ICE seen at risk of overpaying if raises CBOT bid

(Reuters) - After months of battle, analysts wondered whether ICE Chief
Executive Jeff Sprecher could simply bow out after CME raised
its bid for CBOT Holdings Inc. by 7 percent on Friday.




ICE's stock "acted as if ICE is not going to buy," said
Scott Appleby of Appleby Capital Inc. "But I still think
there's a good chance they will raise their bid."


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Asian Stocks Climb in U.S. Trading; Shares of PetroChina and Posco Advance

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose in U.S. trading as
energy shares including PetroChina Co. gained along with oil
prices. Posco jumped following the Indian government's plan to
ease delays in mining permits.

The Bank of New York Co.'s Asia ADR Index, tracking the
region's American depositary receipts, added 0.4 percent to
171.65. For the week, it gained 2.5 percent, the biggest weekly
increase since June 1.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Stocks may rise as earnings season starts

(Reuters) - Alcoa Inc. , the world's largest aluminum company,
kicks off another earnings season on Monday, and results from
the second quarter could surprise on the upside because of the
weak U.S. dollar.




"The earnings are going to surprise on the high side,
mostly because the dollar has lost ground through the quarter
and the analyst community always underestimates this effect,"
Milton Ezrati, senior economist and market strategist at Lord
Abbett & Co.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Piper looks at acquisitions in munis

(Reuters) - The Minneapolis investment bank, which focuses on advisory
and underwriting for mid-sized companies, is mainly looking to
expand in areas where it already does business, like public
finance and international banking, or once did, like asset
management.




But acquisitions will be made over time, and at valuations
that make sense, Duffy said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Mexico stocks close up, led by Grupo Mexico gains

(Reuters) - The benchmark IPC stock index was up 0.73 percent at
32,411.84 points, while the peso currency rose
0.31 percent in local trading to 10.773 per dollar.




Mexican lawmakers are debating changes to President Felipe
Calderon's tax reform proposal that was unveiled last month.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Italy postpones Alitalia bid deadline again

(Reuters) - The treasury, which is selling at least 39.9 percent of the
unprofitable airline in the hopes of turning it around, did not
specify what additional information was now available.




All other terms of the sale remain unchanged, it said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Group fights higher taxes on buyout firms, funds

(Reuters) - Republican Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia is heading a
coalition backed by the financial services, real estate, resort
and energy industries to thwart a U.S. House bill that takes
aim at the 15 percent tax rate now paid by most managers of
private equity funds, hedge funds and other investment
partnerships.




The Coalition for the Freedom of American Investors and
Retirees also opposes a bipartisan Senate bill that would close
a loophole that allows private equity firms to go public as
partnerships without paying corporate taxes.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

PSEG sees higher costs from NJ carbon law

(Reuters) - PSEG Chief Executive Ralph Izzo said the utility plans to
ask state regulators later this year to approve measures that
would allow it to pass along to customers the costs of the new
programs it hopes to implement to meet the state's aggressive
goals.




"It won't be cost effective. Customers will need to pay
more," Izzo told Reuters at a ceremony where New Jersey
Governor John Corzine signed into law the emissions cuts.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

ING to close banking operations in Cuba

(Reuters) - "It is a purely business decision ... it comes as part of
our assessment of the economic viability of our operations
around the world," said spokesman Nanne Bos in Amsterdam.




Business sources in Havana said the Dutch bank has lost
business as Cuba increases its exports of nickel to China
rather than European markets via Rotterdam.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Cattle Futures Gain as U.S. Exports Indicate Rising Beef Demand; Hogs Fall

(Bloomberg) -- Cattle futures rose for a third
straight session as a weekly export sales report indicated strong
demand for U.S. beef. Hog prices fell.

U.S. exporters reported net sales of 11,300 metric tons of
beef for the week ended June 28, including 1,300 tons for Japan
and South Korea, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Sales
to those two nations, which had been closed to U.S. beef for much
of the past three years because of mad-cow disease concerns,
indicates longer-term sales growth, said Troy Vetterkind, a
trader at e-Hedger in Chicago.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Copper Falls From 8-Week High on Speculation Rally May Have Been Overdone

(Bloomberg) -- Copper fell from an eight-week high in
New York on speculation that gains may have been exaggerated
during a six-session rally that sent prices up 8.4 percent.

Inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange fell 2.3
percent today to 105,475 metric tons. The total still is 15
percent higher than a year ago.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

TREASURIES-Bonds fall as payrolls scotch Fed cut forecasts

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 6 - U.S. Treasury debt prices fell
on Friday after stronger-than-expected job growth dashed any
lingering expectations of a cut in benchmark interest rates
from the Federal Reserve any time soon.




June payrolls were stronger than expected and the
government revised sharply higher the numbers for April and May
payrolls, adding to the pressure on bond prices. Click on
ID:nN06239056 for details.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Italy June truck deliveries up 2.6 pct, Fiat down

(Reuters) - MILAN, July 6 - Italian light commercial vehicle deliveries rose 2.6 percent to 23,549 units in June, the first increase in two months, according estimates published jointly by two industry associations on Friday.



Deliveries for the first half of the year rose 2.4 percent to 124,892 units.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

U.K. Gilts Post Weekly Loss on Rates; Pound Stays Near Highest in 26 Years

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. bonds fell this week, pushing 10-
year yields to the highest in more than seven years, on
speculation the Bank of England will add to yesterday's interest-
rate increase in coming months to cool inflation.

The BOE raised rates for a fifth time in 12 months, to a
six-year high of 5.75 percent, and signaled further increases may
be needed. The central bank said inflation risks in the medium
term ``lie to the upside.'' The government said today factory
production rose in May to the highest in almost six years, a sign
rates aren't too high to support economic expansion.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Dollar Gains Most Against Yen in More Than a Week on U.S. Job Growth

(Bloomberg) -- The euro rose to an all-time high
against the yen and gained versus the dollar as rising global
interest rates prompted Japanese investors to buy assets abroad.

The yen fell against all 16 of the most-actively traded
currencies as Japan's 0.5 percent interest rate, the lowest among
developed nations, encouraged investors to borrow in the country
for higher returns overseas in a practice known as the carry
trade. The Bank of England yesterday lifted borrowing costs a
quarter-percentage point to a six-year high of 5.75 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Bally Total Fitness gets alternate revamp plan

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 6 - Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. on Friday said it is in discussions with a group of shareholders who proposed an alternate Chapter 11 reorganization plan for the struggling health club operator.



The shareholders -- four private equity funds -- sent the company a letter outlining a different plan from one presented last month and have agreed to complete their "due diligence" by July 20, the Chicago-based company said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Companies pledge at UN to cut carbon burdens

(Reuters) - More than 150 companies including Airbus, Coca-Cola and IKEA pledged on Friday to reduce the carbon burden of their operations in a voluntary pact urging governments to do more to confront climate change.

Drugmakers Novartis and Pfizer, mining giants Anglo American and Rio Tinto, and the luxury goods specialist LVMH were among the 153 firms who committed themselves to greater energy efficiency.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Alcoa gets new antitrust request on Alcan bid

(Reuters) - Alcoa Chairman and Chief Executive Alain Belda said in a statement the information request was "a normal and expected part of the regulatory process" and that Alcoa had a detailed roadmap to resolve the competition issues.




Earlier this week, Alcoa said it could raise its $28.6 billion offer for Alcan, even as the Canadian company rebuffed requests for talks.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Brazil's stocks hit record as currency gains

(Reuters) - The Bovespa index of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange
rose 0.47 percent to 56,195 points. The index passed the 56,000
mark for the first time on Wednesday.




The Brazilian currency, the real , strengthened 0.52
percent to 1.904 per U.S. dollar.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Applied Micro, Healthways, Parametric, Six Flags: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes on U.S. exchanges.
Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share
prices are as of 9:35 a.m. in New York.

Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC US) fell 32 cents, or 13
percent, to $2.76. The maker of semiconductors for the
communications industry reduced its forecast for the second
quarter, predicting sales of as much as $60 million. That
compared with the average estimate of $63.4 million from seven
analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.S. Payrolls Rose 132,000 in June; Unemployment Rate Stays at 4.5 Percent

(Bloomberg) -- Employers in the U.S. added 132,000
workers to payrolls last month, wages grew and the unemployment
rate held near a six-year low, signaling the job market will
continue to sustain American consumers.

The increase in employment followed a 190,000 gain in May
that was larger than previously reported, the Labor Department
said today in Washington. The jobless rate held at 4.5 percent for
a third month.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

.S. Payrolls Rose 132,000 in June; Unemployment Rate Stays at 4.5 Percent

(Bloomberg) -- Employers in the U.S. added 132,000
workers to payrolls last month, wages grew and the unemployment
rate held near a six-year low, signaling the job market will
continue to sustain American consumers.

The increase in employment followed a 190,000 gain in May
that was larger than previously reported, the Labor Department
said today in Washington. The jobless rate held at 4.5 percent for
a third month.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UK Takeover Panel sets Akzo deadline for ICI bid

(Reuters) - Source familiar with the matter have told Reuters that Akzo Nobel, the world's largest maker of industrial coatings, is considering a higher bid for ICI but is prepared to delay a move as the disclosure of its 600p offer for ICI may flush out a rival bid.




Media reports have said U.S. groups Dow Chemical and DuPont , Germany's BASF and India's Reliance may bid for ICI, which makes Dulux paints.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Vattenfall's Kruemmel May Perform Annual Maintenance Before Re-Start

(Bloomberg) -- Vattenfall Europe AG, Germany's
fourth-largest utility, was asked by state regulators to perform
annual scheduled maintenance before restarting its Kruemmel
nuclear reactor.

The company has been asked to move forward maintenance to
allow more time for state examinations of the plant, the social
ministry of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, where the reactor
is based, said today in an e-mailed statement. Maintenance had
been scheduled for the beginning of August, the ministry said.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Ivorian entrepreneur sets sights on tropical wine

(Reuters) - A Italian-based vintner from Ivory Coast hopes to make the West African state's first wine if grapevine cuttings planted as an experiment in the tropical country's soil can produce fruit.

African countries with cooler, more Mediterranean climes such as South Africa, Morocco and Algeria are already renowned producers but Amani Yoboue, 44, aims to be the first to produce wine in this former French colony just north of the Equator.


Read more at Reuters Africa

White Sugar Gains on Speculation Weather Will Reduce Output in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- White sugar advanced in London,
heading for a weekly gain, on speculation adverse weather
throughout Europe may reduce sugar-beet crops.

Rain has affected sugar-beet growing areas of the U.K.,
France and Germany in recent weeks, with flooding expected in
several areas, according to Woburn, Massachusetts-based weather
forecaster Meteorlogix LLC. Drought in eastern Ukraine and
southern Russia may have damaged crops there, the forecaster
said yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Statoil Plans Maintenance at Its Statfjord Oilfield in August, Traders Say

(Bloomberg) -- Statoil ASA, Norway's biggest oil
company, plans maintenance next month at its Statfjord oilfield in
the North Sea, said three traders with knowledge of the schedule.

Around six cargoes of 855,000 barrels, the equivalent of
165,484 barrels a day, are expected to load in August, said one of
the traders.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UBS Risk Is Highest in 1 1/2 Years After CEO Ouster, Default Swaps Show

(Bloomberg) -- UBS AG's credit risk rose to the
highest in more than 1 1/2 years after the world's biggest money
manager ousted Peter Wuffli as chief executive officer,
according to traders of credit-default swaps.

UBS replaced Wuffli with his deputy Marcel Rohner
yesterday, after losses at one of its hedge funds and declining
earnings for the past three quarters. The Zurich-based bank shut
its Dillon Read Capital Management LLC unit, championed by
Wuffli, 49, at a cost of $300 million in May.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Hydro OGK, Russian Power Utility, Plans London Listing in 2008, CEO Says

(Bloomberg) -- OAO Hydro OGK, Russia's largest
hydropower producer, plans to sell shares in London and Moscow
in the second half of next year, aiming to become the world's
biggest publicly traded renewable energy company.

Hydro, able to generate more power than California, plans
to double its installed capacity by the end of the next decade
as Russia cuts its reliance on fossil fuels, said Vyacheslav
Sinyugin, Hydro's chief executive officer.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

BMW June vehicle sales leap 15.1 pct to record

(Reuters) -



FRANKFURT, July 6 - Vehicle sales at BMW jumped 15.1 percent in June to a record 150,285 units as brisk demand in China and Russia complemented double-digit growth in western Europe, the world's biggest premium carmaker said.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

LG Household to buy Coca-Cola Amatil Korea unit

(Reuters) - SYDNEY, July 6 - Australian soft drinks firm Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd. said on Friday it had chosen LG Household and Health Care Ltd. as the preferred bidder for its South Korean operations.



Amatil, 35 percent-owned by Coca-Cola Co. , said the purchase price would be in the range of A$520 million to A$545 million , including debt, and it expected the deal to be completed in three months.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

IMF to meet Monday on process to select new chief

(Reuters) - The IMF board will meet on Monday at the prompting of developing nations which want Europe and the United States to agree to throw open selection of a new managing director to candidates from around the globe, officials said on Friday.

The top International Monetary Fund job has always gone to a European since the global financial institution was created in 1945, under an informal deal where the United States appoints the head of its sister organization, the World Bank.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Estonia's June Inflation Rate Rises to Near Six-Year High of 5.8 Percent

(Bloomberg) -- Estonia's inflation rate rose in June
to a near six-year high as prices of transportation and food
advanced, raising concern the Baltic economy is overheating.

The annual inflation rate increased to 5.8 percent, the
highest since August 2001, from 5.7 percent in May, the
statistics office said on its Web site today. Monthly price
growth slowed to 0.5 percent from 0.7 percent in May.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

European Stocks Pare Advance as Shares of Unilever and E.ON Decline

(Bloomberg) -- European pared gains, as Unilever NV
and E.ON AG declined.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index increased less than 0.1
percent to 394.99 at 8:529 a.m. in London after rising as much as
0.3 percent earlier. The Stoxx 50 and the Euro Stoxx 50, a
measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro, both added 0.1
percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Gold, Silver Rise in Asia as Oil Costs Spur Demand for Inflation Hedge

(Bloomberg) -- Gold and silver gained in Asia on
speculation that rising energy costs will boost demand for the
precious metal as a hedge against inflation.

Crude oil in New York traded near 10-month high after
rising yesterday on concern unrest in Nigeria may curb shipments
and breakdowns at U.S. refineries may slow fuel production. Some
investors buy gold to hedge against accelerating consumer prices.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News