European Government Bonds Little Changed Before Today's Inflation Report

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds were
little changed before a report today that will probably show
inflation held near the European Central Bank's target last
month, boosting the case for higher interest rates.

The European Union will probably say consumer prices in the
13-nation euro region increased 1.9 percent in June from a year
earlier, the same as in May, according to economists in a
Bloomberg survey. ECB policy makers last week said benchmark
borrowing costs remain supportive of economic growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Bancroft member moves to block sale of Dow Jones-source

(Reuters) - Bancroft is trying to buy more "supervoting" shares from
other Bancroft heirs who may be ready to sell their stakes but
share his distaste for handing the family legacy to Murdoch, the
Journal said.




News Corp., owner of Fox News, the New York Post and a
sprawling global media empire, has offered $5 billion, or $60 a
share, for Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Pakistan Airline Seeks $437 Million in Biggest Bond Sale to Refinance Debt

(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan International Airlines Corp.
plans to raise 26.5 billion rupees ($437 million) in its biggest
bond sale to cut borrowing costs and upgrade its maintenance and
training facilities.

``We have a very unhealthy balance sheet, which is in a
serious state of disrepair,'' Chairman Zaffar A. Khan said in a
July 12 interview at his office in Karachi. ``We have a lot of
debt on our books and restructuring it will give us a little
more breathing space,'' he added.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Asian Currencies: Philippine Peso Rises on Rate Cut; Taiwan Dollar Drops

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippine peso rose for a third
day, climbing to a six-week high, on speculation investors will
buy more of the nation's stocks after the central bank cut its
key interest rate last week.

``What the central bank has effectively done is to cut the
funding costs of companies,'' said Jonathan Ravelas, assistant
vice president for economic research at Banco de Oro-EPCI in
Manila. ``It encourages more business activities, which may spur
earnings.''


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Shanghai Petrochemical Shuts an Ethylene Plant for Scheduled Maintenance

(Bloomberg) -- Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co.,
the nation's largest ethylene producer, shut a naphtha
processing plant for scheduled maintenance.

The company last week closed its No. 2, 700,000 metric-ton-
a-year plant for an overhaul, Zhang Jingming, the company
secretary, said in a phone interview. The plant is the larger of
two such units operated by Shanghai Petrochemical.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Bank of Korea May Raise Interest Rates Again to Fight Asset-Price Bubble

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of Korea Governor Lee Seong Tae
may increase interest rates for a second time this year to prevent
money-supply growth from fueling bubbles in the stock and property
markets, according to a survey of economists.

Lee and his board colleagues raised the overnight call rate to
a six-year high of 4.75 percent last week, taking aim at record
lending to small companies that threatens to spur inflation. Ten of
11 economists say the bank will increase the rate to 5 percent by
December. One sees no change.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Japan's Orix Corp. to Gauge Interest in Its First Bond Sale in Australia

(Bloomberg) -- Orix Corp., Japan's largest non-bank
financial company, hired National Australia Bank Ltd. and Westpac
Banking Corp. to gauge interest in an Australian bond sale.

Investors will meet with Orix from Aug. 1 in Melbourne,
Sydney and Brisbane, the banks said in an e-mailed statement. It
follows Kaupthing Bank hf, Iceland's biggest lender, as the
second offshore firm this month to announce investor meetings. A
debt sale would be Tokyo-based Orix's first in Australia.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

China May Let Yuan Trade Freely After 2008 Olympics Ends, UOB's Suan Says

(Bloomberg) -- China may allow the yuan to trade
freely after Beijing hosts the Olympics next year, seeking to
curb excessive lending and cool the economy, said Suan Teck Kin,
an economist at United Overseas Bank Ltd.

The government will probably allow a so-called free-
floating currency a year after reshuffling its leadership in
October, Singapore-based Suan said in an interview. He predicts
the currency will strengthen 1.9 percent by the end of the year
to 7.43 per dollar and 6.9 percent to 7.08 by the end of 2008.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Thai Baht, Singapore Dollar, Indonesian Rupiah: Asian Currencies Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic
reports may influence trading in Asian currencies today.

Exchange rates are from the previous session.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Gasoline Pump Price in U.S. Rises 6 cents to $3.06, Lundberg Poll Finds

(Bloomberg) -- The price of gasoline at the pump in
the U.S. rose 6 cents during the past three weeks to an average
$3.06 a gallon, Trilby Lundberg said, citing her survey of 7,000
filling stations nationwide.

Gasoline is getting a boost from crude oil prices, which are
up 4.6 percent this month on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude oil for August delivery ended last week at an 11-month high
of $73.93 a barrel on the Nymex after Chevron Corp. and
ConocoPhillips said they lost output from North Sea fields
because of a pipeline shutdown.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 1-Mexico watchdog sets rules for Televisa cable buy

(Reuters) - Televisa , which is trying to buy a 49
percent stake in Cablemas, has 90 days to comply with the
ruling, the Mexican competition commission said in a
statement.




"We guarantee Televisa will soon offer equal access to its
content and networks," said commission head Eduardo Perez
Motta. "With this we make sure consumers have the best number
of options with open TV and the best prices on pay TV."


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Sudan's Mobitel urges no more mobile licences

(Reuters) - Sudanese mobile company Mobitel urged the government on Sunday not to issue a further mobile phone licence, saying a new competitor might force it to reconsider a $690 million expansion plan.

Khaled Muhtadi, chief executive of Mobitel, wholly owned by Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co. (MTC), told Reuters he had received reports that the country's telecoms regulator was preparing to issue another nationwide licence in the next 12 months.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Average yield rises on 91-day Egypt T-bills

(Reuters) - The average yield on Egyptian 91-day treasury bills rose to 6.879 percent (CBEY) at an auction on Sunday, from 6.8 percent at the July 10 auction.

The Finance Ministry accepted bids for 500 million Egyptian pounds, the same amount it had requested.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Sarkozy mulls Brazil visit to back IMF bid

(Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy may travel to Brazil to try to drum up support for his nominee for IMF chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, after emerging countries questioned Europe's monopoly of the top job.

"With Dominique Strauss-Kahn we may go to Brazil to support his candidacy," Sarkozy said on the sidelines of the annual garden party on Bastille Day at the presidential Elysee palace.


Read more at Reuters Africa