Persian Gulf Oil-Tanker Rates May Stay Near Three-Month Low on Vessel Glut

(Bloomberg) -- The cost of shipping crude from the
Middle East to Asia, the world's busiest oil-tanker route, may
stay near a three-month low as an oversupply of ships competing
for cargoes negates a probable increase in demand.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all told
oil companies this week when they must have tankers in place to
collect crude from the region's ports next month, said Mathieu
Philippe, a shipbroker for Paris-based Barry Rogliano Salles. Any
resulting jump in demand may not be enough boost rates for the
next several days because of a glut of tankers, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Reuters Summit-Japan property outlook rosy; deals more complex

(Reuters) - SINGAPORE, June 27 - Mikihisa Hirai, president of
Atlas Partners Japan Ltd., should be giddy with excitement as
European and Middle Eastern clients are due to almost double
the size of his property funds to just over $800 million.




But Hirai knows he has his work cut out for him.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Oil Approaches $70 for First Time in Nine Months on Nigeria Strike Planss

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil in New York approached $70
a barrel for first time since September after Nigerian unions
planned a strike this week, threatening supplies from Africa's
biggest oil producer.

Oil production is likely to be affected during the strike as
Nigeria's two main oil unions plan to participate, a labor leader
said. Nigeria produces low-sulfur, or sweet, crude oil, prized by
U.S. refiners because of the high proportion of gasoline it
yields. New York oil reached a record $78.40 a barrel on July 14
on concern that Middle East unrest would cut oil shipments.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy 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

Oil Rises to Nine-Month High on Gasoline-Supply Concerns, Iranian Tensions

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose to a nine-month high
in New York on concern that U.S. refineries are failing to keep
up with growing gasoline demand, and after Iran said it isn't
willing to suspend its nuclear program.

Refineries operated at 89.2 percent of capacity last week,
the lowest since May 4 and the lowest utilization rate in 15
years for the second week in June, an Energy Department report
showed yesterday. Iran, the Middle East's second-largest producer
of crude oil, said its nuclear research is advancing. The U.S.
and its allies accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Greece Summons JPMorgan, North Asset to Inquiry in Pension Fund Bond Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Greek lawmakers are preparing to
question executives from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and hedge fund
North Asset Management after opposition legislators said they
overcharged pension funds that bought 280 million euros ($374
million) of government bonds.

Jakob Stott, JPMorgan's chief operating officer for Europe,
Middle East and Africa, and Louis Plowden-Wardlaw, the general
director of London-based North Asset Management, will appear
before the Parliament's standing committee on economic affairs
later today. Greek regulators are investigating how pension funds
bought the bonds at 100 percent of face value, when New York-
based underwriter JPMorgan sold the debt to North Asset at 92.95
percent hours before.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Islamic Nations to Boost Investment, Trade to Safeguard Economic Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Muslim countries will this week call
for greater foreign investment and trade between Asia-Pacific
and the Middle East to help safeguard economic growth and jobs.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his
counterparts from Indonesia and Kuwait, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
and Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, will join
investors at the three-day World Islamic Economic Forum in Kuala
Lumpur to discuss projects and investments to facilitate that.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News