Hogs Futures Rise on Speculation China to Buy More U.S. Pork; Cattle Fall

(Bloomberg) -- Hog futures in Chicago rose to the
highest in more than three months on speculation China, faced
with tightening supplies of pork, boosted purchases of the meat
from the U.S. Cattle fell for the third-straight day.

China, the sixth-largest importer of U.S. pork, likely will
buy 5 million to 10 million pounds this week from producers such
as Smithfield Foods Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc., said Rich Nelson,
a livestock analyst at Allendale Inc. in McHenry, Illinois. Hog
prices in Chicago are up 28 percent from a year ago on strong
export demand for pork.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

China, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand: Asia Local Bond Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic
reports may influence trading in Asian local-currency bonds
today. Yields are from the previous session.

China: The nation needs to have ``more flexibility'' in its
exchange-rate policy, International Monetary Fund Managing
Director Rodrigo de Rato said. De Rato said he was concerned
there could be a ``reappraisal of risk which would curtail
market access,'' in a speech in Manila yesterday. The central
bank raised the deposit reserve ratio late July 30, requiring
commercial lenders to set aside more money as reserves for a
sixth time this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

ASM Pacific, HSBC, Kookmin, Telekomunikasi: Asia Ex-Japan Stock Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in Asian markets, excluding Japan. This preview includes news
that broke after markets closed. Prices are from the local
market's last close. Stock symbols are in parentheses after
company names.

Banking stocks: China ordered banks to set aside larger
reserves for the sixth time this year to curb lending and
investment after the economy grew at the fastest pace since 1994.
Lenders must put aside 12 percent of deposits as reserves
starting Aug. 15, up from 11.5 percent, the People's Bank of
China said yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Alibaba Plans Hong Kong Initial Public Offering for Online Wholesale Unit

(Bloomberg) -- Alibaba.com Corp., operator of Yahoo!
Inc.'s Web site in China, said the company plans a Hong Kong
listing for a subsidiary that helps businesses buy and sell
products over the Internet.

Chief Executive Officer Jack Ma told employees at a July 28
meeting in East China's Hangzhou city, where Alibaba is based,
that the company had taken the first steps for listing its so-
called business-to-business e-commerce unit, Porter Erisman, a
spokesman for Alibaba.com, said today by telephone from Beijing.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

IMF's Rato - China currency policy constrains all Asia

(Reuters) - If China let its yuan currency find its value more freely, other Asian nations' currencies could appreciate without fear of losing exports, International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo de Rato said.

In a speech prepared for delivery on Saturday to a bankers' conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Rato suggested that China's managed currency was helping fuel potentially dangerous protectionist sentiments. The text was released in advance in Washington.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Cattle Futures Head for Fifth-Straight Weekly Gain on Exports; Hogs Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Cattle futures rose to a three-month
high in Chicago, heading for their fifth-straight weekly gain on
expectations that export sales will increase. Hog prices
advanced on speculation of more pork sales to China.

U.S. beef exports to Japan and South Korea, typically the
largest overseas customers, have risen since both countries this
year lifted bans imposed in December 2003 after a mad-cow
disease outbreak. Japan bought $1.4 billion in U.S. beef in 2003
and South Korea bought $814 million worth.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Taiwan's Bonds Fall on Speculation Inflation May Quicken; Currency Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan's bonds fell, sending the
benchmark 10-year yield to the highest since November 2004,
after a local newspaper reported the central bank predicts
inflation to accelerate. The currency weakened.

The monetary authority forecasts inflation may quicken to
more than 2 percent in the second half of the year, compared
with 0.61 percent in the first six months, the Taipei-based
Commercial Times said today. The increase will be due to rising
commodity prices, the newspaper said, citing Crystal Shih, chief
economist at the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
in Taipei.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Baidu Shares Surge on Profit Increase, Forecast for Third-Quarter Revenue

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Baidu.com Inc., operator
of China's most-used Internet search site, rose 19 percent after
the company said second-quarter profit surged and forecast
third-quarter sales that exceeded analysts' estimates.

The company's American depositary shares climbed $34.82 in
U.S. after-hours trading yesterday to $218.05. That will be the
largest one-day increase in more than a year if the gain is
maintained in Nasdaq Stock Market trading today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

UPDATE 2-Kennametal posts stronger-than-expected profit

(Reuters) - The company expects "moderation" in the North American
market will persist in the near term, while demand remains
favorable in Europe and robust in developing economies like
China and India.




Net income fell 62 percent to $62.1 million, or $1.57 a
share, in the fiscal fourth quarter from $164.2 million, or
$4.11 a share, a year earlier. However, results were 7 cents
better than analysts polled by Reuters Estimates had expected.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Baidu Vies With `Don't Be Evil' Google, Short Sellers in Chinese Showdown

(Bloomberg) -- For Baidu.com Inc., the Google Inc.
imitator with a 58 percent share of the Chinese Web-search
market and a $5.9 billion market value to prove it, the battle
for dominance is just beginning.

At stake is the Internet market in China, the world's
second-biggest after the U.S. by users. Google is gaining
ground, if rising short interest on Baidu is any indication.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

McDonald's posts loss on Latin America charge

(Reuters) - Excluding the Latin America charge, McDonald's earned 71 cents a share, in line with the better-than-expected forecast the fast-food chain gave last week.




In April, McDonald's said it would sell about 1,600 restaurants in Latin America and the Caribbean to a franchisee so it could focus resources on markets where it sees the biggest opportunities for growth, such as China.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand: Asia Local Bond Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic
reports may influence trading in Asian local-currency bonds
today. Yields are from the previous session.

China: The government will further tighten monetary policy
after increasing lending and deposit rates last week, Hong Kong
Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam said on Hong Kong
Commercial Broadcasting radio yesterday. Yam urged investors to
be careful as financial markets are growing more turbulent, the
broadcaster reported. The government will sell 28 billion yuan
($3.7 billion) of six-month notes tomorrow.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

China's CSI 300 Index Posts Biggest Two-Day Gain Since Launch; Banks Rise

(Bloomberg) -- China's stocks rose, completing the
CSI 300 Index's biggest two-day gain, on speculation government
curbs on lending and investment will prevent production gluts
from driving down earnings. Shenzhen Development Bank climbed.

China's central bank raised interest rates on July 20 for
the third time since March to cool the fastest pace of economic
growth in 12 years and restrain inflation.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Mexican Peso Declines After China Raises Interest Rates to Cool Expansion

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's peso fell after China raised
interest rates, sparking speculation that demand for commodities
including oil, Mexico's biggest export, will fall.

Revenue from oil exports is Mexico's biggest source of
dollar inflows and funds almost 40 percent of government
spending. Oil for September delivery fell 0.1 percent to $76.01 a
barrel at 10:51 a.m. in New York.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Asian Stocks Rise in U.S. Trading; PetroChina, BHP Shares Climb on Oil

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks trading in the U.S. gained
for the first day this week as rising oil prices lifted energy
shares including PetroChina Co. and the Australian reported BHP
Billiton isn't interested in buying Alcoa Inc.

The Bank of New York Co.'s Asia ADR Index, tracking the
region's American depositary receipts, added 1 percent to 172.55,
snapping a three-day, 2.1 percent gain.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

China Second-Quarter Economy Expands at 11.9 Percent, Fastest in 12 Years

(Bloomberg) -- China's economy grew at the fastest
pace in 12 years in the second quarter and inflation accelerated
the most in nearly three, adding pressure on the government to
raise interest rates and cool investment.

Gross domestic product expanded 11.9 percent from a year
earlier, the statistics bureau said in Beijing today, up from
11.1 percent in the first quarter. Inflation climbed to 4.4
percent in June, breaching the central bank's annual 3 percent
target for a fourth month.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

T&D's Kinugawa's No. 1 Fund Bets on Marubeni, Juki Forays in India, China

(Bloomberg) -- Akihide Kinugawa's fund is only
allowed to invest in Japanese companies. He has made it the
country's best performer by choosing those that derive most of
their revenue from emerging markets.

His $544 million T&D Active Value Open Fund, with almost
half its assets in companies operating in such countries as
China, India and Venezuela, had twice the return of the Topix
index in the past 12 months. It returned 33 percent, the best
among 98 mutual funds with more than $100 million in assets
investing only in Japan, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

China's Economy Probably Expanded at Near Fastest Pace in Three Quarters

(Bloomberg) -- China's economy probably expanded at
near the fastest pace in three quarters, fueled by booming
exports that exacerbated tensions with the U.S. and Europe.

Gross domestic product grew 11 percent in the second
quarter from a year earlier following an 11.1 percent gain in
the three months to March 31, according to the median forecast
of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The government will
release the figure on July 19 in Beijing.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Bank of America Earnings Trail as Citigroup, JPMorgan, Merrill Go Abroad

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. does more
business in the U.S. than any of its competitors, and that's
eroding returns for shareholders of the Charlotte, North
Carolina-based company.

Demand for financial services is increasing three times as
fast outside the U.S., fueled by companies and investors in
Brazil, China, India and Russia. While Bank of America operates
in 45 countries, they produce only 13 percent of its revenue.
That's puny compared with Citigroup Inc., which derives almost
half its sales from abroad and ranks among the biggest banks in
Mexico, Poland and South Korea.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

China's Refined-Copper Imports Decline in June From May, Customs Reports

(Bloomberg) -- China's copper imports, the biggest
in the world, fell 6.1 percent in June from May as rising prices
made shipments of the metal unprofitable.

Refined copper and alloy imports were 121,991 metric tons
last month, the Beijing-based customs office said in a statement
today, citing preliminary data. This compares with 129,949 tons
in May and 69,715 tons in June 2006, according to Bloomberg data.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News