TREASURIES-Bonds gain after tame inflation

(Reuters) - Coming at the end of a topsy-turvy week, the report on May
U.S. consumer prices pulled benchmark yields further back from
five-year highs hit on Wednesday.




The report showed annual underlying, or core, inflation at
2.2 percent, retreating toward the the Fed's comfort zone of 1
to 2 percent, which boosted bond market sentiment.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-N.Y. Fed manufacturing index hits highest in a year

(Reuters) - The New York Fed's "Empire State" general business
conditions index rose to 25.75 in June from 8.03 in May.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a June reading of
10.8.




It was the highest reading on the index since June 2006.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

US sees April net capital inflow of $111.8 bln

(Reuters) - The United States needs to attract nearly $2 billion a day
to help cover its trade deficit, which was $58.5 billion in
April, and maintain the value of the dollar.




Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

UPDATE 1-ITW reaffirms 2nd qtr, full-year profit forecasts

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, June 15 - Diversified manufacturer Illinois Tool Works Inc. on Friday reiterated its profit forecasts for the year, reaffirming that demand overseas remains strong while North America continues to be weak.



The company said it still expects to earn 86 to 90 cents a share in the second quarter and $3.27 to $3.39 a share for the year. It previously offered those forecasts in April.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Colgate-Palmolive, Intel, Hansen Natural, Nymex: 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.

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE US): The world's biggest maker of
design software said it expects profit, excluding some costs, of
39 cents to 41 cents a share in the current quarter. That
compares with analysts' estimates of 39 cents, according to a
Bloomberg survey. Shares fell 15 cents to $43.96 in regular
trading yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

N.Y. Fed manufacturing index hits highest in a year

(Reuters) - It was the highest reading on the index since June 2006.




The new orders component rose to 17.19 in June from 8.02 in
May, while the prices paid component rose to 42.55 in June from
34.44 in May.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Futures extend gains after CPI data

(Reuters) - S&P 500 futures were up 8.40 points, above fair
value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures were up
65 points while Nasdaq 100 futures were up 12 points.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Financial conditions amplify policy-Fed's Bernanke

(Reuters) - In a discussion of academic research into channels through
which a central bank's policy decisions can impact an economy,
Bernanke said financial conditions -- such as the ability of
businesses or households to borrow easily at reasonable cost --
are central to economic health.




Bernanke did not discuss the outlook for the U.S. economy
or interest rates in his speech, which was prepared for
delivery to a conference hosted by the Atlanta Federal Reserve
Bank in Atlanta. The text was distributed in Washington.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Topps says Madison Dearborn bid beats Upper Deck

(Reuters) - Upper Deck has offered $424 million for Topps while the
Madison Dearborn group has agreed to $385 million.




Topps said Upper Deck offered no evidence how it will
finance the deal. The trading card company also said the Upper
Deck deal had higher regulatory risk and an inadequate break-up
fee in the event the deal fails to close.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Gold clearing statistics fall in May - LBMA

(Reuters) - Gold ounces transferred fell 3.5 percent to a daily average of 19.5 million ounces in May, compared with the previous month, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said on Friday.

Based on an average fixing of $666.86 an ounce -- $12.50 lower than in April -- value fell to a daily average of $13.0 billion from $13.7 billion the previous month.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Sudan's Economy Will Weather U.S. Sanctions, Central Bank Governor Says

(Bloomberg) -- Sudanese central bank Governor Sabir
Mohamed Hassan said an extension of sanctions against the East
African nation announced by President George W. Bush last month
will fail to dent economic growth, which is surging at more than
10 percent a year.

``More than 50 percent of our trade is with the Far East
because of the pressure we have been getting from the West,''
Hassan said yesterday in an interview in the capital Khartoum.
``Over time we were able to disengage from the West and we found
it easier and safer to deal with the East.''


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Gold Drops in London as Demand May Slow on Stronger Dollar; Silver Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Gold fell in London on speculation
that demand for the precious metal will slow after the dollar
gained against the euro. Silver also declined.

Bullion dropped and the dollar rebounded yesterday before
the U.S. Labor Department reported a 0.9 percent gain in producer
prices in May, higher than the 0.6 percent increase forecast by
analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Traders and analysts are
awaiting the U.S. report on the consumer price index for May
that's due later today.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

TREASURIES-Bonds slightly soft ahead of inflation data

(Reuters) - However, after benchmark yields rose to five-year highs in
recent sessions, some analysts now see the market as better
positioned for an environment where firm economic growth
translates into modest upward pressure on inflation and the
potential for Fed rate hikes.




Economists polled by Reuters predicted the annual inflation
rate minus food and energy prices would post a reading of 2.3
percent, the same as April.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Rise Ahead of CPI; Home Depot, Nymex Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures rose on
takeover speculation before a consumer prices report that may
help investors gauge the outlook for interest rates.

Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home-improvement
retailer, gained in Europe after people familiar with the
negotiations said it will receive offers of about $10 billion
for its contractor-supplies unit. Nymex Holdings Inc. surged
after two people familiar with discussions said the biggest
energy market is exploring a sale.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Japan Q1 investment trust assets surge to record

(Reuters) - The share of investment trusts in total Japanese household
assets rose to 4.5 percent at the end of March, while the share
of bank deposits and cash in overall financial assets dipped to
50.1 percent, the lowest since March 1996.




The rush of investment by households in mutual funds
featuring foreign assets has played a role in the yen's broad
weakness that has driven the Japanese currency's trade-weighted
and inflation-adjusted value to 22-year lows.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Degussa Credit-Default Swaps Jump on Concern Over RAG Leveraged Buyout

(Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning bonds sold by
Degussa AG, the world's biggest specialty chemicals maker, rose
on concern its parent RAG AG may be acquired in a leveraged
buyout, according to traders of credit-default swaps.

Cerberus Capital Management LP, the New York-based private
equity firm, offered between 6 billion euros ($8 billion) and 8
billion euros for RAG, company spokeswoman Barbara Mueller said
today. The Essen, Germany-based company operates coalmining,
property, energy and chemicals businesses.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

FTSE 100 Stocks Gain, Paced by Sainsbury; Morrison, Tesco Shares Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose for the third
day. J Sainsbury Plc led shares of retail companies higher
after a Qatar-backed fund increased its stake in the
supermarket chain.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 39.5, or 0.6
percent, to 6689.4 in London at 12:09 p.m. The FTSE All-
Share Index gained 1.4 percent to 3435.94. Ireland's ISEQ
Index rose 1.1 percent to 9611.55.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.K. Power Generators Cut Plant Availability Forecasts; Prices May Rise

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. power generators cut
expectations for available capacity through the rest of this
year after last week raising forecasts. The lower buffer between
spare production and demand may boost power prices.

The cushion of available generation over expected
consumption, excluding imports, was cut by as much as 2,087
megawatts, or 18 percent, and by an average 1,167 megawatts for
every week from June 25 apart from the seven days starting Aug.
13. It may narrow to as little as 4,365 megawatts in the week
from Dec. 10, according to data compiled weekly on a Web site
run by the power-network manager, National Grid Plc.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Community Health, Varietal, EGL Plan Debt Sales: U.S. Corporate Bond Alert

(Bloomberg) -- Community Health System Inc., whose
purchase of Triad Hospitals Inc. will make it the biggest publicly
traded U.S. hospital company, and Varietal Distribution Merger Sub
Inc. are among borrowers seeking to raise at least $47.4 billion
of bonds in the U.S., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Companies have sold $17.3 billion of bonds this week,
compared with $31.5 billion in the same period last week. Sales
year-to-date total $590.9 billion, up from $519 billion a year
ago.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Cobb Says EBay to Cut Some Fees, Freeze Others for Auctioneers This Summer

(Bloomberg) -- Bill Cobb, president of North American
Marketplaces unit at EBay Inc., spoke yesterday at the EBay Live conference in
Boston about the online auctioneer's plan to cut selling fees for its cheapest
items and not raise fixed-price item fees from June 19 to Aug. 5. (This is an
excerpt. Source: Bloomberg)

00:00 EBay plan to cut selling fees, freeze others

Running time 01:06


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Czech Central Banker Niedermayer Skeptical About Major Spending Overhaul

(Bloomberg) -- Czech central bank Deputy Governor
Ludek Niedermayer said he is skeptical the government will
manage to revamp fiscal policy enough to keep public spending
under control.

``The situation in parliament is very difficult'' so the
government's ``mandate and ability to push through some really
substantial changes to fiscal policy is questionable,''
Niedermayer said in a phone interview yesterday in Prague. The
recent trend of budget spending outpacing budget revenue is
``very dangerous.''


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Wall St to lack clear direction as CPI, Fed eyed

(Reuters) - No S&P 500 companies were scheduled to report on Friday and
the overnight corporate news flow was thin.




Dow Jones futures were down 0.03 percent at 0930 GMT
and the indicative Dow Jones index , which tracks the Dow
shares as they are traded in Frankfurt, was 0.1 percent lower.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Boeing CEO confident on first 787 timetable: paper

(Reuters) - Boeing has outsourced much 787 production and has been working since May to assemble the final pieces of the first aircraft in Everett, Washington.




McNerney said he saw no reason for Boeing to review this production model until output had reached "cruising speed" around 2009. " we can ask whether we need to change or not our organization," he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

S.Africa's 3-month T-Bill discount rate at 9.09 pct

(Reuters) - The average discount rate for South African three-month Treasury Bills rose to 9.09 percent on Friday from 9.03 percent last week, the Reserve Bank said.

The average yield was 9.3 percent from 9.24 percent, while applications for the 2.3 billion rand of bills on offer totalled 5.215 billion rand.


Read more at Reuters Africa

European Stocks Rise for Third Day; Sainsbury, Tesco, Wolseley Pace Gains

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks rose for a third day
after a Qatar fund bought shares in J Sainsbury Plc, German
financial institutions acquired a Berlin bank and Wolseley Plc
was the focus of takeover speculation.

Sainsbury and Tesco Plc, Britain's biggest supermarket
company, led the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Retail Index to the highest
since June 4. Wolseley, the world's largest distributor of plumbing
and heating equipment, rallied the most in three months. Total SA,
Europe's largest refiner, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc advanced as oil
traded near the highest in nine months.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Oil Falls From Near a Nine-Month High, Below $67.40 a Barrel in New Yorks

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell from near a nine-month
high in New York as some analysts and traders speculated recent
gains weren't justified.

Crude oil for July delivery fell as much as 33 cents to $67.32
a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract traded at 67.37 at 10:22 a.m. in London. Oil has risen
3.5 percent in the past two trading days.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Oil Falls From Near a Nine-Month High, Below $67.40 a Barrel in New York

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell from near a nine-month
high in New York as some analysts and traders speculated recent
gains weren't justified.

Crude oil for July delivery fell as much as 33 cents to $67.32
a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract traded at 67.37 at 10:22 a.m. in London. Oil has risen
3.5 percent in the past two trading days.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Shell Nigeria tightens security after rebel freed

(Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell tightened security for staff in Nigeria's anarchic Niger Delta on Friday as a precaution after the release of a prominent rebel leader, security sources said.

Shell told non-essential staff to stay at home and restricted the movement of others because of uncertainty over how Thursday's court decision to free Mujahid Dokubo-Asari on bail would play out in the lawless delta.


Read more at Reuters Africa

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Are Little Changed; Nymex Gains as Adobe Declines

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures were little
changed before a consumer-prices report that may help investors
gauge the outlook for interest rates.

Home Depot Inc. climbed in Europe. The company will receive
two separate offers of about $10 billion for its contractor-
supplies unit, people familiar with the negotiations said.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Belgium, Groupama, Ericsson, ABSA Plan to Sell Debt: European Bond Alert

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of bond sales
denominated in euros or pounds and expected in the coming days
and weeks.

Investment-Grade Sales


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Audi sets long-term target for U.S., China: report

(Reuters) - By 2015, the brand plans to sell 1.5 million vehicles, up from last year's 905,188 units.




The Audi sales chief said he expected Audi could sell some 50,000 units of its brand new A5 mid-size coupe, which hit German showrooms on Friday in the model's first full year.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Spain's Portland denies interest in Texas Ind.

(Reuters) - In a later announcement, the Spanish stock exchange said a
trading suspension on Portland shares would be lifted from 0830
GMT.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Gold off highs, but weak yen lifts Tokyo

(Reuters) - Tokyo gold futures prices closed higher reflecting a weaker yen, which hovered at a 4-½ year low against the dollar, but they drifted off from session highs in line with the cash price.




Some dealers said gold's prospect looked a bit brighter since it recovered from a three-month low of $642.90 hit on Wednesday, while others thought the precious metal could come under pressure again.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

FTSE 100 Stocks Rise, Paced by Sainsbury; Morrison, Tesco Shares Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose for the third
day. J Sainsbury Plc led shares of retail companies higher
after a Qatar-backed fund increased its stake in the
supermarket chain.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 27, or 0.4 percent,
to 6676.9 in London at 8:59 a.m. The FTSE All-Share Index
gained 0.4 percent to 3451.10. Ireland's ISEQ Index rose
0.8 percent to 9583.61.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-NYMEX explores sale of company -report

(Reuters) - Top NYMEX executives have met with their counterparts at
three suitors, NYSE Euronext , Deutsche Boerse
AG and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc.
, according to the report. Banks have not yet been
hired to advise the company on the sale, Bloomberg said.




A NYMEX response is not mentioned in the report, which cited
two people involved in the discussions.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Gold Will Reach $750 an Ounce This Year on Inflation, Pierre Lassonde Says

(Bloomberg) -- Gold will rise as high as $750 an
ounce this year, about $100 more than today, as concern about
accelerating inflation spurs demand for the metal as a store of
value, Newmont Mining Corp. Vice Chairman Pierre Lassonde said.

Higher interest rates are ``bullish for gold,'' Lassonde,
60, said in an interview yesterday in London after a dinner held
by the producer-funded World Gold Council, of which Lassonde is
chairman. ``The only reason rates are going up is because
inflation is going up.''


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

British Energy Starts Unit 8 at Hinkley Point B Nuclear Plant After Repair

(Bloomberg) -- British Energy Group Plc, which
operates nuclear reactors that can produce about a fifth of the
U.K.'s electricity, restarted Unit 8 of its Hinkley Point B plant,
which had been offline since October.

The 610-megawatt unit started production at about 5 p.m.
yesterday and was running at a reduced output of 90 megawatts at 8
a.m. today, according to a Web site run by National Grid Plc. The
unit had been offline since Oct. 19 for repairs to cracked boiler
tubes.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

FTSE 100 Stocks Gain, Paced by Sainsbury; Vodafone Group Shares Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks advanced for the
third day, paced by Vodafone Group Plc, the world's largest
mobile-phone company.

J Sainsbury Plc led shares of retail companies higher.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Asian Aframax Tanker Rates Fall as Refiners Hold Back on Booking Vessels

(Bloomberg) -- The cost of shipping 80,000 metric
tons of oil on Asian routes fell 1.2 percent yesterday as
refiners held back on booking ships to transport their July oil
purchases, leaving a glut of vessels competing for business.

The rate of shipping crude or fuel oil on so-called Aframax
tankers to Singapore from Kuwait dropped to Worldscale 144.42
yesterday, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Hedge Funds Forecast Windfall Profits From Europe's Expanding Power Market

(Bloomberg) -- Hedge fund manager Marcel Melis
ignores stock charts, commodities reports and bond prices as he
sips his morning coffee. All his attention is focused on one
thing: the weather.

Melis analyzes forecasts for areas from the snowcapped
mountains of Norway to the beaches of Spain's Costa del Sol to
predict changes in demand for power and gas. The founder of
Energy Capital Management BV, which has raised $60 million and
started trading in October, targets returns of 25 to 30 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Trade suspended in Spain's Portland Valderrivas

(Reuters) - Newspaper Expansion on Friday cited sources saying it was
studying the acquisition of TXI, market leader in Texas and with
a presence in California.




Portland declined to comment on the report when contacted by
Reuters.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Citigroup Raises 415 Billion Yen in Record Debt Sale in Japanese Currency

(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. sold 145 billion yen
($1.2 billion) of bonds to international investors, bringing the
amount raised in the biggest corporate debt sale in the Japanese
currency to 415 billion yen.

Citigroup, which yesterday completed a record sale by a
foreign firm in Japan, turned to the overseas market today to
sell bonds with maturities ranging from 20 years to 40 years,
said a banker at Nikko Citigroup Ltd. who handled the sale.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Zambia says flooding cuts 2007 maize output

(Reuters) - Floods have cut Zambia's white maize output for the 2006/07 crop season to 1.36 million tonnes from 1.42 million the previous year, a fall of 4.4 percent, Agriculture Minister Ben Kapita said.

"(Zambia's) total maize production has been established to be 1,366,158 tonnes in comparison to production of 1,424,439 tonnes achieved last year," Kapita said in a statement on Thursday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

European Stocks May Rise a Third Day; Rio, Total, Deutsche Boerse May Gain

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks may gain for a third
day, led by mining and energy companies as prices for copper and
aluminum advanced and oil traded near a nine-month high.

Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company,
rose in Australian trading. U.S.-traded securities of Total SA,
Europe's largest refiner, ended higher than their close in France.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Citigroup offers total Y145 bln global bonds

(Reuters) - Citigroup is expected to use proceeds from the Samurai and
global bond issuance to pay back debt for its $7.7 billion buyout
of Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial Corp. . The
acquisition is meant to help the U.S. bank expand in Japan,
especially in investment banking.




The global yen bonds consist of 50 billion yen in 20-year
bonds, 55 billion yen in 30-year bonds, and 40 billion yen in
40-year bonds, Nikko Citigroup said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News