US STOCKS-Futures fall on news of slow jobs growth

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U S. stock index futures fell
on Friday after a government report showing
weaker-than-expected job growth last month added to nervousness
on Wall Street about losses in the mortgage industry.




American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. was the
latest casualty of the housing market downturn. The company
said it plans to close most operations on Friday and lay off
nearly 7,000 employees. For details, see [ID:nN02455089].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Eight Atlantic hurricanes expected in '07: Storm team

(Reuters) - Of those, four would grow into major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher with winds over 110 mph , the team founded by forecast pioneer William Gray said in its revised forecast.




The updated forecast was lower than the team's May 31 forecast for the six-month storm season that runs through November 30, which had predicted 17 tropical storms, nine hurricanes and five major hurricanes.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Storm team expects 8 Atlantic hurricanes in '07

(Reuters) - MIAMI, Aug 3 - A noted hurricane research team at
Colorado State University trimmed its forecast for the 2007
Atlantic storm season on Friday and predicted 15 tropical
storms, with eight growing to hurricane strength.




Of those, four would grow into major hurricanes of Category
3 or higher with winds over 110 mph , the team founded
by forecast pioneer William Gray said in its revised forecast.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Mortgage sector worry, data lead market lower

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U S. stocks declined on Friday
on weaker-than-expected economic data and evidence the
mortgage market's problems are taking a wider toll on financial
company shares, including Bear Stearns Cos. Inc.




Standard & Poor's said it changed its ratings outlook on
Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns to negative from
stable, indicating there is a better chance of a downgrade over
the next two years. Two Bear Stearns-managed hedge funds
collapsed last month on bad bets on subprime mortgage
investments.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Wisconsin Energy unit files for $800 mln debt shelf

(Reuters) - Under a shelf registration filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, a company may sell securities in one
or more separate offerings with the size, price and terms to be
determined at the time of sale.





Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Mortgage fallout, economic data dent shares

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks fell on Friday
after a ratings agency gave investment bank Bear Stearns Cos.
a negative outlook, heightening worries about mortgage
market losses, and data suggested weakness in the economy.




Standard & Poor's said it changed its ratings outlook on
Bear Stearns, the biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds,
to negative from stable, indicating there is a better chance of
a downgrade over the next two years. For details, see
[ID:nN03300207].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

DaimlerChrysler completes Chrysler sale to Cerberus

(Reuters) - FRANKFURT, Aug 3 - DaimlerChrysler has completed the sale of an 80 percent stake in its U.S. arm, Chrysler, to a subsidiary of buyout group Cerberus Capital Management, it said on Friday.



The deal's closing had been delayed when bankers were forced to postpone a $12 billion syndicated loan to finance the transaction as lenders tightened access to cash in a nervous debt market.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Canada dlr has become more resilient to risk-RBC

(Reuters) - When uncertainty over the U.S. economy -- where the bulk of
Canada's exports go -- or the global economic outlook
increased, the Canadian dollar would tend to drop as a flight
to quality would offer a boost to the U.S. dollar.




But David Watt, a senior currency strategist at RBC Capital
Markets, said the currency remains a pro-cyclical, commodity
sensitive currency, yet the U.S. greenback's tendency to rally
during periods of heightened risk has diminished.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 3-EU executive sees no pan-EU fallout from IKB

(Reuters) - BRUSSELS, Aug 3 - The European Commission is
monitoring closely the multi-billion euro rescue of Germany's
IKB bank but sees no pan-European implications from
the problem, the European Union's executive said on Friday.




Officials working for Internal Market Commissioner Charlie
McCreevy, the bloc's top financial regulator, and for Economic
and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, are studying
the situation at IKB, a Commission spokesman said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

GLOBAL MARKETS-Credit fears bruise dollar, stocks; bonds rise

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - Renewed concerns over credit
liquidity and unexpectedly weak economic data hurt U.S. stocks
and the dollar, while safe-haven government bonds climbed on
Friday.




Tighter credit access worries resurfaced after Standard &
Poor's changed Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns'
ratings outlook, to "negative" from "stable."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Global stocks steady after earnings soothe credit nerves

(Reuters) - Almost two weeks of a sell-off in equity and credit markets stemmed from concerns that a fallout in the U.S. housing sector will trigger a broad repricing of risks in a market which enjoyed cheap money and high appetite for high-yielding assets.




But a string of forecast-beating results from major companies, including Allianz , Royal Bank of Scotland and British Airways on Friday, has helped soothe such concerns. Investors are keen to see U.S. jobs data due later in the day for more clues on the strength of the economy.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Dollar tumbles on renewed credit worries

(Reuters) - Weaker jobs growth and a soft U.S. service sector reading for July ignited the dollar's sell-off, while falls in equities led by financial stocks took the greenback further south.




"It's a sell U.S. day today," said Brian Dolan, director of currency research at Forex.com in Bedminster, New Jersey.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Oil tumbles below $76 on U.S. economic data

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a report showing weaker-than-expected job growth last month was followed by a report of slowing service-sector growth, rattling investors already nervous about losses in the mortgage industry.




The U.S. service sector grew much more slowly in July, according to a report by the Institute for Supply Management.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Workers at Vodacom halt strike

(Reuters) - Workers at South African mobile phone operator Vodacom have halted a strike around union recognition and pay, Vodacom said on Thursday.

The Communication Workers Union -- which has around 1,200 members -- went on strike last month after it said Vodacom had refused to recognise it on the grounds that it is too small.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Rand firm vs dollar, eyes Mboweni comments

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand was trading stronger early on Friday and could test its firmest levels of the week as markets eye U.S. payrolls data and comments by central bank Governor Tito Mboweni to parliament.

The domestic currency was changing hands at 7.05 to the dollar at 0630 GMT, versus its previous New York close of 7.09.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Gold edges higher on stabilising stock markets

(Reuters) - Gold edged higher on Friday as signs of stabilising equity markets encouraged investors to buy the metal, while a rise in the amount of bullion held by a key gold exchange traded fund to a record high lent support.

Spot gold was trading at $665.90/666.30 an ounce as of 0630 GMT, compared with $664.30/664.90 late in New York on Thursday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Furniture retailer Lewis says revenue up in four month period

(Reuters) - South African furniture retailer Lewis' said on Friday there was no overall deterioration in its credit book and revenue rose in the first four months of its financial year to end-July.

The retailer said revenue for the April to May period rose 11 percent, June revenue climbed 7 percent and July revenue gained 11 percent compared to the year-ago period.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Woolworths raises year earnings outlook

(Reuters) - South African fashion, food and homeware group Woolworths Holdings Ltd raised its outlook for full-year headline earnings per share on Friday, saying it expected an increase by as much as 30 percent.

Woolworths said it expected headline earnings and headline EPS -- the key profit measure for South African firms which excludes non-trading, capital and certain extraordinary items -- to rise by 20-30 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa's Mboweni warns on inflation, hints on rates

(Reuters) - South African central bank chief Tito Mboweni warned on Friday inflationary pressures were "more worrying", hinting interest rates may have to rise again in Africa's biggest economy.

The Reserve Bank governor told parliament's finance committee there was no other instrument to tame inflation except rates, referring to commercial bank reserve requirements and restrictions on credit providers.


Read more at Reuters Africa

US stock indexes flat after jobs data; ISM to come

(Reuters) - U S. stocks were little changed on Friday after a report showing weaker-than-expected job growth last month rattled investors already nervous about losses in the mortgage industry.

Investors were bracing for data on the vast U.S. services sector at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT).


Read more at Reuters Africa

Gold hits 1-week high as dollar drops on jobs data

(Reuters) - Gold jumped more than one percent to a one-week high on Friday as a fall in the dollar after lower-than-expected U.S. data on jobs growth prompted investors to buy bullion.

Gold rose as high as $671.25 an ounce and was quoted at $669.60/670.40 by 1423 GMT, against $664.30/664.90 in New York late on Thursday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Pamodzi starts Africa's largest private equity fund

(Reuters) - South African investment firm Pamodzi Investment Holdings has launched Africa's biggest private equity fund, the $1.3 billion Pamodzi Resources Fund, it said on Friday.

Pamodzi, a prominent black-owned investment group, said the fund is supported by a consortium of U.S. investors including affiliates of American Metals & Coal International, Inc. (AMCI) -- a leading international energy and resources sector investor.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Nymex Gas Falls as U.S. Has Ample Fuel Supply to Meet Hot-Weather Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Natural gas in New York fell as
traders ignored the probability that a heat wave in parts of the
nation would boost demand.

U.S. inventories increased 77 billion cubic feet, exceeding
analyst estimates of 74 billion, for the week ending July 27, the
Energy Department reported yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 1-Canada June building permits 2nd highest on record

(Reuters) - Analysts had expected permits to retreat by 9.8 percent in
June after double-digit growth the previous month had taken
them by surprise. Statscan revised upward the May increase to
23.2 percent from the 21.4 percent reported last month.




"The back-to-back performances point to very busy
construction sites in the coming months," Statscan said in its
report.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Jobs data show US economy strong-WH's Lazear

(Reuters) - He was speaking after data showed a less than expected 92,000
new U.S. jobs were created in July.




He also said that rising oil prices had only had a minimal
impact on growth, although he noted that high energy prices were
clearly a negative, and welcomed recent declines in the cost of
gasoline.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

UPDATE 2-Pace of Canada purchasing activity slows in July

(Reuters) - The index, the joint project of the Purchasing Management
Association of Canada and the Richard Ivey School of Business,
was 54.6 in July, down from 67.4 in June.




A reading of 50.0 indicates that activity remained flat
from the preceding month, while a higher reading indicates an
increase and a lower reading reflects a decrease.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

China's Bonds to Rally as Rate on Hold in 2007, Bank of China's Dong Says

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese government bonds, Asia's
worst performing, will rally as the central bank may refrain
from raising interest rates again this year, said Dong Dezhi, an
analyst at Bank of China, the nation's second-largest lender.

The People's Bank of China, which lifted its benchmark one-
year lending rate to 6.84 percent on July 20, probably won't
need another increase because inflation will slow in the second
half, Dong said in an interview from Shanghai. Banks have
started to rein in lending and will invest deposits in the bond
market, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Abandon Second Loan Offering for KKR Boots Buyout

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase &
Co. and six more banks canceled the sale of 1 billion pounds ($2
billion) of loans for Alliance Boots Plc after failing to find
investors, two people with direct knowledge of the deal said.

The underwriters withdrew the sale of second-lien loans,
debt that ranks after senior loans for repayment, said the
people, who declined to be identified because the discussions
are private. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s bankers, which last
month pulled 5 billion pounds of senior loans, will only
syndicate 750 million pounds of mezzanine debt, which ranks last
for repayment.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Corporate Bond Risk Rises After Bear Stearns Rating Outlook Cut by S&P

(Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning corporate bonds
rose in the U.S. and Europe, after Bear Stearns Cos., the
manager of two hedge funds that collapsed last month, had its
debt-rating outlook cut to negative by Standard & Poor's.

Contracts on $10 million of debt in the CDX North America
Investment-Grade Index of 125 companies rose $6,000 to $80,000,
according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. In London, the iTraxx
Crossover Series 7 Index of 50 European companies increased
10,000 euros to 405,000 euros, JPMorgan prices show. It traded
as low as 387,000 euros.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Aug 3

(Reuters) - * Mattel Inc.'s recall of lead-tainted toys
illustrates the potential risks firms face as they seek to
benefit from low-cost Chinese goods.




* Fiserv Inc. agreed to purchase CheckFree Corp.
for about $4.4 billion, in an effort to integrate its
account-processing and risk-management services with
CheckFree's electronic bill-payment services.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Carl Zeiss Meditec mulls counter bid for WaveLight

(Reuters) - Carl Zeiss Meditec said in a statement on Friday it had acquired a 5 percent stake in WaveLight, which makes refractive laser and diagnostic systems for refractive eye surgery, used to correct vision and increasingly used in lieu of glasses.



"At this point in time the acquisition of stock demonstrates that we have an interest in WaveLight in principle," Carl Zeiss Meditec investor relations director Jens Brajer said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

RBS sees June, July flood losses at 250 mln stg

(Reuters) - RBS Chief Executive Fred Goodwin said losses from July's
flooding would be "very similar" to June.




He declined to be drawn on the possible consequence for the
prices paid by RBS insurance customers, but said the group,
which owns brands including Direct Line and Churchill, would be
watching the market and moves by rivals.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

SABMiller $89 mln deal adds to Polish beer brands

(Reuters) - SABMiller, whose beers include Miller, Peroni and Castle, said the acquisition would help it keep pace with growing demand for its Polish subsidiary's beer adding that the deal was subject to approval from Polish competition authorities.



Browar Belgia brews Wojak, Gingers and Frater beers and has annual production capacity of more than 1 million hectolitres at its brewery in south east Poland.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

GE says to buy UniCredit's Polish banking unit

(Reuters) - U.S. conglomerate GE said in a statement its GE Money unit would acquire about 66 percent of the shares of the Polish bank for $854.9 million.



The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

P&G not looking at big acquisitions: execs

(Reuters) - Chief Financial Officer Clayt Daley said P&G is more likely to sell businesses rather than buy businesses right now. He also said this year's earnings would be more volatile quarter to quarter as the company works on restructuring and other projects, such as bringing out concentrated versions of its laundry detergents.




Daley also said that raw material and energy costs should be up again this year.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

P&G sees strategic buyers looking at sale assets

(Reuters) - CFO Daley also said that P&G may look at raising prices
given the higher than expected energy and raw material costs it
now expects for fiscal 2008.








Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Subprime Housing Defaults Blamed for Corporate America's Earnings Setbacks

(Bloomberg) -- Railroads, chemical producers and
insurance companies are blaming the worst U.S. housing slump in 16
years for their earnings woes.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the second-biggest U.S.
railroad, said lower shipments of housing products and lumber
reduced second-quarter earnings. DuPont Co., the third-largest
chemical maker, said slumping demand for kitchen and bathroom
countertops was partly responsible for its profit drop. Genworth
Financial Inc., the former insurance unit of General Electric Co.,
said earnings will be at the ``lower end'' of its forecast this
year as mortgage-insurance claims increase.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Lone Star Retreats on Knife Threat in Aborted Sale of South Korean Bank

(Bloomberg) -- It was two months into a strike at
Korea Exchange Bank's credit card unit, and some 200 employees
had been camped out for almost a week in tents and sleeping bags
in the basement parking lot of the company's Seoul headquarters.

At exactly 3:20 a.m. on Feb. 27, 2004, the strikers' mobile
phones tweeted simultaneously, indicating the arrival of a text
message, recalls Jang Wha Sik, a union leader. Half asleep, the
workers rubbed their eyes and grabbed their phones. Then many
burst into tears. ``The company regrets to inform you that you
are dismissed,'' the message from the card unit of Korea
Exchange Bank, owned by Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, read. The
firing was effective the following day.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

FCC's Martin May Fall Short of Spurring Wireless Internet Competition

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Communications Commission
Chairman Kevin Martin may fall short of his goal of spurring a
historic shakeup of the mobile-phone market when the U.S. sells
airwaves worth as much as $15 billion next year.

The FCC adopted rules this week that will let consumers use
any kind of phone or wireless-enabled laptop on some airwaves,
not just the devices approved by their phone company. People may
be able to take an iPhone for example, which now runs only on
AT&T Inc.'s network, and use it on this new spectrum regardless
of who wins the bidding.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

REFILE-NYSE-Euronext sells MBE Holding stake

(Reuters) - MBE holding, a joint venture between NYSE Euronext and Borsa
Italiana, owns 60.37 percent of MTS and MTSNext.




Borsa Italiana exercised an option to buy out Euronext's
stake in the Italian business, triggered by the merger between
the NYSE Group's New York Stock Exchange and
pan-European bourse operator Euronext.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

CCS Medical sees IPO of 10 mln shares at $14-$16 each

(Reuters) - The company said it had applied for a Nasdaq listing under
the symbol "CCSM."





Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Bank agency wants comments on "unfair" lending

(Reuters) - The OTS said it hopes to work with other federal regulatory banking agencies to maintain consistency in the interagency process to create a level playing field for financial institutions.




The proposal comes at a time when federal banking authorities, including the Federal Reserve, have been criticized for responding late to early clues to possible problems in the mortgage market for borrowers with poor credit history.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Dollar May Rise to 120.90 Yen on a Break of 119.49 on Fibonacci, MUFG Says

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar may rise to 120.90 yen
should it pass 119.49 yen in coming weeks, Masashi Hashimoto, a
currency analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., said.

Traders may accelerate buying of the U.S. currency as it
rises above so-called resistance at 119.49, which represents the
previous high set on July 31, near the conversion line on the
so-called ichimoku chart, Hashimoto said. The next resistance at
120.90 is a 50 percent reversal of the dollar's climb to a high
of 124.13 reached on June 22 from a low of 117.60 on Aug. 1,
based on the Fibonacci series of numbers.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

APEC Ministers Say Flexible Currencies Needed to Reduce Global Imbalances

(Bloomberg) -- Currency ``flexibility'' is needed to
reduce imbalances in the global economy, Asia-Pacific finance
ministers said today.

South Korean Finance Minister Kwon Okyu stepped up pressure
on Japan over the low value of the yen, which he says is
``deepening global imbalances.'' U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson, in Beijing this week, is facing demands from members of
Congress to compel China to allow faster gains in the yuan.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Dollar Declines Against Yen, Euro as U.S. Job Creation Trails Forecasts

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell against the yen and
euro after a government report showed the U.S. economy added
fewer jobs last month than economists forecasted and the
unemployment rate unexpectedly rose.

The U.S. dollar erased earlier gains against the 13-nation
currency as the data raised speculation a slump in the housing
market may spread to the broader economy. Traders boosted bets on
a reduction in interest rates by the Federal Reserve this year,
dimming the allure of dollar-denominated assets.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

BA profit rise beats forecasts

(Reuters) - Earnings before interest and taxes of 263 million pounds for the three months to end-June beat all forecasts ranging from 206 million to 237 million pounds in a Reuters Estimates poll of four analysts.




Europe's third-largest airline cited lower severance charges and pensions costs as well as a more favorable tax rate to explain the year-on-year gain.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Bear hedge fund sank as Merrill protected clients

(Reuters) - Recently filed court documents in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan reveal more details about the events that led to the collapse of two hedge funds run by Bear Stearns.




For example, the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund started performing poorly in early 2007, court papers show.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Toyota profit jumps on sales rise

(Reuters) - Toyota, the world's biggest and most profitable automaker, left its cautious annual forecasts unchanged, as expected.




The Japanese firm, valued at $215 billion -- more than 10 times the market capitalization of U.S. rival General Motors Corp. -- is on its way to a seventh straight year of record earnings, powered by a rapid expansion into developing markets such as China and Russia.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Copper May Drop in New York as Global Inventories Rise to One-Month High

(Bloomberg) -- Copper, little changed in New York,
may drop after global inventories of the metal rose to the
highest in almost a month, easing supply concerns.

Stockpiles in warehouses monitored by the London Metal
Exchange gained 2,225 metric tons, or 2.2 percent, to 105,650
tons, the highest since July 5. Before today, copper had gained
24 percent this year as LME inventories dropped 43 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Gold, Silver Rise as Lack of Higher U.S. Interest Rates May Erode Dollar

(Bloomberg) -- Gold and silver rose in New York on
speculation a slowing economy may keep the Federal Reserve from
raising U.S. interest rates, weakening the dollar and boosting
the appeal of precious metals as alternative investments.

Gold often moves in the opposite direction of the dollar,
which fell against the euro after a government report showed the
U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected last month. Before
today, the metal had gained 6 percent this year, while the euro
climbed 3.8 percent against the dollar.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News