Shanghai copper up 2 percent, supply woes support

(Reuters) - Shanghai copper rose 2 percent on Monday, with the market shrugging off warnings from China that it will take further steps to cool the economy, and instead focused on threats to supply and limited world stocks.

The most-active August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 2 percent to 64,370 yuan a tonne at midday, from 63,130 yuan on Friday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

BofA private bank to get U.S. Trust name: report

(Reuters) - Using U.S. Trust's name in its branding campaign may help Bank of America overcome its middle-class image among high-net worth clients, according to the Times report.




Bank of America did not immediately return a call seeking comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Gold hits one-week high, weak yen lifts Tokyo

(Reuters) - Gold rose to its highest in more than a week on Monday on the back of a firm euro and strong crude oil prices, lifting futures contracts in Tokyo.

Spot gold hit an intraday high of $656.50 an ounce before edging down to $656.20/656.80 an ounce, still higher than $654.50/656.00 late in New York on Friday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Coal Delivery by Rail to Australia's Newcastle Rise After Storm Last Week

(Bloomberg) -- Coal deliveries by rail to
Australia's Newcastle Port have reached between 50 percent and 70
percent of targeted capacity after a six-day halt last week due
to storms that brought heavy rain.

Deliveries are expected to reach 80 percent or more of
capacity ``towards the middle of this week,'' the Hunter Valley
Coal Chain Logistics Team, the coordinator of coal movements on
the railway between the mines and the port, the world's biggest
coal-export harbor, said today in a statement on its Web site.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Sarkozy to Push French Tax Cuts Even After Parliamentary Majority Shrinks

(Bloomberg) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy
intends to press ahead with his 11 billion euro ($14.6 billion)
tax-cut package even after an unexpected setback left him with a
narrowed parliamentary majority, government officials said.

``The time of elections is over, the time for action has
come,'' Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in Paris after
estimates showed his Union for a Popular Movement party lost as
many as 45 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly in
legislative elections yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Euro sets new high vs yen, kiwi dips on RBNZ sales

(Reuters) - The euro scaled a record peak against the yen on Monday on expectations for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates only gradually, while the New Zealand dollar retreated on suspected fresh central bank intervention.

The euro extended its gains to hit a record high against the low-yielding yen for the second straight session, getting a boost from Friday's remarks by BOJ Governor Toshihiko Fukui that all but doused fears of a rate rise in July.


Read more at Reuters Africa

TREASURIES-Drift sideways in Asia as housing data awaited

(Reuters) - September 10-year futures edged up 1/32 to 104-21/32,
holding above a five-year low for the lead contract of
103-20.5/32 struck last week.




Benchmark 10-year notes were unchanged to yield
5.171 percent. Two-year notes were flat to yield 5.028
percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Bad Home Loans Pit Vranos Against Cayne as Hedge Funds Outbid Wall Street

(Bloomberg) -- James E. ``Jimmy'' Cayne helped make
Bear Stearns Cos. the mortgage king of the securities industry
by packaging home loans into bonds and selling them to clients
like Michael Vranos. Now Vranos, who manages $29 billion at
Ellington Management Group LLC, is cutting Cayne out of the
middle and buying mortgages on his own.

On Wall Street, they call that disintermediation, and it's
eating into almost $9 billion of fees that firms including New
York-based Bear Stearns earn from securitizing mortgages.
Instead of buying such bonds at markups of 1 percent or more,
hedge funds expect to make better returns by taking over bad
debts and pressing borrowers to pay up.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

ING to buy Korean asset manager Landmark

(Reuters) - It is buying Landmark from Morgan Stanley Private Equity,
Landmark's Chief Executive Hong Choi and Kyobo Life.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-China Mobile eyes biggest ever Shanghai listing

(Reuters) - SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, June 18 - China Mobile
, the world's largest cellular phone operator, is
planning a multibillion-dollar share sale in Shanghai as early as
next month to attract domestic investors, sources familiar with
the situation said on Monday.




It will likely be the biggest initial public offer of equity
ever in China's domestic markets, exceeding Industrial &
Commercial Bank of China's 46.6 billion yuan
Shanghai IPO last year, the banking sources said.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

New Zealand Dollar Gains Against Yen; Intervention Fails to Curb Demand

(Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar rose to a 19-
year high against the yen after central bank intervention failed
to halt the currency's gains.

The local dollar pared a decline of as much as 0.7 percent
against the Japanese and U.S. currencies as investors took
advantage of the retreat to buy the nation's higher-yielding
bonds and bills. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand sold its
currency this morning, said Danica Hampton, a currency
strategist at the Bank of New Zealand Ltd., which handled some
of the trades.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Microsoft to buy $12 mln stake in China TV maker

(Reuters) - The project will face challenges that have dogged several
such collaborations in the past, but the market is now more
mature and the deal gives Microsoft a foot in the door with a
potentially key player, said Sigurd Leung, head of IT research
at Beijing-based Analysys International.




"Changhong is a state-backed company, so for Microsoft to
get 1 percent is still quite significant," he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US Airways set to announce Airbus order: reports

(Reuters) - But The Wall Street Journal said US Airways was finalizing an order for as many as 30 jetliners, valued at $7 billion at list prices.




A spokesman for US Airways said he could not comment on the reports.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Gold, Silver Rise in Asia as Dollar's Decline Against Euro Boosts Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Gold in Asia rose for a fourth day
as a decline in the dollar boosted the appeal of the precious
metal as a hedge against the U.S. currency. Silver advanced.

The price of gold generally moves in the opposite direction
of the dollar which fell against the euro today ahead of U.S.
government reports this week that may show a slump in the
housing market.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

ICI, Pearson, Rolls-Royce, Ryanair, Sainsbury: U.K., Irish Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in U.K. and Irish markets today. Stock symbols are in parentheses
and prices are from the June 15 close.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index rose 82.50, or 1.2 percent, to
6732.40 in London. The FTSE All-Share Index rose 43.05, or 1.3
percent, to 3478.99.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

China's Stocks Rise to Record, Completing Rebound From Last Month's Rout

(Bloomberg) -- China's key stock index rose to a
record, having taken less than two weeks to rebound from a rout
that erased more than $400 billion of market value.

China Merchants Bank Co. and property developer China Vanke
Ltd. paced gains after policy makers held off from raising
borrowing costs to cool the stock market and the economy.
Premier Wen Jiabao last week said monetary policy needs
``moderate tightening,'' after official reports showed inflation
accelerated to a two-year high and money-supply growth stayed
above the central bank's target for a fourth straight month.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Sampoerna Agro's Shares Surge on Debut on Investors' Interest in Palm Oil

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of PT Sampoerna Agro, an
Indonesian oil palm grower controlled by billionaire Putera
Sampoerna, surged as much as 43 percent on their debut in
Jakarta amid rising investor interest in the commodity.

The company, based in Palembang, south Sumatra, raised 1.08
trillion rupiah ($120 million) selling 461.35 million new shares,
equivalent to a 24.4 percent stake, earlier this month, the
Jakarta Stock Exchange said in a statement. Sampoerna Agro has
said it plans to use the proceeds for expansion and cutting debt.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Malaysian Ringgit Climbs as Yuan May Spur Gains; Government Bonds Advance

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's ringgit rose for a third
day on speculation a strengthening yuan will help boost the
nation's exports to China, its fourth-largest export market.

The ringgit extended last week's gain, the biggest in more
than six months, after the yuan posted its largest advance since
a decade-old peg to the dollar was scrapped in July 2005. Bank
Negara Malaysia abandoned its own fixed-exchange rate within an
hour of that announcement. China widened the daily trading limit
of the yuan to 0.5 percent from 0.3 percent last month, allowing
faster gains to help reduce its trade surplus.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Yen Falls Versus Euro, Australian Dollar, Pound on Demand for Higher Yield

(Bloomberg) -- The yen fell to a record low against
the euro and a 15-year low against the Australian dollar on
speculation investors are borrowing the currency to increase
purchases of higher-yielding assets.

Japan's currency also reached a 19-year low against the New
Zealand dollar, before rebounding as traders said the Reserve
Bank of New Zealand intervened. Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko
Fukui on June 15 said policy makers need to examine more
economic data before raising interest rates from 0.5 percent,
encouraging investors to add to so-called carry trades.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Shenzhen Development Bank Sells Bonds to Raise $2 Billion to Boost Capital

(Bloomberg) -- Shenzhen Development Bank Co.,
controlled by buyout firm TPG Inc., will raise as much as 16
billion yuan ($2.1 billion) selling debt to replenish capital
that has dropped below a government-mandated minimum.

The bank will sell 8 billion yuan of subordinated bonds with
maturity of between five and 15 years and another 8 billion yuan
of hybrid bonds with maturity of at least 15 years, the Shenzhen-
based bank said in a statement to the city's exchange on Saturday.
The debt will be sold within 18 months upon shareholder approval.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Pakistan's Aziz Says Anti-Government Protests Won't Curb Economic Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat
Aziz said the biggest protests in his eight years in government
aren't serious enough to curb record overseas investment needed
to sustain economic growth.

``Despite some blips which happen in any developing country,
we have been vindicated because we have maintained our credit
ratings, investment flows and growth momentum,'' Aziz said in an
interview in Islamabad on June 17. ``The judiciary issue is a
serious matter, but 20,000 people demonstrating in a country of
160 million is not what we would call an uprising.''


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

South Korea Stocks Climb to Record; Brokerages Pace Gains in `Bull Market'

(Bloomberg) -- South Korean stocks climbed, pushing
the key index to a record. Brokerages jumped, led by Samsung
Securities Co., after Hyundai Securities Co. said investors will
put more money into equities, increasing demand for the companies'
services.

``Interest in local stocks is rising thanks to the market's
good performance,'' said Choi Chang Hoon, who helps manage $860
million at Woori Credit Suisse Asset Management Co. in Seoul.
``Brokerage stocks are likely to stick to their upward track for
the time being.''


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Japan government keeps view economy recovering

(Reuters) - Revised government data showed last week that Japan's economy
grew an annualised 3.3 percent in January-March, outperforming
both the United States and the euro zone for the second straight
quarter.




"The economy is recovering, despite weakness in some sectors
of industrial production," the government said in a monthly
report issued on Monday, reiterating the phrase it has used since
April.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Asian Stocks Advance for Third Day on U.S. Inflation; Toyota, Samsung Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose for a third day
after a measure of U.S. inflation cooled and the yen weakened
against the dollar and euro, helping improve earnings prospects
for the region's exporters.

Samsung Electronics Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. led gains
among technology companies and automakers. BHP Billiton Ltd.,
the world's No. 1 mining company, climbed after metals prices
advanced. China's CSI 300 Index opened 2.5 percent higher, set
for a record.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Sun to buy Friendly Ice Cream in $337 million deal

(Reuters) - The transaction is expected to close during the third
quarter of 2007.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE2-Dow Jones rival bid plan may include family-reports

(Reuters) - One option for GE and Pearson would be to allow the
Bancroft family to keep a 20 percent stake in the company,
reported the Financial Times, which is published by Pearson.




Selling Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, to
GE and Pearson, would be a better journalistic fit than News
Corp., but there is "no rush" to examine the plan, an
unidentified Bancroft family member told the Financial Times.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Asian Stocks Rise for Third Day on U.S. Inflation; Toyota, Samsung Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose for a third day
after a measure of U.S. inflation cooled and the yen weakened
against the dollar and euro, helping improve earnings prospects
for the region's exporters.

Samsung Electronics Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. led
technology companies and automakers higher. BHP Billiton Ltd.
climbed to a third straight record after metals prices advanced.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

South Korea's Stocks Gain to Record, Led by Samsung on U.S. Inflation Data

(Bloomberg) -- South Korean stocks climbed for the
third day. Samsung Electronics Co. led advances after U.S. core
prices rose less than expected, heightening speculation that
growth in the world's biggest economy won't stoke inflation.

The Kospi index advanced 13.17, or 0.7 percent, to a record
1785.43 as of 9:17 a.m. in Seoul. The Kosdaq gained 1.5 percent
to 812.51. Kospi 200 futures expiring in September added 0.8
percent to 227.65, while the underlying index climbed 0.7 percent
to 226.13.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Australian Stocks Rise, Led by BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto on Higher Metals

(Bloomberg) -- Australia's benchmark stock index,
the S&P/ASX 200 Index, rose 0.23 percent at 10:05 a.m.

The index of 202 companies traded on the Australian Stock
Exchange rose 14.60 to 6,308.40. Among the stocks in the index,
124 rose, 49 fell and 29 were unchanged.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Airbus Struggles to Sell New A350, End Nosedive Triggered by Superjumbo

(Bloomberg) -- Airbus SAS is running out of time.

Six months after unveiling its latest long-range 300-seat
jetliner -- the most lucrative part of the commercial plane
market -- the company has received only 13 firm orders for the
A350 XWB. Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner has 584.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average, Topix Index Rise; Toyota, Honda Lead Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average
rose 165.99, or 0.9 percent, to 18,137.48 at 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo.
The broader Topix index added 14.64, or 0.8 percent, to
1787.58.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. led the advances.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Taiyo Fund ups stake in Japan's Miraca Holdings

(Reuters) - The Taiyo Fund was organized in July 2003 with an initial
equity investment of $200 million by CalPERS, the California
Public Employees Retirement System.




The fund currently manages over $1.2 billion of assets and
is co-managed by Taiyo Pacific Partners LP and by WL Ross &
Co.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Wall Street Analysts Most Bearish Ever; Recommendations More Accurate, Too

(Bloomberg) -- Never in the history of Wall Street
have analysts been so bearish. The good news is they're also
getting it right more often, helping make investors richer by
betting against corporate America.

Thank the regulatory hammer of former New York Attorney
General Eliot Spitzer. In 2003 he forced 10 big firms to
separate investment banking from research to avoid the conflicts
of interest that tempted analysts to keep their reports upbeat.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Japan's Stocks May Rise, Led by Exporters, on Easing Inflation, Weaker Yen

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks may advance after a
report showed U.S. core consumer prices slowed, increasing
speculation Japan's biggest overseas market will expand without
adding to inflation.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker by market
value, and Canon Inc., which made almost one third of its revenue
in North America last year, may lead gains.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Lexicon Pharma in financing agreement with Invus

(Reuters) - Lexicon also said it agreed to a $60 million product
development collaboration with Symphony Capital Partners LP and
co-investors to move its first three drug candidates into
advanced clinical development.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Oil Trades Near Nine-Month High on Concern U.S. Fuel Stocks Are Inadequate

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed in New
York after rising to a nine-month high on concern gasoline
supplies are inadequate to meet peak summer demand.

Oil rose to the highest since September on July 15 after
Valero Energy Corp. shut a unit at its Corpus Christi,
Texas, refinery, paring gasoline production for the peak-demand
driving season. U.S. refineries reduced operating rates the past
three weeks, an Energy Department report on June 13 showed.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

GE reaches tentative labor agreements with unions

(Reuters) - The tentative agreements were reached Sunday after four weeks of bargaining between GE and the IUE-CWA and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America . Terms of the new contracts will be extended to nine other unions that have local contracts with GE.




GE's existing four-year national contracts with the IUE-CWA and the UE expire at midnight on Sunday. GE said the tentative new agreements will provide significant improvements in wages, pensions and benefits.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Energy, utilities power Foster Wheeler: Barron's

(Reuters) - Foster Wheeler's stock has soared almost 700 percent to a recent $107 from early 2005, Barron's said. The shares are trading at 18 times next year's estimates, about even with the broad market's price-earnings multiple and below the 22 times earnings of peers such as Fluor and Jacobs Engineering Group , Barron's said.




Read more at Reuters.com Business News

WEEKEAHEAD-Emerging debt may extend gains, Treasuries permitting

(Reuters) - Volatility should remain high, however, as bond prices
continue to track an unstable U.S. Treasury market, which saw
benchmark 10-year Treasury yields hit a five-year high of 5.3
percent last week.




Treasury yields retreated on Friday, as a
lower-than-expected core U.S. producer prices index reduced
inflation fears, clearing the way for a rally in
higher-yielding emerging markets assets.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Treasury Market Rout Is Muffled by Reserves, Tame Inflation, Derivatives

(Bloomberg) -- The steepest decline in Treasuries
since 2004 is convincing even the most bullish investors that
U.S. government bonds are now in a bear market.

Bill Gross, the manager of the world's biggest bond fund at
Pacific Investment Management Co., and Dan Fuss, whose Loomis
Sayles Bond Fund has been the best performer among its peers the
last decade, are preparing for higher market rates after yields
on 10-year Treasuries, the benchmark for home mortgages and
corporate borrowing, rose to a five-year high last week.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Boeing shifts green pressure onto engine makers

(Reuters) - "The questions you ask are more appropriately addressed by
the engine guys than the airframe guys," the chief executive of
Boeing's commercial plane unit said, when pressed on green
issues at a briefing with reporters in Paris on Sunday. "We're
pushing the engine guys as hard as anyone else."




Boeing, along with other manufacturers and airlines, has
come under the spotlight recently over the question of
emissions and fuel efficiency. The issue is set to play a
larger role than ever at the biannual Paris Air Show, which
starts on Monday.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

RPT-Wall St Wk Ahead: Healthy earnings outlook may lift stocks

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 17 - Signs of an improving economy
may have dashed hopes for an interest-rate cut, but the
potential for better profits may whet the appetite of stock
market investors this week.




If corporations signal that business conditions are looking
better for the rest of the year, analysts probably will ratchet
up earnings forecasts for the second half.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Shares in Dubai Advance, Led by Emaar; Dubai's Index Falls: Gulf Stocks

(Bloomberg) -- Stocks rose in Dubai, the United Arab
Emirates, led by Emaar Properties PJSC, the Middle East's largest
real-estate developer by market value. Abu Dhabi's measure fell.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index added 0.7 percent
to 4495.98 at 11:28 a.m. local time. The Abu Dhabi Securities
Market Index declined for the first time in four trading days,
losing 0.2 percent to 3614.63.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Israeli Bonds Rise on Interest-Rate Views, Easing Deflation Concern

(Bloomberg) -- Israel's benchmark Shahar bonds
advanced for a third day on expectations the central bank will
keep interest rates unchanged and bond markets regained some of
their losses after a rout in U.S. Treasuries.

Israeli debt prices rebounded from their lows this year as
Treasury yields dropped from a five-year high after a U.S.
government report suggested inflation is tame. Israeli consumer
prices will probably start to rise in June, easing deflation,
after the shekel lost as much as six percent of its value against
the dollar since the middle of May, economists say.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

ECI Telecom in talks to be acquired at $10/share

(Reuters) - ECI shares closed at $8.92 on Nasdaq on Friday.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News