signs of strength in the economy meant companies will beat profit forecasts as the second-quarter earnings season kicks off.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 25.61 points, or 0.19 percent, at 13,637.29. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index


Read more at Reuters Africa

Lear accepts sweetened bid from Icahn company

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, July 9 - Lear Corp. said on Monday that it had accepted a higher takeover offer of about $3 billion from billionaire Carl Icahn's American Real Estate Partners LP after shareholders balked at the previous proposal.



Lear, which makes auto parts, in February accepted an offer of $36 per share for the shares that Icahn does not already own. A proxy advisory firm and several shareholders have called that offer too low.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Huntington warns profit to fall short

(Reuters) - Profit for the quarter ended June 30 was reduced by a net charge of 11 cents a share, as Huntington set aside an additional $31 million, or 8 cents a share. The bank said three large loans were downgraded to "nonperforming" status.




Two of these loans were for real estate developers in Michigan markets, where struggling auto makers weigh on the region.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

U.S. Treasury Notes Rise First Time in Four Days as Yields Attract Buyers

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries advanced for the first
time in four days as yields attracted investors.

Speculation that tighter credit may slow economic growth
may also buoy Treasuries, traders said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Children's Place June sales fall

(Reuters) - Children's Place said lower-than-expected sales trends at its Children's Place and Disney Store chains have forced it to take more markdowns than planned, hurting gross margins.




Sales at stores open at least a year, the closely watched metric known as same-store sales, fell 4 percent at The Children's Place and 3 percent at the Disney Store chain.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

FedEx, Huntington Bancshares, Kana, Lexmark, Sequa: U.S. Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges.
This preview includes news that broke after exchanges closed on
July 6. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Share prices are as of 8:10 a.m. New York time.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALNY US) rose $7.65, or 50
percent, to $22.85 in trading before U.S. exchanges opened. Roche
Holding AG (RHHBY US), the world's biggest maker of cancer
medicines, said it may pay as much as $1 billion for rights to
Alnylam technology that may allow the companies to find new
tumor, liver and breathing treatments. Alnylam will get a cash
payment of $288.5 million and will sell Roche about 2 million
shares for $42.5 million. The stock represents just less than a 5
percent stake in Alnylam, Roche said.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Polish Central Banker Pietrewicz Says More Rate Increases May Be Necessary

(Bloomberg) -- The Polish central bank may need to
raise interest rates if wage growth and consumer demand threaten
to push up inflation, policy maker Miroslaw Pietrewicz said.

``I would be cautious about saying that no more rate hikes
are needed,'' Pietrewicz said in an interview on July 5, while
declining to specify a timeframe. Demands for higher wages ``may
create a dangerous situation in 2008.''


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

European Stocks `Decouple' From Increasing Credit Market Risk, Lehman Says

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks are less dependent on
increasingly risky credit markets and still have room to gain
because of low share prices and ongoing earnings growth,
according to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

The risk of owning European corporate bonds has climbed in
recent weeks on concern that defaults in the U.S. subprime
mortgage market may increase. Even so, stocks, which tend to
react negatively to a rise in so-called credit spreads, have
advanced in the region, Lehman said.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Treasury 10-Year Note Yield Is Near Two-Week High Before Bernanke Speech

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. 10-year Treasury yields held
near their highest in two weeks on speculation Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will say inflation is still a concern
when he speaks tomorrow.

Bonds may extend declines that pushed yields up last week
by the most in more than a year. Inflation expectations gauged
by the gap between yields on regular Treasuries and inflation-
protected notes rose for a third day. Lehman Brothers Holdings
Inc., Morgan Stanley and RBS Greenwich Capital estimate 10-year
notes won't return enough this year to cover rising inflation.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Futures point to steady Wall St, Alcoa reports

(Reuters) - Last week the broader market rallied in spite of data on Friday that painted a far more robust picture of the U.S. jobs market than previously expected, all but obliterating any chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut in the next year.




The Standard & Poor's 500 staged its best weekly performance since late April, while the Nasdaq Composite Index put in it its best weekly performance since late March.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Cedar Fair reaches out to private equity-report

(Reuters) - Cedar Fair shares closed on Friday at $28.84. The company
could not immediately be reached for comment.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

European stocks gain ground, Numico jumps

(Reuters) - European shares moved higher on Monday, following a rise in U.S. and Asian shares after buoyant U.S. jobs figures reassured investors on the health of the world's biggest economy, while Numico jumped on takeover talk.

Miners were among the biggest gainers, advancing on a rally in metal prices and after an upbeat note from JPMorgan on the outlook for the commodities.


Read more at Reuters Africa

U.K. Electricity Rises on Higher Natural Gas, Probable Exports to France

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. power rose as the price of
natural gas increased and French electricity gained.

U.K. power for delivery on the next working day advanced as
much as 5.8 percent to 26.25 pounds ($52.85) a megawatt hour,
compared with 24.80 pounds a megawatt hour on July 6 for
delivery today, according to prices on Bloomberg from energy
broker Spectron Group Plc.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 1-3M plans 7-year euro benchmark bond -lead

(Reuters) - Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and UBS are managing the sale,
which is due in the near future subject to market conditions.




A banker familiar with the sale said the bond would be
priced to yield around 17 basis points over mid-swaps.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Northwest Bio wins Swiss approval for cancer vaccine

(Reuters) - A spokesperson for the firm said the approval had come much earlier than had been expected at the time of the AIM float last month.




Shares in Northwest were seen trading up 9.76 percent by 0703 GMT at 112.5 pence.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Goodwin Bid Spurns Shareholders as Royal Bank Trails Rivals in U.K. Market

(Bloomberg) -- Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc Chief
Executive Officer Fred Goodwin's pursuit of the world's biggest
banking takeover has already cost shareholders $6.6 billion of
market value and the fight is far from over.

Goodwin, who has overseen more than $60 billion of
acquisitions since 2000, has failed to convince investors that
the proposed $97 billion bid for ABN Amro Holding NV, the largest
Dutch bank, will increase profit fast enough to bolster Royal
Bank's underperforming stock. Shares of Royal Bank dropped 5.2
percent since the offer for ABN Amro was unveiled almost three
months ago and Goodwin estimated the deal would result in $5.2
billion of merger expenses, reducing profit for two years.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Yen stays weak, hits record low vs euro

(Reuters) - The yen slipped to a record low against the euro and hit its weakest in a decade and a half versus sterling and the Australian dollar on Monday as investors continued to sell the low-yielding yen for assets in higher-yielding rivals.

The dollar hovered near a 4-1/2-year high against the yen but stayed on the back foot against the European currency after a rally on Friday inspired by surprisingly strong U.S. employment data quickly lost steam.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Platinum Futures Rise in Tokyo as Yen Drops Versus Dollar, Euro; ETFs Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum futures in Tokyo gained for
a fourth day in five as the yen weakened and some analysts said
they expected investors to buy more platinum through exchange-
traded funds, or EFTs.

The Japanese currency dropped to a record low against the
euro and to its weakest in nine days against the dollar today in
Asian trading. Investment in ETFS Physical Platinum, a London-
based fund, rose by a third in the week ending June 28.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News