Australian Wool Prices Fall to Lowest in Six Months on China Import Halt

(Bloomberg) -- Wool prices in Australia, the
world's biggest producer and exporter of the fiber, fell to
their lowest in more than six months after China's government
stopped taking applications for imports.

Benchmark prices fell 33 cents, or 3.6 percent, to A$8.96 a
kilogram ($7.71) today on the Eastern Market Indicator, David
Cother, wool services manager at the Australian Wool Exchange,
said from Sydney. That's the lowest since Jan. 10. Sales resumed
today after a three-week Southern Hemisphere winter recess.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Tunisia Central Bank, Kingboard, Hong Long, Sri Lanka: Asia Bond Alert

(Bloomberg) -- PT Mobile-8 Telecom, an Indonesian
mobile-phone operator that counts Qualcomm Inc. as an investor,
and Hong Long Holdings Ltd., a Chinese developer, are among
borrowers seeking to sell at least $5.6 billion of bonds in Asia,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Governments and companies in Asia sold $43.8 billion of
debt denominated in dollars, euros and yen this year, up from
$38.2 billion a year earlier, Bloomberg data show. Sales of
Samurai bonds, yen debt sold by foreign entities in Japan, rose
to 1.4 trillion yen ($11.8 billion), from 741 billion yen in the
whole of 2006.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Copper Falls to 1-Week Low on Signs Slowing U.S. Growth Will Curb Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Copper futures fell in New York on
concern that an economic slowdown in the U.S., the second-
largest consumer of the metal, will curb demand.

Orders for durable goods excluding transportation equipment
in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in June for a second month, the
Commerce Department said today. Sales of existing homes in June
fell for a fourth month, a report showed yesterday. Copper, used
in homes, appliances and cars, has declined 12 percent since
reaching a record in May 2006 as demand waned in the U.S.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Graco second-quarter earnings rise

(Reuters) - Sales rose 6 percent to $231.4 million.




Analysts on average, had expected the company to earn 61
cents a share, excluding exceptional items, on revenue of
$225.26 million, according to Reuters Estimates.



Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Microsoft profit up on Office, swallows Xbox charge

(Reuters) - Microsoft also slightly raised full-year earnings and revenue forecasts citing demand for new software products like its Windows Server 2008.




The company said on Thursday net profit was $3.04 billion, or 31 cents per diluted share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, up from $2.83 billion, or 28 cents per diluted share, a year earlier. Sales rose 13 percent to $13.4 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Harley-Davidson net up but hints at production cut

(Reuters) - Sales rose 17.7 percent to $1.62 billion.




Analysts, on average, had expected the Milwaukee-based company to earn $1.13 a share on sales of $1.64 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

BB&T second-quarter profit rises

(Reuters) - The Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based company said net income rose to $458 million, or 83 cents per share, from $429 million, or 79 cents a share, a year earlier.



Excluding items, operating profit rose to $461 million, or 83 cents per share, from $430 million, or 79 cents a share.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-BB&T profit up 7 pct, record fees offset bad loans

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 19 - BB&T Corp , a large U.S. Southeast bank, said on Thursday second-quarter profit rose 7 percent, matching analysts' forecasts, as record fee-based revenue helped offset increased loan losses.



The Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based company said net income rose to $458 million, or 83 cents per share, from $429 million, or 79 cents, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Shoprite Holdings Full-Year Sales Rise 16 Percent on Consumer Spending

(Bloomberg) -- Shoprite Holdings Ltd., South Africa's
second-largest grocer, said annual sales gained 16 percent after
faster economic growth boosted consumer spending.

Sales in the 12 months through June 30 reached 38.9 billion
rand ($5.6 billion), compared with the year earlier, Cape Town-
based Shoprite said in a stock exchange statement today. Revenue at
the main Shoprite brand increased 14 percent while the Checkers
chain advanced 15 percent, the company said.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Grainger posts higher quarterly profit

(Reuters) - Analysts had expected earnings of $1.19 a share, according
to Reuters Estimates.




Sales at the company, which sells such items as lighting,
motors and janitorial supplies needed by contractors and
facility managers to run their buildings, rose to $1.6 billion
from $1.48 billion. Wall Street was expecting $1.59 billion.



Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Posco Reports Highest Net Income in Two Years as Steel Prices, Demand Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Posco, a steelmaker that doubled in
value in the past year, reported second-quarter profit climbed
55 percent to the highest in two years, as it raised prices to
take advantage of surging demand.

Net income at the third-biggest steelmaker in Asia rose to
1.11 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in the quarter ended June, from
716 billion won a year ago, the Pohang, South Korea-company said
today in a statement. Sales rose 25 percent to 5.82 trillion won.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

U.S. Retail Sales Probably Fell in June, Led by Drop in Automobile Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Retail sales in the U.S. probably
fell last month following the biggest gain in more than a year,
restrained by a drop in demand for automobiles and home
supplies, economists said before a government report today.

Sales declined 0.1 percent after a 1.4 percent gain the
prior month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg
News survey of 75 economists. Purchases excluding automobiles
probably increased 0.2 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Sony Ericsson posts higher profit and phone sales

(Reuters) - Analyst, on average, expected earnings of 385 million euros, according to a recent poll of 20 analysts conducted for Reuters.




Sales rose to 3.1 billion euros from 2.27 billion euros, with the average analyst expectation at 3.1 billion euros.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

U.S. May wholesale inventories rose 0.5 percent

(Reuters) - Economists polled by Reuters were expecting a 0.4 percent rise in inventories in May.




Sales by wholesalers rose 1.3 percent to $357.17 billion in May following a 1.5 percent gain in April.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Egypt to buy six ships from S.Korea's STX - agency

(Reuters) - National Bank of Egypt said on Monday it had signed an agreement with South Korea's STX Shipbuilding Co. to fund Egypt's purchase of six ships for $251.6 million, according to state news agency MENA.

Atiya Salem, vice chairman of National Bank of Egypt told MENA the bank was funding the purchase of four vessels with a capacity of 81,000 tonnes and two with capacity of 85,000 tonnes for the state's National Maritime Company.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Rand to Gain 12.5 Percent Versus Yen on Uridashi Bond Sales, Okasan Says

(Bloomberg) -- The rand may gain 12.5 percent
against the yen after a three-fold increase in sales of South
African bonds to Japanese investors, said Tsutomu Soma, a
dealer at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo.

The currency has risen 3.8 percent versus the yen in
2007 as the difference in yield between two-year South
African and Japanese bonds widened to a three-year high of
8.462 percentage points. Sales of rand Uridashi bonds, local
currency debt sold to individual investors in Japan, climbed
248 percent to $652.9 million in the first half from a year
earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Air Liquide, CRH, Prologis, Bancaja 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

Discounts seen fueling U.S. auto sales in June

(Reuters) - "Sales appear to have picked up nicely in June, following
the lackluster selling rate of the past three months," Lehman
Brothers analyst Brian Johnson said. "This is largely due to a
sizable increase in incentives so far this month, and the
generous new marketing programs."




General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. last
week began offering qualified buyers zero-percent financing for
three years plus additional cash on select vehicles as they
tried to boost sales at the end of the month.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Australia's Retail Sales Growth Probably Accelerated to 0.7 Percent in May

(Bloomberg) -- Australia's retail sales growth
probably accelerated in May, marking the 12th straight increase,
as job gains and rising wages buoyed spending.

Sales rose 0.7 percent after gaining 0.1 percent in April,
according to the median estimate of 24 economists surveyed by
Bloomberg News. The Bureau of Statistics will release the report
tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. in Sydney.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Best Buy to expand; raises dividend, share buyback

(Reuters) - The plan comes after Best Buy reported quarterly earnings last week that missed analyst estimates by a wide margin and gave a disappointing full-year forecast as television sales cooled.




The Minneapolis-based company said the number of stores in the United States and Canada could now approach 1,800, up from its prior plan to have 1,400. It currently has 1,035 Best Buy, Future Shop and Pacific Sales stores in those markets.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News