UPDATE 1-Pearson H1 profit up, raises education sales forecast

(Reuters) - LONDON, July 30 - Book and newspaper publisher
Pearson reported a sharp rise in first half profits on
Monday and raised its full-year sales forecast for its core
professional education business to growth of 5-7 percent.




The company, which also owns the Financial Times, had
previously forecast flat sales for the professional education
business.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

South Africa eyes import tariff cuts to aid manufacturing

(Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday his government may cut tariffs on some imported equipment and goods in a bid to boost the manufacturing sector and make it more competitive internationally.

In a briefing to discuss the outcome of a mid-year meeting of his cabinet and other senior officials, Mbeki said a healthier manufacturing sector was critical to the government's efforts to narrow the country's trade deficit.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Asian Stocks Rebound From 1-Month Low; JFE, Nippon Steel Rise, Sony Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rebounded from a one-
month low after higher profits at JFE Holdings Inc. and Nippon
Steel Corp. helped offset concerns of a slump in U.S. housing.

Sony Corp., the maker of Cyber-shot cameras and PlayStation 3
consoles, and James Hardie Industries NV, the biggest supplier of
home siding in the U.S., led declines after a report showed a
decline in U.S. housing investment.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Akzo Nobel says ICI rejects new takeover bid

(Reuters) - Akzo Nobel said it had teamed up with Germany's Henkel
for the offer and that ICI had considered that the
offer did not reflect its full value.




In June, Akzo Nobel had make an indicative offer of 600
pence a share, which ICI also rejected as too low. The UK
Takeover Panel had set an Aug. 9 deadline for Akzo to make a
firm bid or walk away.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Atos, Danone, Euler Hermes, Lectra and Natixis: French Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or
fall on the Paris stock exchange tomorrow. Symbols are in
parentheses after company names. Prices are from the last close.

The benchmark CAC 40 Index lost 31.09, or 0.6 percent, to
5643.96. The broader SBF 120 Index also fell 0.6 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Gold, Silver Little Changed After Drop on Concern Global Growth May Slow

(Bloomberg) -- Gold was little changed in Asia after
the biggest weekly decline in almost two months on concern that
global economic growth may slow, reducing the metal's appeal as a
hedge against inflation. Silver was also little changed.

Gold fell 3.3 percent last week amid a $2.1 trillion world
stock market rout and concern that U.S. subprime mortgage losses
may slow economic growth, reducing inflation. Investors usually
buy gold at time of rising raw material prices to preserve wealth.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

New Zealand Dollar Is Overvalued, Will Decline, Agriculture Minister Says

(Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar, the best
performer of 16 major currencies against the dollar in the past
year, is over-valued and will eventually decline, Agriculture
Minister Jim Anderton said today.

``There is no question it is overvalued,'' Anderton said in
e-mailed notes for a speech in Christchurch. ``A lot of the hot
money coming in here thinking it won't decline, will eventually
get burned because the dollar will, sooner or later, return to
more normal levels.''


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Liberty reportedly mulling Virgin Media bid

(Reuters) - Virgin Media had asked suitors to submit expressions of interest by the first week of August to kick off an auction of the company, people familiar with the situation told Reuters earlier this week.




About 10 suitors have expressed an interest, sources told Reuters, since private equity firm Carlyle Group made an initial offer earlier this month.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Oil down on profit taking

(Reuters) - U.S. crude for September delivery fell 32 cents to $76.70 a barrel in Globex electronic trading by 0130 GMT, trimming just a whisker of Friday's $2.07 or 2.76 percent surge that took oil to just one cent shy of its record-high settlement price of $77.03, marked on July 14, 2006.




London's Brent crude , which lagged the U.S. market with a gain of $1.08 on Friday, fell 44 cents to $75.82 after reverting last week to trade below U.S. crude, on signs of lower crude stocks in Oklahoma and recovering North Sea oil production.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Payrolls, Wages, Manufacturing Likely Grew in July, Tempering Housing Woes

(Bloomberg) -- Payrolls, wages and manufacturing in
the U.S. expanded in July, pointing to an economy that is
surviving a deepening slump in housing, economists project
reports this week will show.

Employers added 130,000 workers to payrolls this month,
about the same as in June, according to the median estimate of
economists surveyed by Bloomberg News ahead of a Labor
Department report Aug. 3. A private report Aug. 1 may show
manufacturing grew at close to the fastest pace in more than a
year.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

RWE Reports Lignite-Fired Power-Plant Shutdowns, Reduced Nuclear Capacity

(Bloomberg) -- RWE AG, Germany's second-largest
utility, reported shutdowns at three lignite-fired power plants
and a capacity reduction at a nuclear plant.

RWE's 289-megawatt Neurath B lignite-fired plant stopped on
July 27, the Essen, Germany-based company said today on its Web
site. Neurath B is expected to remain halted for between six days
and eight days, the company said.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average, Topix Fall; Toyota and Canon Lead Drop

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average
fell 171.71, or 1 percent, to 17,112.10 at 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo.
The broader Topix index dropped 16.48, or 1 percent, to
1,683.23.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. led the declines.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

New Zealand Dollar Falls to Four-Week Low, Investors Avoid Carry Trade

(Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar fell to a
four-week low as falling global stock markets and U.S. subprime
mortgage losses prompted investors to avoid riskier assets.

The currency, known as the kiwi, is a favorite for the
carry trade, where investors borrow cheaply in yen to put their
funds in countries that offer higher yields. New Zealand's
record 8.25 percent benchmark interest rate is 7.75 percentage
points more than Japan's, luring traders to the higher returns
offered by the nation's fixed income assets.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Fidelity chief says daughter may not run company-NYT

(Reuters) - Johnson's daughter now reports to that former Prudential
executive, Rodger Lawson, 60, which would seem to push her
further from the chief executive spot.




Ned Johnson told The New York Times in an article published
on Sunday, "I would expect the family would continue to play a
critical role in leading Fidelity."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Porsche not planning now to raise VW stake: paper

(Reuters) - The federal law guarantees special rights for the German state of Lower Saxony, where VW's headquarters in Wolfsburg are located, as a shareholder as well as preventing any one individual investor from exercising more than 20 percent of their voting rights.




Wolfgang Porsche did not deny that the Porsche and Piech families who control the sports car maker were immune to the idea of controlling VW itself, effectively founded in 1937 by Beetle designer and family patriarch Ferdinand Porsche.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Pearl, Deutsche last Abbey Life bidders: sources

(Reuters) - Reinsurer Swiss Re and closed life fund specialist Resolution were also named as bidders earlier in July.




Since then, however, Resolution has announced an 8.6 billion pound all-share merger with rival Friends Provident . The Sunday Telegraph reported that Swiss Re had also pulled out.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News