European stocks extend losses on credit worries

(Reuters) - European stocks extended their losses late on Monday, dropping 1 percent in choppy trade on persistent worries over the crisis in the credit market while shares of oil giants dropped along with crude prices.

At 1503 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 1 percent, at 1,502.62, a level not seen since March.


Read more at Reuters Africa

HEADLINE STOCKS - U.S. stocks to watch on Aug 6

(Reuters) - Co-President and co-Chief Operating Officer Warren Spector
resigned from Bear Stearns on Sunday, a casualty of the credit
risk crisis at the investment bank. [ID:nN05330619]




Bear Stearns closed at $108.35


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Spectra Energy earnings dip on Canada woes

(Reuters) - Excluding discontinued operations and one-time items,
earnings were $192 million, down from $264 million a year
earlier, when the company was helped by a $30 million tax
gain.





Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Fortis wins initial approval for ABN purchase

(Reuters) - Fortis, Royal Bank of Scotland and Spain's Santander have offered 71 billion euros , mostly in cash, for the Netherlands' largest bank in a bidding war that has featured legal and stakeholder battles.




Approval by Fortis shareholders of its proposed purchase of ABN AMRO's Dutch operations and of a 13 billion euro rights issue needed to finance its part of the deal would give the RBS-led consortium a boost at a time when the rival Barclays bid is suffering from the decline of its share price.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

SkyePharma asthma drug may be delayed

(Reuters) - SkyePharma said the extra clinical work could delay the filing of Flutiform with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration until the second half of 2008 and could cost 3 million to 5 million pounds .




"We're talking to the FDA about how to address the particular point they've raised and it's going to depend on exactly what sort of clinical data they might need," Chief Operating Officer Ken Cunningham told Reuters.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Swiss Franc Climbs to Two-Year High Versus Dollar as Carry Trades Unwound

(Bloomberg) -- The Swiss franc rose to its highest in
more than two years against the dollar as investors sold riskier
assets, such as equities, and repaid loans taken out in the Swiss
currency.

The franc advanced against 14 of the 16 most-traded
currencies as stocks in Europe and Asia fell, following a drop in
benchmark U.S. equity markets last week. Traders unwound so-
called carry trades, where they borrowed the franc to buy higher-
yielding assets, on concern U.S. subprime mortgage losses will
erode economic growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Putin Favors Ruble Speculators Over Oligarchs in Battle Against Inflation

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan
to keep inflation from accelerating depends on favoring foreign-
exchange traders over the country's oil and gas companies.

Putin will probably allow the central bank to double the
ruble's pace of appreciation this year because he has few options
outside the foreign exchange market to rein in consumer prices,
according to strategists at Bank of America Corp. and UBS AG.
Russia's 8.5 percent inflation rate is three times faster than
any other Group of Eight country.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

U.K. Shares Including SkyePharma Fall; Daily Mail, Imperial Chemical Rise

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks including SkyePharma Plc
declined after the drug-formulation company said its U.S.
application for an asthma medicine may be delayed.

Daily Mail and General Trust Plc rose. Morgan Stanley
advised investors to buy shares in the publisher of the U.K.'s
Daily Mail newspaper following a slump in the past three months.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

S.Africa won't impose windfall tax on synfuel firms

(Reuters) - South Africa's National Treasury said on Monday the country will not impose a windfall tax on synthetic fuel producers such as Sasol and PetroSA.

"(The) government has also decided not to proceed with a tax on the windfall profits earned by existing synthetic fuel producers in the interest of a conducive environment for additional investments in domestic fuel security," the National Treasury said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters Africa

FACTBOX: Why oil prices are at a record high

(Reuters) - FUNDS




Investment flows from pension and hedge funds into commodities including oil have resumed in recent months after a hiatus earlier in the year due to concerns about how the global economy was moving.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Polish Central Bank Governor Sees No Reason to Increase Interest Rates Now

(Bloomberg) -- The Polish central bank has no need
to raise interest rates because there is currently little threat
from inflation, central bank Governor Slawomir Skrzypek said.

Inflation, wage and industrial output data are likely to
confirm ``there is still no reason to enter a cycle of interest
rate increases,'' Skrzypek said in an interview with daily
Gazeta Prawna, published today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Spread on Japan Bonds May Indicate Stocks Will Drop Further, JPMorgan Says

(Bloomberg) -- A widening spread between the interest
Japanese corporate and government bonds pay may indicate that the
stock market may have more room to fall, according to JPMorgan
Chase & Co.

Corporate borrowing costs are measured against the so-called
risk-free yields of government debt. The larger the difference is
between yields, or spread, the higher the perceived risk is of
the borrower defaulting.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

France's CAC 40 Index Erases 2007 Gains; Renault and PPR Lead the Decline

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks declined, with the
benchmark CAC 40 Index erasing this year's gains. Renault
SA, the country's second-largest carmaker, PPR SA, the
owner of Gucci Group, paced the retreat.

The CAC 40 dropped 62.49, or 1.1 percent, to 5535.40
as of 9:12 a.m. in Paris, taking its performance this year
to a loss of 0.1 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Sappi says Q3 earnings per share at U.S 23 cts

(Reuters) - At 0715 GMT, Sappi was trading 2.24 percent lower at 109
rand, with the JSE blue-chip top 40 index 1.75 percent
weaker.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Saudi Aramco Raises Heavy Variety Crude Prices for Asia to 26-Month High

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Aramco, the world's largest
state oil company, raised September prices of its heavy crude
oil varieties for Asian customers to a 26-month high as
refining profit from making fuel oil gained.

Arab Medium grade's discount to benchmark varieties was
narrowed by 50 cents to $1.35 a barrel and Arab Heavy's
differential was reduced by 70 cents to $3.60 a barrel, said
three Asian officials who asked not to be identified, citing
confidentiality. The two grades yield more fuel oil.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Shanghai copper tumbles 3 percent on risk worries

(Reuters) - Shanghai copper futures fell 3 percent on Monday, following losses in London and jitters in equity and other commodities markets on concerns about the U.S. economy.

Confidence in global markets, including commodities and equities, has been seriously dented by the continuing crisis in the U.S. subprime mortgage sector.


Read more at Reuters Africa

PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Aug 6

(Reuters) - * Bear Stearns Cos. co-president quit, becoming
Wall Street's highest-profile casualty in the subprime-lending
fiasco.




* ICI reached a tentative deal to be taken over by
Akzo Nobel and Henkel for $16 billion.
The chemical and paint maker had rejected Akzo's earlier
offers.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Pound May Fall as Traders Trim Bets Bank of England Will Raise Rates Again

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. pound may fall as investors
lower expectations the Bank of England will raise interest rates
again this year.

Interest-rate futures trading shows investors have scaled
back their forecasts for how high the U.K. central bank will lift
rates on concern borrowing costs at a six-year high of 5.75
percent will begin to slow economic expansion. A report today may
show industrial production growth slowed in June.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

TREASURIES-Extend gains in Asia, market eyes Fed

(Reuters) - "Yields of Treasuries have fallen sharply, but investors
don't seem to be cautious about prices going too high amid
safe-haven rallies," said Ryuji Shimazu, a market analyst at
Shinko Securities.




"Market players seem to be building positions for possible
Fed rate cuts in the future."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

ICI, Sainsbury, Morgan Sindall, Standard Life: U.K., Irish Stock 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 yesterday's market close.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index lost 76.00, or 1.2 percent, to
6224.30. The FTSE All-Share Index declined 34.49, or 1.1 percent,
to 3223.84.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

JGBs surge on Treasury gains due to subprime woes

(Reuters) - Such concerns battered U.S. stocks late last week, when
Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite Index
on Friday posted their worst one-day percentage drops
since a global sell-off in equities in late February.




"JGBs are at the mercy of external factors," said Tetsuya
Miura, bond strategist at Shinko Securities.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Taiwan Government Bonds Climb as Stock Losses Spur Demand; Currency Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan's 10-year government bonds
advanced on speculation a decline in stocks prompted investors to
seek the safety of debt's fixed income. The currency weakened.

Yields, which move inversely to prices, were the lowest in
three weeks on concern defaults on U.S. subprime mortgages are
spreading to the broader economy. Regional equity markets fell,
with the island's Taiex index of shares dropping as much as 2.1
percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Singapore Dollar to Rise 10 Percent to Record $1.38, BNP Paribas Predicts

(Bloomberg) -- The Singapore dollar may rise 10
percent to a record in a year as an influx of tourists and
bankers supports economic growth, BNP Paribas SA said.

The currency may reach S$1.38 per dollar by June 30, passing
the record of S$1.3835 reached in 1995, as the Monetary Authority
of Singapore seeks gains to curb inflation, said Thio Chin Loo,
senior foreign-exchange strategist in Singapore at France's
largest bank by market value.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions

(Reuters) - --World markets face a nervous start to the week following
the plunge in stocks in the United States on Friday as concerns
mounted about fallout from the US mortgage market turmoil. The
late sell-off in New York followed comments by the chief
financial officer of Bear Stearns , who said credit
markets were as bad as he had seen in 22 years.




--Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe,is expected to
reshuffle his cabinet and convene an extraordinary session of
parliament at the end of the month to try to keep his job after
his party's trouncing in upper house elections.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Samsung Electronics, Exporters, Oil-Dependents: South Korea Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following shares may rise or fall
in South Korea. Prices refer to the previous close. This preview
includes news announced after markets shut yesterday. Stock
symbols are in brackets after the company names.

The Kospi index rose 1.3 percent to 1,876.80. The Kosdaq rose
1.6 percent to 798.86. Kospi 200 futures expiring in September
increased 1 percent to 236.00, while the underlying index rose 1.3
percent to 236.91.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Fed's Bernanke May Alter Rhetoric, Not Interest Rates After Market Turmoil

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S.
Bernanke may respond to the latest squall in financial markets
the same way he did when turbulence hit four months ago: with a
change in words rather than policy.

Bernanke and his colleagues may suggest after their
meeting tomorrow that the risks to economic growth have
increased following the rout in stock and credit markets -- just
as they did after their March meeting.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Bear Stearns co-president Spector resigns: WSJ

(Reuters) - Citing a person familiar with the matter, the Journal said directors agreed that Alan D. Schwartz will for now be sole president of Bear.




The article also said that Samuel Molinaro, the firm's longtime chief financial officer, will assume the role of chief operating officer and that Jeffrey Mayer, co-head of fixed income, will take Spector's seat on the executive committee.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

ABN, RBS consortium say to continue takeover talks

(Reuters) - "ABN AMRO and the consortium have agreed to continue the constructive dialogue to resolve any outstanding questions regarding the offer of the consortium for ABN AMRO, and to maintain a level playing field," ABN and the RBS-led consortium said in a joint statement.




RBS , together with its partners Belgian-Dutch Fortis and Spain's Santander , is battling against Barclays to buy ABN in what would be the biggest ever bank takeover. Barclays' offer is worth about 65 billion euros.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

BA execs to be named in price fixing probe: report

(Reuters) - "These executives could be prosecuted in the criminal courts in the U.S.," it said.




Two BA executives were identified when they resigned last October -- former commercial director Martin George and former public relations boss Iain Burns -- although no wrongdoing by either has been announced.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Dubai's Istithmar raises Barneys bid to $900 mln

(Reuters) - "If this offer is not accepted, Istithmar is entitled to our break-up fee of $22.7 million," Istithmar said in a statement.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Court will wait to rule on CBOT rights

(Reuters) - CME Group Inc., the world's largest futures exchange, was created with the merger of CBOT Holdings Inc. and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. in July. The CBOE is the largest U.S. options market.




The exercise rights allow full members of the Chicago Board of Trade to trade options on CBOE without owning CBOE membership.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

U.S. Senate report faults SEC on hedge fund probe

(Reuters) - The report from the Senate Finance and Senate Judiciary
committees, released late on Friday, ends a year-long inquiry
into the dismissal of former SEC staffer Gary Aguirre.




Aguirre says he was forced out of the agency after a probe
he was leading got too close to prominent Wall Street banker
John Mack. His claims prompted three Senate hearings and drew
heavy press coverage.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Panic-buying as S.African petrol wage talks resume

(Reuters) - A six-day-old strike by South African fuel workers caused petrol shortages and panic-buying on Saturday when wage talks resumed.

Motorists were queuing up to 30 minutes to fill up at the few petrol stations that had not run dry.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Wells Fargo, other US lenders curb mortgage loans

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co, Wachovia Corpand other lenders are limiting mortgages to some of their more creditworthy borrowers as worries about U.S. homeowner defaults widen.

Wells Fargo, the second-largest U.S. mortgage lender, said it is curtailing issuance of "Alt-A" home loans through brokers, while Wachovia has stopped entirely. Wachovia also said one lending unit has temporarily halted its Alt-A production.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Colombia's Argos wants fair price for Andino unit

(Reuters) - It is the first time that the Chavez government has
nationalized a Colombian company as part of the president's
self-styled socialist revolution.




"We hope to to get a fair price from the Venezuelan
government," a statement from Argos said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US STOCKS-Wall St tumbles on credit worries after Bear talks

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks slid sharply on
Friday after Bear Stearns said credit markets were in their
worst shape in two decades, while jobs data aroused further
concerns about weakness in the economy.




Bear Stearns Cos. stock fell 6 percent after the
comments from its chief financial officer, which exacerbated
mortgage jitters and drove the three major indexes down more
than 2 percent in a broad market sell-off.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Indexes end down sharply on credit fears

(Reuters) - All three indexes dropped more than 2 percent. For the
week, the Dow was down 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 was down 1.8
percent and the Nasdaq was down 2 percent.




Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones
industrial average fell 284.84 points, or 2.12 percent,
to unofficially end at 13,178.49. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index was down 39.39 points, or 2.68 percent, to finish
unofficially at 1,432.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index
was down 64.73 points, or 2.51 percent, to close unofficially
at 2,511.25.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Berkshire Hathaway 2nd-qtr profit rises 33 pct

(Reuters) - Operating profit, excluding gains from investments and derivatives, rose 22 percent to $2.51 billion, or $1,625 per share, from $2.05 billion, or $1,331.




Analysts on average had expected profit of $1,460 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Chicago bidder for Cubs has powerful group-sources

(Reuters) - John Canning Jr., chairman of Madison Dearborn Partners and
owner of an 11 percent stake in the Milwaukee Brewers baseball
team, has formed a bidding group of which he would be a
controlling partner, the sources said.




The Cubs are being sold by media group Tribune Co
and analysts have said a deal for the club, Wrigley Field and
cable assets could top $1 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Citigroup muni chief to serve as next MSRB chairman

(Reuters) - Chin has headed Citigroup's public finance department since
1993. He will succeed John Lawlor, who runs the municipal
markets group at Merrill Lynch & Co. .




O'Brien has been a national syndicate manager at Morgan
Stanley's tax-exempt department since 1996. He will succeed
James Rogers, chief operating officer of J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L.
Lyons, Inc.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Death toll rises from Minneapolis bridge collapse

(Reuters) - Rescuers spent an entire day extracting the fifth fatality
from under mounds of debris, Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack
said. He said another victim had died in a hospital, but the
local coroner did not confirm either death.




"It took 20 people all day to get the person out. There was
tons of debris," Clack said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Mortgage fallout, economic data weigh on Wall St

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks fell on Friday, as
worries about mortgage losses deepened after a ratings agency
cut its outlook on investment bank Bear Stearns Cos.'
debt, 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

US credit derivative index wider in nervous market

(Reuters) - "Headlines are driving the market; it still feels very
jittery, very nervous," said Arthur Tetyevsky, chief U.S.
credit strategist at HSBC in New York.




"We're still substantially wider than where we were a
couple of weeks back but the chaotic trading we saw early on in
the week seems to be fading a little bit," Tetyevsky said.
"We've really recovered a lot of the widening this week and
it's been a rollercoaster week."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Rising fears of mortgage losses drive indexes down

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks slid sharply on
Friday, with fears about mortgage losses intensifying after
Bear Stearns' chief financial officer said
fixed-income market turmoil was worse than the Internet
bubble, and as jobs data suggested weakness in the economy.




Bear Stearns' shares fell 6 percent as mortgage jitters
drove a sell-off among financial shares. Earlier, Standard &
Poor's changed its ratings outlook on the investment bank, the
biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds, to "negative" from
"stable."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

KDP expands research offerings into leveraged loans

(Reuters) - But the leveraged loan market is not going away and
investors will now be hungrier for information about the
quality of these securities, KDP President Kingman Penniman
said.




"The loan market since 2003 has quadrupled almost every
year and is now the same size as the high-yield bond market,"
Penniman said. "There's a lot of paper out there and will
continue to be."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Charter, Ditech, Health Management, Washington Post: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Share prices are as of 2:40 p.m. in New York.

Alkermes Inc. (ALKS US) rose the most since August 2004,
climbing $2.21, or 15 percent, to $16.99. The maker of a once-
monthly injection to treat alcoholism reported profit of 8 cents
a share in the fiscal first quarter. That beat the 4-cent average
estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Telcos pick up pace of video expansion

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - Top U.S. telecom carriers are attracting more subscribers to their nascent video services, with Verizon Communications Inc. finally gaining a critical mass to compete against cable rivals. While still losing customers to cable companies -- which made a head start in offering all-in-one "bundles" of video, Internet and phone services -- AT&T Inc. and Verizon are fighting back, the latest quarterly earnings reports showed. Verizon added 167,000 subscribers to its FiOS TV service in the second quarter, taking the total to 515,000, according to its quarterly report on Monday. That compared with 141,000 additions in the first quarter and showed that the roll-out, which began in September 2005, was picking up momentum.



"They're gaining a critical mass of subscribers," said A.G. Edwards analyst Kent Custer, adding that investors were more supportive now of the high cost of the all-fiber-optic network that Verizon is building. "The proof is in the pudding now."


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Wells Fargo, Wachovia Reduce Home-Mortgage Lending Amid `Credit Crunch'

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. mortgage lenders including Wells
Fargo & Co. and Wachovia Corp. are raising rates and imposing
stricter standards on some of their most creditworthy borrowers as
slumping demand in the mortgage bond market chokes off funding.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, the second-biggest U.S. home
lender, stopped issuing Alt-A loans through brokers, made to
borrowers with near-prime credit ratings or prime borrowers who
don't document income. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia,
the fourth-largest U.S. bank, also stopped making Alt-A loans
through brokers and smaller lenders and curtailed some adjustable
rate mortgages, spokeswoman Christy Phillips-Brown said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

MBK Offers to Buy C&M for $3.2 Billion in Korea's Biggest LBO, Bankers Say

(Bloomberg) -- MBK Partners Ltd., the South Korean
private equity group founded by former Carlyle Group executives,
offered 3 trillion won ($3.2 billion) for cable-TV operator C&M,
said two bankers who were asked to provide financing.

The Seoul-based buyout company wants to borrow as much as 2
trillion won to pay for closely held C&M, South Korea's second-
biggest cable-TV operator, said the bankers, who declined to be
identified because the bid hasn't been disclosed. The purchase
would include New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s 30.5
percent stake, they said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Aug 3

(Reuters) - * China's high-profile investment in the Blackstone Group
LP has produced an unusual backlash within China as
shares in the equity firm have dropped steeply since it went
public in June.




* Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. , the video
game publisher, said on Thursday that it was postponing the
release of the latest game in its wildly popular Grand Theft
Auto series. The delay is likely to have ripple effects on the
broader video game industry during its crucial holiday selling
season.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Investors Bancorp, Summit Federal announce merger deal

(Reuters) - This will be followed by the merger of Summit Federal
Savings Bank into Investors Savings Bank, with Investors
Savings Bank surviving.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

REFILE-UPDATE 2-Bear Stearns, brokers debt protection costs rise

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - The cost to insure the debt of
Bear Stearns Cos. jumped on Friday after Standard &
Poor's changed its outlook on the investment bank's debt to
negative, indicating it is more likely to be cut over the next
one to two years.




Recent developments, including problems at some of Bear
Stearns' managed hedge funds, have the potential to hurt the
company's performance for an "extended period," S&P said in a
statement. For details, see [ID:nN03300207]


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Telus to abandon BCE pursuit: report

(Reuters) - BCE, which is Canada's largest telecommunications group, has accepted an offer worth C$34.8 billion from a group including the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan.




Since pulling out of bidding, Telus had been lobbying regulators and meeting the Canadian Competition Bureau, hoping to get some guidance before BCE held its shareholder vote, the paper reported, citing unnamed sources.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

IKB subprime shockwaves continue to rattle Germany

(Reuters) - German commercial property financier Hypo Real Estate struggled to calm jittery investors by insisting it would be unaffected by the U.S. subprime fallout.




Its shares skidded more than 6 percent while Commerzbank -- which owns a property financier -- saw its stock fall over 4 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Dollar tumbles on credit worries

(Reuters) - The slowest rate of job growth since February and a deterioration in a U.S. service sector index for July triggered the dollar's sell-off, while declines 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

Bear Stearns says S&P outlook change unwarranted

(Reuters) - "S&P's specific concerns over issues relating to certain hedge funds managed by are unwarranted as these were isolated incidents and are by no means an indication of broader issues at Bear Stearns," the company said.




S&P earlier on Friday changed its outlook on Bear's debt to "negative" from "stable," which means it is more likely to cut Bear's ratings over the next year or two.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Brazilian company to rebuild crucial Angola dam

(Reuters) - Brazilian company Odebrecht is set to rebuild a crucial hydroelectric dam in Angola, raising hopes that foreign investment will boost an electricity industry battered by civil war, a state official said on Thursday.

The $158 million, 20-month project approved by the Angolan cabinet on Wednesday, has raised hopes that businesses in the southern region stand to benefit from investment.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa's c.bank governor says household debt costs to bite

(Reuters) - South Africa's central bank Governor Tito Mboweni warned on Friday that rising debt services costs were going to bite, and repeated calls for consumers to be careful about acquiring credit.

Official data last week showed growth in demand for credit by South Africa's private sector quicked to 24.92 percent year-on-year in June from 24.84 percent, hardening the case for higher interest rates later this month.


Read more at Reuters Africa

India Tata Steel to buy 35 pct in Mozambique project

(Reuters) - India's top private steel maker Tata Steel Ltd. said on Friday it would spend A$100 million to buy a 35 percent stake in a Mozambique coal project run by Australia's Riversdale Mining Ltd..

Tata Steel, which bought Anglo-Dutch Corus for $12.9 billion this year to become the world's sixth-largest steel maker, said it would source coking coal from the project for Corus' plants in the U.K. and Europe, and for Tata's Indian units.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa artisans' union gets coal strike permission

(Reuters) - South African union Solidarity has received a certificate that allows it to launch a strike in the coal mining industry, the union said on Friday.

South African coal industry sources said that because Solidarity represents artisans or skilled workers, a strike by Solidarity would be likely to have more impact on coal production than that by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) which represents mostly unskilled workers.


Read more at Reuters Africa

July job growth slowest since February

(Reuters) - In another sign of slowing growth, the Institute for Supply Management reported signs of a weakening service sector as its index of July activity fell to 55.8 from 60.7 in June. Any reading over 50 indicates growth.




Problems in the housing sector, where lenders are encountering difficulties with rising mortgage defaults and prices are declining in many metro markets, appeared to spread into hiring as construction businesses cut jobs.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic 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 Market News

RBS profits up 11 percent

(Reuters) - The bank said income grew 8 percent to 14.7 billion pounds and costs as a percentage of revenue improved to 41.4 percent from 41.9 percent.




Profits in its U.S. banking arm Citizens fell 7 percent in sterling terms to 752 million pounds, but operating profit was up 2 percent before the impact of the weak dollar.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Jean Coutu reports fourth-quarter loss

(Reuters) - TORONTO, Aug 3 - Canadian drug store chain Jean Coutu Group reported a loss for its fourth quarter on Friday as charges related to the sale of its U.S. network to Rite Aid Corp. hurt results. The company said it had a loss of $6.9 million, or 3 cents a share, in the quarter. That is down from a profit of $30.3 million, or 12 cents a share, in the same period last year.



Jean Coutu closed the sale of its U.S. Brooks and Eckerd chains to Rite Aid in early June for $2.36 billion in cash and and 250 million shares of Rite Aid.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Fortis EPS hurt by Terasen purchase

(Reuters) - The company said it earned C$41.5 million ,
or 27 Canadian cents a share diluted, for the quarter ended
June 30, compared with C$37.9 million, or 35 Canadian cents a
share, for the same quarter last year.




The company said its May acquisition of British
Columbia-based natural gas distributor Terasen, which it funded
partially with a C$1.15 billion common share issue, diluted its
profit on an earnings per share basis.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 2-Costs, charges drag Telus profit down 29 pct

(Reuters) - TORONTO, Aug 3 - Telus Corp. , Canada's No.
2 phone company, said on Friday that second-quarter profit sank
29 percent as costs of a new billing system, the introduction
of wireless number portability and the failed launch of the
Amp'd Mobile service combined to hurt results.




Net earnings declined to C$253.1 million ,
or 75 Canadian cents a diluted share, from a profit of C$356.6
million, or C$1.02 a share, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Asian Fish, Tainted With Drugs, Slip Past U.S. Inspectors, States Discover

(Bloomberg) -- Joseph Basile, an Alabama state
scientist, drops a frozen catfish filet into an industrial food
processor and pulverizes it into a fluffy white powder.

The grinding in a laboratory in Montgomery is part of a test
of imported seafood for drugs that U.S. regulators say can cause
cancer or increase resistance to antibiotics. Alabama officials
have reported finding banned medicines missed by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration in seafood from China, Vietnam and other
Asian countries.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Polish Zloty Set for Weekly Gain as Investors' Appetite for Risk Revives

(Bloomberg) -- The Polish zloty was poised for a
weekly gain, advancing to an eight-day high against the euro as
investors regained their appetite for emerging-market assets.

Investors resumed buying stocks and higher-yielding
currencies such as the zloty, the Turkish lira and the South
African rand as concern abated that losses on U.S. subprime
mortgages would slow global economic growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Democrats Split U.S. Power Industry in Drive to Promote Renewable Energy

(Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has split
the nation's largest utilities such as American Electric Power
Co. from their government-owned counterparts in a drive for votes
to mandate more renewable energy.

The Democratic proposal to force publicly traded power
companies to get 15 percent of their supplies from wind, solar
and other renewable sources by 2020 is likely to have only a
narrow margin if it succeeds. The House may vote on the plan as
soon as today. A similar measure that failed in the Senate in
June included municipal utilities, rural cooperatives and
government power agencies that are excluded from the new bill.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Gazprom, Belarus still in gas talks as deadline slips

(Reuters) - If the dispute escalates further, it has the potential to
disrupt gas supplies to Europe.




"Beltransgas's delegation arrived for talks yesterday, the
talks were held in the night and are still continuing. Gazprom
will give information on the first results at around 1100 ," a Gazprom spokesman told Reuters.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Futures turn negative on employment report

(Reuters) - Investors were bracing for data on the vast U.S. services sector at 10 a.m. ET.




Financial companies' shares were dragging after American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. said it plans to close most operations on Friday and lay off nearly 7,000 employees.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Bonds rise as jobs come in on the soft side

(Reuters) - Benchmark 10-year notes rose 3/32 in price for
a yield of 4.76 percent from 4.77 percent late Thursday.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

GLOBAL MARKETS-US jobs data hit stocks, dollar, boost bonds

(Reuters) - LONDON, Aug 3 - Stocks and the dollar fell while
safe-haven government bonds rallied on Friday after
weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data fanned concerns about a U.S.
economy already struggling with credit liquidity fears.




U.S. stock futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street
while European stocks moved deeper in negative territory
after data showed U.S. employers boosted payrolls in July at the
slowest pace since February, adding 92,000 jobs.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Germany's DAX Falls; Hypo Real Estate, Depfa Drop; Deutsche Post Advances

(Bloomberg) -- German stocks fell, led by Hypo Real
Estate Holding AG, on speculation the commercial property lender
may be affected by losses in the U.S. subprime mortgage market.

Deutsche Post AG advanced after the company reported
earnings that beat analyst estimates.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News