European Insurance Stocks May Advance; Energy Shares, Shell May Decline

(Bloomberg) -- European insurance stocks may advance
on merger speculation after Friends Provident Plc and Resolution
Plc of the U.K. held talks, according to people familiar with the
matter.

Energy companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA
will probably follow the price of crude oil lower. ABN Amro Holding
NV might be active after Barclays Plc said it raised its offer for
the biggest Dutch bank to 67.5 billion euros ($93.4 billion).


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Barclays Raises ABN Amro Offer to $93.4 Billion With Funding From China

(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc raised its offer for
ABN Amro Holding NV, the biggest Dutch bank, to 67.5 billion
euros ($93.4 billion) after securing funding from China's and
Singapore's governments.

ABN shareholders will receive 42.7 billion euros in stock
and 24.8 billion euros in cash, Barclays said in a statement
today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

UPDATE 1-Reuters FX trading platform suffers outage

(Reuters) - Reuters shut down the servers for its Dealing 3000 Matching
platform for emergency maintenance at 2205 GMT on Sunday, the
early hours of the new week when global trade kicks off in
Wellington and Sydney.




Reuters expected to have full service available again by 0530
GMT. For the latest details, click .


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Electricite de France, Nexity and Sopra Group: French Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or
fall on the Paris stock exchange. Symbols are in parentheses
after company names and prices are from the close on July 20.

France's benchmark CAC 40 Index lost 108.34 points, or 1.8
percent, to 5957.16 in Paris. The broader SBF 120 Index closed
down 1.6 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Barclays seeks China, Singapore funds in ABN buy-report

(Reuters) - Citing unidentified banking sources, the BBC said on its
Web site www.bbcnews.com that if the talks succeeded, China
would hold a 7 percent stake in the merged bank, while
Singapore would own 3 percent through its investment holding
company, Temasek [TEM.UL].




The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the
matter, said Barclays was close to an agreement to sell what it
described as a large stake to Temasek and another investor to
help back its bid for ABN.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Taiwan June Jobless Rate Probably Rose to 18-Month High on Slowing Exports

(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan's unemployment probably
climbed to the highest rate in 18 months in June as slowing
export growth prompted manufacturers to curb hiring.

The rate rose to 3.97 percent, matching the highest since
December 2005, from 3.95 percent in May, seasonally adjusted,
according to the median estimate of eight economists surveyed by
Bloomberg News. The rate was a six-year-low 3.83 percent in
October. The report is scheduled to be released today at 4 p.m.
in Taipei.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

U.S. Treasuries May Add to Last Week's Gain as Appetite for Risk Recedes

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries may add to last week's
biggest gain in more than four months on speculation investors
will seek the relative safety of government bonds as appetite for
risk diminishes.

Asian stocks headed lower in response to the slump in U.S.
subprime mortgages that drove U.S. shares down last week. Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said inflation will recede and
housing market weakness may slow the economy. The yield on 10-
year notes ended a week below 5 percent for the first time since
the start of June.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

U.K. Housing Prices Rise at Slowest Pace This Year; Prices in London Jump

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. house prices rose in July at the
slowest pace this year, evidence that interest rates at a six-
year high are damping demand for property, Rightmove Plc said. In
London, the rate of price increases accelerated.

The average asking price in England and Wales gained 0.3
percent to 240,001 pounds ($493,000) from a month earlier, the
U.K.'s biggest real-estate Web site said in a statement today.
That was the smallest increase since prices fell in December.
Values in London rose 1.8 percent, more than double June's pace.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

New Zealand Dollar May Drop as Housing Boom Cools, Standard Chartered Says

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's dollar, the best
performing currency against the yen in the past year, may slide
from a 21-year high as the nation's property market cools,
according to Standard Chartered Bank.

The currency known as the kiwi may fall 3 percent to 93.94
yen and to 77 U.S. cents by Dec. 31, said Callum Henderson, head
of global currency strategy in Singapore. The central bank may
pause after raising its 8 percent benchmark rate on July 26,
because mortgage costs will be high enough to stifle housing
demand, a Bloomberg News survey shows.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

New Zealand Dollar May Advance to 80 U.S. Cents on Rate Rise Speculation

(Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar may rise
above 80 U.S. cents to a 22-year high as the prospect of another
increase in interest rate this week lures investors to the
nation's higher-yielding assets.

The currency has gained 13 percent this year as the central
bank raised the benchmark rate three times in a bid to subdue
consumer demand, which it says is boosting inflation. There is a
67 percent chance bank Governor Alan Bollard will raise the
official cash rate by a quarter-percentage point for a fourth
time at his monetary policy review on July 26, according to a
Credit Suisse index based on trading in interest-rate swaps.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Ev3 to buy FoxHollow for $780 million

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 22 - Medical device maker Ev3 Inc.
said on Sunday it would buy FoxHollow Technologies
Inc. for about $780 million in cash and stock to
expand its array of products that combat vascular disease.




The combination is expected to generate net sales of up to
$615 million in 2008. Ev3's cash-and-stock offer of $25.92 for
each share of FoxHollow represents a premium of more than 20
percent, based on 30-day average trading price for FoxHollow
shares.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Pret a Manger may drop IPO for private buyer -paper

(Reuters) - But the company has received unsolicited approaches from
Lion Capital, Bridgepoint and PPM, and bankers have held early
stage talks, the paper said. Pret has more than 150 outlets,
most in Britain and a few in the United States.




Pret could not immediately be reached to comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Warner Music eyes UK's Chrysalis music arm -papers

(Reuters) - The Financial Mail's unsourced report said the division's current value was around 90 million pounds but that it could fetch as much as 180 million.




Chrysalis Group said last month it planned to sell its radio business for 170 million pounds to a private equity firm, leaving Chrysalis as a pure music company.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News