Oil hovers over $76; Iran tension, stocks in focus

(Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday near the previous day's 11-month high, buoyed by fund flows and new Iranian tensions as traders waited to see whether U.S. oil stock data would help extend a two-week rally.

London Brent crude, currently seen as a better indicator of the global market, slipped 11 cents to $76.29 a barrel by 0219 GMT after rising 62 cents on Tuesday. It remained within sight of the record high $78.65 from last August.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Traders Buy Yen Call Options to Protect Against Collapse of Carry Trades

(Bloomberg) -- Traders are buying options to protect
against a rising yen on speculation credit downgrades of U.S.
mortgage-backed bonds will spark a reversal in carry trades.

Moody's Investors Service yesterday lowered ratings on $5.2
billion of debt backed by mortgages to people with poor credit
histories due to rising defaults. Concern a housing slump will
slow the U.S. economy and increase losses at hedge funds may
discourage using yen loans to buy riskier assets, known as the
carry trade.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Telefonica Raised $247 Million Selling Its First Samurai Bonds in Japan

(Bloomberg) -- Telefonica SA, Spain's biggest
telephone company, raised 30 billion yen ($247 million) selling
yen-denominated bonds in Japan for the first time.

Telefonica, based in Madrid, sold 15 billion yen of five-year
bonds which will pay interest of 2.11 percent, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg. The company also sold 15 billion yen of
floating-rate notes with the same maturity.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Asian Stocks Fall on U.S. Housing, Growth Concerns; Toyota, BHP Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell for the first time
in three days amid concern a housing slump in the U.S. may harm
growth in the world's biggest economy.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker by market
value, and James Hardie Industries NV, the No. 1 supplier of home
siding in the U.S., led declines. Standard & Poor's said it may
cut credit ratings on $12 billion of bonds backed by subprime, or
higher risk, mortgages, while D.R. Horton Inc., the second-
largest U.S. homebuilder, said it will post a third-quarter loss.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

New Zealand, Australian Dollars Drop Versus Yen as Investors Trim Carry

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's dollar fell the most
in four months and Australia's the most in two weeks against the
yen as a drop in U.S. equities prompted investors to pare assets
funded by loans in the Japanese currency.

The two currencies declined for the second day after the
Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell the most in a month on concern
mortgage defaults will worsen a U.S. housing slowdown. Japan's
0.5 percent overnight lending rate has prompted investors to
borrow yen to take advantage of New Zealand's 8 percent and
Australia's 6.25 percent rates in so-called carry trades.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

FACTBOX-Profiles of Bank of Japan policy board members

(Reuters) - Fukui, a career central banker except for a short stint in
the private sector, is the main driver of the bank's monetary
policy.




Fukui is seen by some investors as one of the most hawkish
members of the board.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Jet Airways, Deccan Shares May Soar as `Oligopoly' Boosts India Air Fares

(Bloomberg) -- Mergers and buyouts are ending
India's cutthroat airline competition, and with it the 2-cent
ticket wars that lost the industry $500 million last year.

The carriers say rising fares will boost profits in an
aviation market set to be the world's fastest-growing through
2025, after Jet Airways (India) Ltd., the biggest domestic
airline, bought a rival and a competitor acquired a stake in
Deccan Aviation Ltd., the second-largest.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Tokyo Electric Raises 50 Billion Yen After Cutting Bond Sale by 50 Percent

(Bloomberg) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co., Asia's
largest power producer, sold 50 billion yen ($411 million) of
bonds, after cutting the amount it had planned to raise by 50
percent.

The Tokyo-based company today sold 50 billion yen of bonds
to yield 12 basis points more than Japanese government debt of
similar maturity, according to Nikko Citigroup Ltd., which
handled the sale. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Yen Retreats From One-Month High; Speculation Japanese Individuals Selling

(Bloomberg) -- The yen retreated from a one-month
high against the dollar as Japanese individual investors took
advantage of a 1.4 percent rally yesterday to sell the currency
and buy higher-yielding assets.

The Japanese yen also pared gains against the Canadian
dollar on speculation the Bank of Japan will keep its overnight
lending rate at 0.5 percent tomorrow, encouraging so-called
carry trades. The yen surged yesterday as U.S. stocks slumped,
raising concern global fund managers will pare riskier holdings.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Australia's United buys Unicco for A$477 mln

(Reuters) - The acquisition, which was expected to add 5 percent to its
earnings per share in the first year, would boost United's
global property services business.




United, whose shares were placed on a trading halt earlier
on Wednesday, said it planned to partly fund the deal with an
institutional share placement of A$231 million, with an extra
A$50 million placement subject to shareholder approval.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Nikkei may fall on Wall St. tumble, stronger yen

(Reuters) - NEC Corp. has also asked NEC Electronics Corp. to shoot for higher midterm sales and operating profit margin targets, the NEC Corp. president said on Tuesday.




"Today's market is likely to feel a big impact from the fall in U.S. stocks and the stronger yen, as it had risen on the reversed situation -- rising U.S. stocks and a softer yen," said Yutaka Miura, a deputy manager of the equity information department at Shinko Securities.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Japan's Stocks May Fall on U.S. Retailing Profit Concerns, Yen Strength

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks may decline after
profit warnings from U.S. retailers increased concern the housing
slump is spreading to other parts of the economy. Toyota Motor
Corp. may lead declines by exporters as selling pressure is
amplified by the second-biggest jump in the yen this year.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 1.4 percent, its worse
decline in a month.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Colombia trade deal too critical to fail: senator

(Reuters) - The Bush administration had hoped to win early approval of the Colombian free trade agreement, but it faces fierce opposition from U.S. labor groups closely tied to the Democratic Party.




Some Democrats in the House of Representatives want a vote delayed for one to two years so lawmakers can see whether Colombia has reduced violence against trade union members and thrown more killers in jail.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US HIGH YIELD-US junk bonds sell off, threatening LBO financing

(Reuters) - Junk bonds sold off on Tuesday, turning an already fragile
financing market uglier, after ratings warnings on billions of
dollars of subprime mortgage-related bonds snuffed out appetite
for risky debt.




A number of deals have already been pulled because of poor
market conditions or balking investors.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Chevron says production rose slightly in April, May

(Reuters) - Chevron has said it expects 2007 production to average
about 2.6 million boepd, down about 70,000 boepd from last
year.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Senators' Greenhouse Gas Measure Would Cut Emissions 20 Percent by 2030

(Bloomberg) -- Power producers, refiners and
steelmakers in the U.S. would be required to cut greenhouse gas
emissions 20 percent by 2030 under a Senate bill that will be
unveiled tomorrow.

Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the energy
committee, and Republican Senator Arlen Specter would force
polluters to obtain an allowance for each ton of carbon they pump
into the air, according to a draft of the bill obtained by
Bloomberg News. Industries initially would be given about half of
the credits and would have to buy the rest or reduce their
emissions. The so-called cap-and-trade system would create a
market for the trading of greenhouse gas permits.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 2-NYC's Times Square reopens after security scare

(Reuters) - Several blocks of Seventh Avenue, including along the front
of the Reuters building, were closed to traffic as police
investigated the suspicious item.




A Reuters witness said the suspicious item was a red bag
and the bomb squad had arrived to inspect it.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-SEC allows Nasdaq to list 3-letter ticker symbols

(Reuters) - Markets like the New York Stock Exchange, the American
Stock Exchange and other regional exchanges have traditionally
used three-character ticker symbols, while Nasdaq-listed
securities have four- and five-character symbols.




In its proposal to the SEC, Nasdaq had argued that allowing
companies to carry their three-character symbols over to its
market would enhance competition and reduce the potential for
investor confusion.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

First Gulf Delays $3.5 Billion Bond Sale, PKN Postpones as Yields Rise

(Bloomberg) -- First Gulf Bank PJSC, a United Arab
Emirates-based lender, delayed indefinitely a plan to sell as
much as $3.5 billion of bonds, citing adverse market conditions.

``We're postponing for some time because we don't believe
pricing will meet our expectations in the current market
conditions,'' Karim Karawi, First Gulf's chief financial officer,
said in a phone interview from Abu Dhabi today. ``We're not in a
hurry,'' he said, declining to elaborate.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Alcoa gets $30 bln credit line to fund Alcan buy

(Reuters) - The move is yet another step in Alcoa's attempt to take over Alcan. In addition, the company has filed with some antitrust authorities and on Monday, it extended the expiration time of its offer until August 10 from July 10.




Alcan has rejected the $28.6 billion offer and its shares are trading above the offer price, indicating investors anticipate a higher offer from either Alcoa or a rival.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 1-Credit derivatives sink on subprime, European weakness

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 10 - U.S. credit default swap
spreads hit their widest levels this year on Tuesday because of
fears of rating downgrades of subprime mortgage securities and
weakness in the European credit market, market sources said.




The investment-grade index widened about 2.5 basis points
to around 45.75 basis points, while an index of high-volatility
credits widened about 6 basis points to 112.25 basis points.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Court delays Russian suit against Bank of New York

(Reuters) - "We have also been told that the Moscow office has no right to represent Bank of New York in the courts, and we have therefore asked Russia's Foreign Ministry to intervene and deliver all the necessary documents to BONY's head office," lawyer Maxim Smal told Reuters.




A new hearing was set for November 13.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Pace of US class-action filings well below average

(Reuters) - The study comes as business groups are waging a campaign to
rein in shareholder lawsuits, saying the claims are often
frivolous and are harming the competitiveness of U.S. markets
by discouraging international companies from listing their
securities here out of fear of litigation.




The Supreme Court also has issued recent rulings that could
make it tougher for investors to bring class-action claims
against corporations. In one case, the court said that
plaintiffs must show convincing evidence that fraud occurred or
else a lawsuit can be dismissed at the pre-trial stage.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Bank of America names equity capital market chiefs

(Reuters) - Baird, 45, joins Bank of America after nearly 20 years with
Deutsche Bank AG , where he was most recently co-head
of equity capital markets. Dillon, 38, joined Bank of America
in 1998, and was most recently head of convertible capital
markets.




At Bank of America, Baird and Dillon will share oversight
of common stock and convertible originations. They will report
to Bill White, the global head of capital markets, and Peter
Forlenza and Ciaran O'Kelly, the co-heads of global equities.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Egyptian indexes hit lifetime closing highs, OCI up

(Reuters) - Egypt's two main stock indexes hit record closing highs for a third straight day on Tuesday, led by Orascom Construction Industries and spillover from strong performance in foreign markets, traders said.

Market heavyweight Orascom Construction (OCI) closed up 1.1 percent at 430 pounds a share as the single most heavily traded stock by value on Tuesday, continuing a bullish run since the end of June.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Scotts shares rise on JP Morgan upgrade

(Reuters) - The upgrade came a day after Scotts lowered its yearly earnings outlook, which "mainly reflects unfavorable April weather, given a sharp 19 percent April decline in consumer purchases," JP Morgan said.




Scotts shares were up 5.32 percent, or $2.25, at $44.51 during morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Bonds of Homebuilders Become Riskiest Corporate Debt, Yields Premiums Show

(Bloomberg) -- Owning the debt of U.S. homebuilders
is the riskiest investment among high-yield corporate bonds amid
the specter of inflation and an unstable mortgage finance
market, according to a Morgan Stanley report.

The extra yield that homebuilders with junk-rated status
must pay investors to own their bonds instead of Treasuries rose
1.07 percentage points to 4.53 percentage points in the 30 days
ended July 6, Morgan Stanley data show. That compares with a
0.44 percentage point increase to 2.96 percentage points for the
average junk-rated issuer, Morgan Stanley said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

GLOBAL MARKETS-Housing worries roil shares, Treasuries rise

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 10 - U.S. stocks fell and Treasury
prices rose on Tuesday as a spate of profit warnings hurt
housing-related shares and sent investors out of stocks and
into safe-haven government debt.




Housing worries were further fanned when rating agency
Standard & Poor's said it may downgrade $12 billion worth of
bonds backed by subprime loans. Worries about fallout from
subprime mortgage losses sent investors into safe-haven
government debt prices, pushing Treasury yields lower.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Corin hopes new hip will become No.1 in US market

(Reuters) - LONDON, July 10 - British medical devices maker Corin Group Plc said on Tuesday it was "very hopeful" its new Cormet hip implant would grow to become a market leader in the United States.



Cormet, which is being marketed by U.S. orthopaedics firm Stryker , was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Crude Oil Declines on Speculation Demand From Refineries to Drop in U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell for a second day in
New York on speculation U.S. consumption will decline because of
unexpected refinery shutdowns.

BP Plc yesterday was closing the largest of three crude
units at its refinery in Whiting, Indiana, a person familiar
with the plant said. Refineries in Texas and Kansas shut units
last week. U.S. stockpiles in the week ended June 29 were the
highest since 1998, an Energy Department report last week
showed. The department's next report is due tomorrow.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Kenya coffee prices rise slightly on lower volumes

(Reuters) - Kenyan coffee prices rose slightly at Tuesday's auction helped by a shortage as the marketing season comes to an end, exporters said.

The average price at the weekly sale rose to $96 per 50-kg bag from $90.21 at last Tuesday's auction.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Acuity posts 35 pct increase in quarterly profit

(Reuters) - "As we look beyond our fiscal year 2007 and into 2008, we believe favorable conditions will remain intact in key sectors of the nonresidential market despite the potential negative impact from a continuing weak residential housing market," Chief Executive Vernon Nagel said in a statement.




In April, Acuity said it remained optimistic about its performance for the second half of 2007 in spite of continued cost and pricing pressures.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Biomet says to incur costs of $60 mln over 2 years

(Reuters) - In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it has identified potential annual cost savings of about $65 million to be realized within two years.






Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Acuity Brands quarterly earnings rise

(Reuters) - Analysts, on average, expected Atlanta-based Acuity to
report earnings of 88 cents per share and sales of $641.61
million, according to Reuters Estimates.




In April, Acuity said it remained optimistic about its
performance for the second half of 2007 in spite of continued
cost and pricing pressures.



Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Pfizer wins Lipitor patent case in Ireland

(Reuters) - Lipitor is the world's top-selling drug and amounted to more than one-fourth of Pfizer's $48 billion in revenue last year. The company has been defending its intellectual property for the drug around the world against generic drugmaker Ranbaxy.




Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, also is trying to protect Lipitor's market share against an influx of inexpensive generic versions of other cholesterol medicines.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Polish WIG20 Benchmark Leads Slide in Central Europe on Political Concern

(Bloomberg) -- Poland's shares led declines among
Central European stocks on concerns the country may face early
elections following the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister
Andrzej Lepper yesterday.

KGHM Polska Miedz SA and Bank Pekao SA led the drop. Pegas
Nonwovens SA also slipped.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Akamai, Ford, Gemstar-TV, GM, Micron, Unilever: U.S. Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. This preview includes news that broke after exchanges
closed yesterday. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company
names. Share prices are as of 7:30 a.m. New York time.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM US) gained $2.22, or 4.7
percent, to $49.75 before the open of U.S. exchanges. The
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, whose software speeds the
delivery of Internet data, will replace Biomet Inc. in the
Standard & Poor's 500 Index, S&P said.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Chicago Merc Victory in CBOT Battle Turns ICE, Nymex Into Takeover Targets

(Bloomberg) -- The Chicago Mercantile Exchange's
$11.3 billion acquisition of the Chicago Board of Trade may be a
prelude to takeover bids for the nation's remaining derivatives
exchanges.

Board of Trade shareholders approved the merger with the
Chicago Merc yesterday, creating the world's largest futures
exchange. The combined company will dwarf the Atlanta-based
Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the losing bidder for the Board
of Trade, and the New York Mercantile Exchange, making them
potential targets for NYSE Euronext.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Maersk Oil to Load 1.3 Million Barrels From Its Dumbarton Field in August

(Bloomberg) -- Maersk Oil, a unit of Demark's A.P.
Moeller-Maersk A/S, will load 1.275 million barrels of its
Dumbarton crude oil from the North Sea in August.

Maersk Oil will ship three cargoes of 425,000 barrels each
in August, Lasse Andersson, a crude-oil trader at the company
said today by telephone from Copenhagen. That's equal to 41,129
barrels a day, unchanged from July.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

FirstRand expects FY profit to rise by up to 36 pct

(Reuters) - South African banking and financial services group FirstRand Ltd expects to report a 28 to 36 percent rise in full-year earnings, the company said on Tuesday, boosting its shares.

FirstRand said in a statement attributable, headline and normalised earnings as well as basic, diluted headline and diluted normalised earnings per share are all expected to exceed the previous year by up to 36 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Home Depot cuts 2007 outlook, cites housing

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 10 - Home improvement retailer Home Depot cut its 2007 earnings outlook on Tuesday, citing weakness in the U.S. housing market and said it was launching a tender offer for 250 million shares.



Home Depot said it expected 2007 earnings per share to fall 15 percent to 18 percent from a year earlier, to a range of $2.30 to $2.36 per share.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Rubber in Tokyo Rises to Highest in More Than a Week as Stockpiles Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Rubber futures in Tokyo, the global
benchmark, rose to the highest in more than a week after a
decline in stockpiles of the raw material in Tokyo Commodity
Exchange warehouses.

Rubber stockpiles fell to 10,761 tons at the end of June,
down 2.6 percent from 11,050 tons on June 20, according to the
exchange. On June 10, stockpiles were 11,423 tons.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Rolls Royce, Air Liquide, Deutsche Post: Credit-Default Swap Market Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning European
corporate bonds rose, according to traders of credit-default
swaps.

Contracts based on 10 million euros ($13 million) of debt
included in the iTraxx Crossover Series 7 Index increased 10,500
euros to 257,000 euros at 9:45 a.m. in London, according to
JPMorgan Chase & Co.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

EU finmins discuss candidates for new IMF head

(Reuters) - European Union finance ministers were discussing on Tuesday who should run the International Monetary Fund amid controversy over whether the job, customarily given to Europeans, should be open to all.

The 24-member IMF board, comprising the fund's member countries including Europeans, said on Monday any country should be able to name a candidate for one of the most important jobs in international finance.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Taiwan eyes Boeing over Bell for attack helicopters

(Reuters) - "The AH-64D is the most suitable investment choice for the
future," Dai Kuang-chao, an army colonel told a defense
ministry news conference.




In opting for the AH-64D Apache Longbow, Taiwan's military
decided against the Bell AH-1Z Cobra, which are made by Bell
Helicopter, a unit of Textron Inc .


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 2-China's trade surplus soars to record in June

(Reuters) - BEIJING, July 10 - China posted a record trade
surplus of $26.9 billion in June as exporters rushed shipments
ahead of tax rebate cuts, handing more ammunition to critics
who say Beijing's weak currency gives it an unfair trade
advantage.




The result, which easily surpassed economists' expectations
of a $24.0 billion surplus, was much higher than the previous
monthly record of $23.8 billion, set last October.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

PKN Orlen sets guidance on 7-yr euro bond -lead

(Reuters) - ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, Citigroup and SG CIB are managing the
sale.




PKN Orlen is rated Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service and
BBB- by both Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Noven to buy JDS Pharma for $125 mln in cash

(Reuters) - Noven said it saw an annual sales opportunity from JDS's products, which include drugs for bipolar disorder, depression and panic disorder, in excess of $500 million from 2012, assuming development and regulatory approval on current schedules.



) Keywords: NOVEN JDS


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News