GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, credit and dollar hit by subprime woes

(Reuters) - Turmoil in the U.S. subprime market, which caters to
borrowers with poor credit histories and represents around a
fifth of total U.S. annual mortgage lending, has haunted
investors intermittently since early this year.




The latest upset started after the benchmark ABX subprime
mortgage index, used by investors to insure against risks in the
sector, hit record lows on Monday.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Lead Rises to Record for Fifth Session in London After Doe Run Explosion

(Bloomberg) -- Lead rose to a record for a fifth
consecutive session on the London Metal Exchange after Doe Run
Resources Corp., the world's second-largest refiner of the
metal, said a U.S. smelter was damaged by an explosion.

The blast happened on July 13 at 11:40 p.m. local time, the
St. Louis-based company said in a July 14 statement posted on
its Web site. The incident was contained in the area where
finished metal is produced, it said. The rest of the Herculaneum
plant in Missouri is operating, Doe Run said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities 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

KeyCorp net rises 8 percent on fee income growth

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 17 - KeyCorp , a large U.S. Midwest bank, on Tuesday said second-quarter profit rose 8 percent as an increase in fee income helped offset rising loan losses and declining lending margins.



Net income for the Cleveland-based company rose to $334 million, or 84 cents per share, from $308 million, or 75 cents, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Futures fall as inflation data, earnings loom

(Reuters) - Among earnings reports due later on Tuesday are Merrill Lynch & Co. , SLM Corp. , U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo .




Year-to-date, financial stocks are the worst performers of the ten major S&P industry groups and the sole sector with losses for that period.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Gold slips ahead of US Federal Reserve minutes

(Reuters) - Gold erased overnight gains to slip on Tuesday, with dealers avoiding big moves ahead of testimony by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later in the week.

The metal has struggled to breach key technical levels after hitting a five-week high last week, but might get support from firm oil prices and the dollar, which stayed near record lows against the euro.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Russian Stocks Fall After U.K. Expels Diplomats; Gazprom Lead the Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks dropped for the first
time in five days after the U.K. expelled four Russian
diplomats, adding to political tensions between the two
countries. OAO Gazprom led the retreat.

``Politics is certainly affecting sentiment this morning,''
said Julian Rimmer, head of sales trading at UralSib Financial
Corp. in London.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News