Gold near 5-week high, Tokyo platinum hits record

(Reuters) - Gold drifted down on Friday but hovered near its highest in five weeks reached the previous day as the weakness in the dollar and healthy technical trends induced fresh fund inflows.

Tokyo Commodity Exchange platinum futures hit another record high on a labour dispute in South Africa, but they ran out of steam by the mid-session close as Japanese investors lightened their postions ahead of the three-day weekend in Japan.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Toyota Aims to Increase China Vehicle Sales by 50 Percent on Camry Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., the world's
biggest carmaker by market value, expects to sell about 50
percent more vehicles in China in 2007 than a year earlier,
helped by surging demand for its Camry sedans.

The automaker aims to sell more than 450,000 vehicles in
China this year, it said in a statement today. Sales next year
may climb to at least 550,000, Etsuo Hattori, Toyota's chief
China representative, added in an interview at a car show in the
northeastern city of Changchun.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Air France, Fimalac SA, L'Oreal, SAAB AB, Iberia: European Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or
fall in European markets. Prices are from the last close.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 increased 1.2 percent to 397.34.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index climbed 1.3 percent to 3974.65. The
Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the 13 nations using the
euro, advanced 1.6 percent to 4517.70.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Philippine Government Bonds Rise as Central Bank Ends Tiered Rate System

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippine peso and bonds rose
after the central bank allowed higher interest rates on large
deposit accounts, while lowering its key borrowing cost.

Five-year debt gained a second day after Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas lowered the reverse repurchase rate by 1.5 percentage
points to 6 percent, the first cut since July 2003. The central
bank also ended so-called tiering, a system that encourages
banks to lend by paying them lower rates for larger deposits.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

CBOT shares cease trading at Thursday close

(Reuters) - The announcement came after the results of Monday's vote were certified and mark the end -- in name at least -- of the 159-year-old Chicago Board of Trade, the world's oldest futures exchange.




Long-time CBOT traders felt nostalgic on Thursday, but will be back on Friday trading under the exchange's new name, the CME Group. Their pain was also eased by the $12 billion price tag that CME agreed to pay after winning a bidding war against energy bourse IntercontinentalExchange Inc .


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

First Bancorp to acquire Great Pee Dee

(Reuters) - Based on First Bancorp's Thursday closing price of $18.28,
the deal values Great Pee Dee at $21.02 per share. The offer
represents a premium of more than 35 percent to Great Pee Dee's
Thursday closing price of $15.50.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Chertoff says Qaeda not posing pre-Sept 11 threat

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 12 - U.S. Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Thursday the threat to the
United States from al Qaeda has not returned to levels seen
just before the Sept. 11 attacks nearly six years ago.




Chertoff played down media reports that the militant
network was now as great a threat to U.S. soil as in the months
before the Sept. 11 attacks on Washington and New York.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Tidewater CEO touts performance, overseas work

(Reuters) - "Analysts are smart people. We think they're doing a good
job, and we just hope that we're doing an equally good job," he
told Reuters before the meeting in New Orleans, where the
company is headquartered.




Asked about previous disclosures Tidewater is moving
vessels out of the Gulf of Mexico into international
operations, Taylor would not elaborate. "We think business
overseas will be better," he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

RPT-Argentina stocks climb to third straight record close

(Reuters) - The MerVal index of 21 leading stocks rose 1.01
percent to 2,289.13 points, surpassing the previous day's
record-high close of 2,266.09 points.




"A euphoric day on external markets helped to drive the
MerVal to a new high," said Juan Diedrich, an analyst at
Capital Markets Argentina.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Intellon files with SEC for $100 million IPO

(Reuters) - Intellon intends to list its stock on the Nasdaq under the
symbol "ITLN" .




Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Limited Brands sells $1 bln debt in 2-part sale

(Reuters) - The offering included $700 million in 10-year notes yielding 1.80 percentage points over U.S. Treasuries and $300 million in 30-year bonds yielding 2.40 percentage points over Treasuries.



The joint lead managers on the sale were Banc of America Securities and JP Morgan.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Vimicro International posts Q1 loss

(Reuters) - Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 1 cent per
ADS for the first quarter, and 9 cents per ADS for the fourth
quarter, both excluding any exceptional items, according to
Reuters Estimates.




In April, the company had said it would delay its
fourth-quarter and full-year results citing a change in
independent auditors.



Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-S&P admits $5 bln blunder in subprime review

(Reuters) - By Walden Siew and Nancy Leinfuss



NEW YORK, July 12 - Standard & Poor's admitted to making a nearly $5 billion blunder in correcting its own estimate for subprime securities it is reviewing for ratings cuts.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Mexico stocks rise, buoyed by U.S. data; peso firm

(Reuters) - The IPC stock index was up 1.16 percent at 32,287
points, while the peso currency firmed 0.42
percent to 10.7745 per dollar.




The price of the benchmark government 10-year peso bond
rose 0.185 point to bid 101.909, pushing its yield
down 3 basis points to 7.69 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Advanced Micro, Anheuser-Busch, McMoRan, Target: 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 2:50 p.m. New York time.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF US) rose $5.43, or 7.8 percent,
to $74.81. The clothing retailer for teens and college said June
comparable store sales rose 2 percent from a year earlier.
Analysts had estimated sales to fall 2.8 percent, according to a
report from Retail Metrics LLC.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Eagle Rock Energy Partners shares rise after acquisition

(Reuters) - In May, the company said over time, it will become more of
a 50/50 mix of gas and processing, and oil and gas producing
operations company.




Raymond James analyst Darren Horowitz said Eagle Rock was
unlikely to acquire anything more in near term. "They have got
their plates somewhat full, this is a lot for them to digest,"
he said by phone. Horowitz said the company started off
focusing on pipeline and gathering assets but now is looking to
balance its business with production assets.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Brazil fixed-rate bond yields tumble in auction

(Reuters) - Brazil's central bank is expected to lower its benchmark
interest rate next Wednesday by half a percentage point as a
rally in the local currency stems inflationary pressure.




In a Reuters poll on Thursday, all 30 economists predicted
the bank would cut the so-called Selic rate to an all-time low
of 11.5 percent from 12 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

L'Oreal Q2 sales up, Eastern Europe demand surges

(Reuters) - The maker of Maybelline make-up, Lancome perfumes and Vichy
skincare said it generated revenues of 4.246 billion euros
in the three months to June 30, with sales at
its core comestics branch up 5.9 percent at 3.984 billion euros.




Quarterly like-for-like growth was 7.4 percent both at the
group's and the comestics branch's levels, L'Oreal said.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Protection One files $172.5 mln offering

(Reuters) - Protection One did not reveal how many shares will be sold
by the company and its selling shareholders, and at what
price.





Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-Canada's Dodge urges "open process" for IMF

(Reuters) - When asked in a news conference if he thought the
replacement for the outgoing managing director of the IMF,
Rodrigo de Rato, should necessarily be a European as tradition
dictates, Dodge replied that an open process would be "quite
helpful."




"We think that there are lots of very good candidates out
there for the job," said Dodge, an outspoken proponent of the
IMF reform process initiated by Rato.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Sunoco Says Its New Jersey Oil Refinery Is Operating Normally After Fire

(Bloomberg) -- Sunoco Inc. said its Eagle Point
refinery in New Jersey is operating normally after a fire
yesterday in a xylene storage tank at the plant.

The fire broke out after lighting struck the tank at
between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. and was put out by about 8:15 p.m.,
said Gerald Davis, a spokesman for Philadelphia-based Sunoco.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

WRAPUP 2-U.S. trade gap widens on oil, jobless claims fall

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 12 - The U.S. trade deficit
widened in May as rising oil prices pushed imports to an
all-time high, outstripping record exports, a government report
showed on Thursday.




A separate weekly report showed the number of Americans
applying for first-time jobless benefits fell more than
expected, suggesting continued labor market strength.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Fastenal Q2 profit rises, shares rise

(Reuters) - Daily sales, defined as sales for the month divided by the number of business days in the month, improved in June, relative to April and May, the Winona, Minnesota-based company said in a statement.




"We believe there is potential upside as the company transitions its business model, sustaining and accelerating growth while leveraging fixed costs, which should drive significantly higher margins and returns," Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst Daniel Leben said in a note to his clients.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Bank of Canada raises inflation, growth outlook

(Reuters) - OTTAWA, July 12 - Canadian inflation is likely to
stay above the Bank of Canada's comfort level through this year
and next, but a strong currency will help cool prices, the bank
said two days after it raised interest rates for the first time
in over a year.




In a revision to its April monetary policy report, the bank
said inflation is heating up faster than expected as domestic
demand for goods and services grows faster than the economy's
capacity to produce them.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Slow remittances from US migrants hit Latin America

(Reuters) - Cash sent home by Mexicans living abroad fell 5.5 percent
in May, the first fall since 1999, and countries across Latin
America forecast that the growth of remittance flows will slow
substantially this year.




"Remittances will definitely suffer a slowdown. We cannot
depend only on remittances. We must increase our productive
base, especially our exports," Honduras' central bank
president, Gabriela Nunez, told Reuters this week.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Turkish Benchmark Index Rallies, Paced by Akbank: World's Biggest Mover

(Bloomberg) -- Turkish stocks posted the biggest
gain this year, lifting the benchmark index to a record, on
optimism that July 22 parliamentary elections may produce a
stable government.

Banks including Akbank TAS led the advance after ING Groep
NV upgraded Turkish lenders to ``overweight.''


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Rio's Albanese plans grand union

(Reuters) - Rio , the world's second biggest miner, unveiled an agreed $38 billion takeover of Canada's Alcan Inc on Thursday to create the world's biggest aluminum producer.




London-based Albanese, 50 in September, is a U.S. citizen who grew up in New Jersey and graduated in mineral economics and mining engineering from the University of Alaska.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Central Banks Are Biggest Buyers of 10-Year Bunds, German Debt Office Says

(Bloomberg) -- Central banks and commercial lenders
were the biggest buyers of German 10-year government bonds in
2006, followed by asset managers, the country's Federal Finance
Agency said.

The central banks bought 29 percent of the total net 40
billion euros ($55 billion) of bunds, Europe's benchmark 10-year
security, according to a report from the agency, which oversees
German government bond issuance. Commercial banks purchased a
similar amount of the debt, it said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Gottschalks forecasts Q2 loss, lower FY profit

(Reuters) - The company said June sales at its stores open at least a
year fell 4.3 percent due to softness in several of its apparel
categories as well as in home store merchandise.




Total sales for the month decreased 5.8 percent to $57.5
million from $61.0 million a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Alcan says lined up bidders for packaging assets

(Reuters) - "We have several people who have provided indicative values
to us," Dick Evans, president and chief executive of Alcan,
told Reuters in an interview.




Evans said Alcan had been very near a decision on selling
its packaging group, which has annual revenues of some $6
billion, before Alcoa Inc. made a $28.8 billion hostile
cash-and-stock offer for Alcan on May 7.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Capgemini shares up on renewed Infosys bid talk

(Reuters) - "Its just a rumor. We don't want to comment on it," Infosys Technologies' Chief Financial Officer V. Balakrishnan told Reuters in Bangalore.




Capgemini, Europe's largest computer consultancy with a market value of about 7.8 billion euros , was not immediately available for comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Mexico May Sell More Debt Exchange Warrants, Public Credit Director Says

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico may keep selling securities
that have helped it ``aggressively'' cut its foreign debt to a
record low, said Gerardo Rodriguez, head of public credit at the
Finance Ministry.

Mexico this year issued warrants -- its third such sale
since 2005 -- that give investors the option to swap bonds
denominated in dollars and European currencies in exchange for
peso securities, part of a push to lure investment to the local
market and reduce the government's vulnerability to declines in
the currency.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

TREASURIES-Bonds edge up as subprime concerns resurface

(Reuters) - Investors waited to see if U.S. equities would extend the
previous session's solid gains or whether the subprime worries
would dominate financial markets sentiment and push U.S.
government bond yields down further in a flight to safety bid.




Futures were signaling a slightly higher start for stocks on
Wall Street, curbing Treasuries gains.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Calpine reaches settlement with a debtholder group

(Reuters) - Under the proposed agreement, about $282 million of claims
of second priority secured debtholders would be replaced by a
secured claim for $60 million that will be paid in cash and an
unsecured claim for $40 million.




The agreement will go before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for
the Southern District of New York on Aug. 8.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

CDW average daily sales rise 25.3 pct in June

(Reuters) - Excluding Berbee sales, CDW's average daily sales for June
were $31.6 million, while total sales were $664.5 million.





Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Dillard's June same-store sales fall 1 pct

(Reuters) - Total sales were $620.7 million for the five-weeks ended
July 7, compared with $622.8 million in the year-ago period,
the company said in a statement.





Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Target June same-store sales up 3.3 pct

(Reuters) - Analysts, on average, were expecting an increase of 3.4
percent, according to a Reuters survey.




Sales for the five weeks ended July 7 increased 7.6 percent
to $5.479 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

EU says accounting convergence with U.S. on track

(Reuters) - The 27-nation bloc and the United States have agreed a
"roadmap" to recognise each other's accounting rules so that EU
companies with a U.S. listing won't have to compile a costly
separate set of accounts for U.S. regulators.




It would save U.S. firms listed on an EU exchange from doing
likewise and investors could compare companies on either side of
the Atlantic more easily.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Macy's June same-store sales fall

(Reuters) - Macy's, formerly known as Federated Department Stores, had forecast that June same-store sales could fall as much as 2 percent as it boosted promotions in an effort to lift sales at former May stores.




Read more at Reuters.com Business News

FACTBOX-Aluminium in profile

(Reuters) - Following are some facts about aluminium and alumina:




Latest aluminium M&A deals:


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Prologis, CRH, Kommunekredit, Ceva Plan Debt Sales: European Bond Alert

(Bloomberg) -- CRH PLC, the world's second-biggest
building materials supplier, is among borrowers seeking to raise
the equivalent of at least 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) in bond
sales in euros and pounds, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.

Companies have sold $1,030 billion of bonds so far this
year, up from $827 billion in the same period last year.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Copper steady on tight supply, global woes cap price

(Reuters) - Falling stocks and a strike in the world's biggest copper producer Chile kept prices steady on Thursday, although global economic concerns dragged on the market.

Mining equities were boosted by news of the latest merger announcement that Rio Tinto had agreed to buy Canadian aluminium giant Alcan Inc. for $38.1 billion, creating the world's biggest aluminium firm.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Asian Currencies: Philippine Peso Strengthens; Indonesian Rupiah Declines

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippine peso rose as Finance
Secretary Gary Teves said the nation will meet its budget
deficit target.

The peso rebounded from yesterday's biggest drop in two
weeks. The central bank unexpectedly cut its key interest rate
for the first time in four years after the close of onshore peso
trading.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Clear Media sees 2-digit net growth after H1 hiccup

(Reuters) - The company, whose other major clients include McDonalds
and Unilever NV , posted a net income of HK$120
million in 2006. In the first half of 2006, net
earnings grew 19 percent.




"The final build-up is in 2007. Our first harvest will be in
2008 at the Olympics, and the second will be 2010 at the Expo,"
Yung said on Thursday.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

TCW Group, GSC Partners Manage the Most CDOs Facing Lower Credit Ratings

(Bloomberg) -- TCW Group Inc. and GSC Partners
created the most collateralized debt obligations that are now at
risk of having their credit ratings slashed because they are
backed by some of the worst-performing subprime mortgage bonds.

TCW of Los Angeles and GSC, a New York-based investment
firm, manage 12 CDOs that will likely have a portion of their
ratings cut, a report by Bear Stearns Cos. found. ACA Capital
Holdings Inc., Harding Advisory and Tricadia CDO Management each
have four.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Kuwait Dinar Rallies Most in More Than Year as Central Bank Switches Rate

(Bloomberg) -- The Kuwaiti dinar jumped 0.5 percent
against the dollar today, its biggest one-day gain in more than a
year, after the central bank changed the rate at which it buys
and sells dollars.

The Central Bank of Kuwait is buying dollars at 0.28695 and
selling at 0.28685, 0.4 percent higher than its previous
reference rate, Monica Malik, economist at EFG-Hermes, said in a
telephone interview.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

European Climate Exchange Carbon Permit Trading Rose to Record Yesterday

(Bloomberg) -- The European Climate Exchange, the
exchange that trades the most European Union carbon dioxide
permits, handled a record volume yesterday.

The exchange traded a record 11.2 million tons yesterday, 32
percent more than a previous record of 8.5 million on June 19, Sara
Stahl, business development and marketing manager at the exchange,
said today by telephone from London.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

European stocks rebound, M&A fever boosts miners

(Reuters) - European stocks rose in early trade on Thursday, as optimism over U.S. corporate results and mergers and acquisitions fever in the mining sector helped the market reverse a two-day losing streak.

Rio Tinto said it has agreed to pay $38.1 billion for Canadian aluminium group Alcan, sending the mining sector sharply higher.


Read more at Reuters Africa

UPDATE 1-Basell not raising $5.6 bln bid for Huntsman

(Reuters) - Dutch-based Basell, which is controlled by U.S. industrial
group Access Industries, said it understands that Hexion's
higher offer faces a lengthy and complex regulatory approval
process and it intends to monitor the situation.




Huntsman had originally signed a merger agreement with
Basell, but last week said that the bid from Hexion constituted
a superior proposal.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US stock indexes gain on earnings optimism; Yum up late

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as a scarcity of profit warnings fueled optimism over the corporate reporting season, enabling the market to regain its footing after a sharp drop the previous session.

Shares of fast-food company Yum Brands, which jumped 4.9 percent during the regular session, extended gains after the close when it reported higher quarterly earnings and raised its profit forecast for the year.


Read more at Reuters Africa