Thursday, May 3, 2007

Asian Stocks Rise to Record on Metals, U.S. Economy; BHP, PetroChina Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks climbed to a record, led by BHP Billiton Ltd., after metals prices gained and reports showed better-than-forecast productivity growth in the U.S., the world's largest economy.

Benchmarks in Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia rose to new highs, tracking advances in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific excluding Japan Index. Markets in Japan and China were closed for public holidays.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

New Zealand's Dollar Climbs Against Australia's as Rate Premium May Widen

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's dollar strengthened against Australia's on speculation there's a greater chance of an interest-rate increase, widening the advantage for holding the currency.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand last week raised rates a quarter-point to a record 7.75 percent and traders see a 17 percent chance of another increase in June, according to a Credit Suisse index based on overnight interest-rate swaps. The Reserve Bank of Australia today said inflation will cool this year, reducing the prospect the bank will lift its 6.25 percent rate.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Dollar Heads for Weekly Rise as Data Show U.S. Economy Is Strengthening

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar headed for the biggest weekly gain in four months against the euro as strength in U.S. manufacturing and services suggested the Federal Reserve will refrain from cutting interest rates in coming months.

The dollar also was set for a second winning week versus the yen, to the strongest since February, as the yield spread between U.S. and Japanese two-year bonds widened to a three-week high. The U.S. Institute for Supply Management's index of services grew the fastest in three months in April, while manufacturing was the best in almost a year.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Philippine Bonds, Peso Gain as Report Shows Slower-Than-Expected Inflation

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine bonds and the peso gained after a government report showed inflation was slower than expected, making it less likely the central bank will curb economic growth by raising interest rates.

Benchmark yields declined after the National Statistics Office said the consumer price index held near a seven-year low in April. The central bank kept its overnight interest rate unchanged at 7.5 percent on April 19.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru: Latin American Bond Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic reports may influence trading in Latin American local bonds today. Bond yields are from the previous session.

Argentina: Monthly inflation in April will likely remain unchanged from March, at 0.8 percent, according to the median estimate of a Bloomberg survey of four economists. Argentina's central bank estimates consumer prices will rise 7 percent to 11 percent this year. The government will release official figures at 3 p.m. New York time.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

S.Africa gold shares weigh on bourse, Investec shines

(Reuters) - Gold Fields Ltd posted worse-than-expected third-quarter earnings spooking the gold sector, which weighed on South African stocks on Thursday, but Investec rose on a positive trading outlook.

Gold Fields' Q3 adjusted earnings per share fell by 23 percent and the company forecast marginal growth in output in the current quarter, dampening the sector's performance ahead of AngloGold Ashanti's first quarter results due on Friday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

U.K. FTSE 100 Advances to 6-1/2-Year High, Paced by Unilever and Shell

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose to their highest in more than 6 1/2 years after earnings from Unilever Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc beat analysts' estimates.

Barclays Plc rallied after a Dutch court blocked a transaction that was key to the bank's plan to buy ABN Amro Holding NV. Hanson Plc surged after Germany's HeidelbergCement AG said it may make an offer for the company. Prudential Plc climbed after a newspaper reported that a major shareholder said a breakup of the insurer has merit.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.S. Stocks Rise for Third Day on Economic Data, Earnings; Verizon Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Better-than-forecast gains in American productivity and the U.S. services industry pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a third straight record and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index above 1500 for the first time since September 2000.

Verizon Communications Inc., the second-biggest U.S. telephone company, rose the most in the Dow average after Merrill Lynch & Co. increased its share-price estimate. Financial shares accounted for almost a third of the S&P 500's advance after profit at Unum Group, the largest disability insurer, topped forecasts.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

HK shares at 2-wk closing high, properties leap

(Reuters) - Property shares outperformed before next week's land auction, with Henderson Land jumping to multi-year highs following a broker upgrade.

"We're seeing momentum trading and a focus on lagging stocks like property shares," said Ben Kwong, chief operating officer at KGI Asia Ltd.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

UPDATE 2-Chile inflation accelerates to 0.6 percent in April

(Reuters) - The April rise in the CPI followed a 0.4 percent increase in March. It was also higher than the 0.45 percent median increase forecast by nine economists polled by Reuters.

Inflation in April 2006 rose 0.6 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

South Korean Stocks Rise to All-Time High; Hyundai Mipo, Korean Air Climb

(Bloomberg) -- South Korean stocks advanced to a record after Korean Air Lines Co. and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. reported quarterly earnings growth. Korea Electric Power Corp. and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. led gains.

Hyundai Motor Co. rose after brokerages such as Woori Investment & Securities Co. said the company's earnings figures suggested a recovery was near.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

European Stocks Rebound After U.S. Worker Productivity, Labor Cost Report

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks advanced after a report showed U.S. worker productivity rose as labor costs eased, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Unilever reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates.

``Today's data was a good mix indicating sustained growth and low inflation risk,'' said Carsten Klude, who helps manage $20 billion as head of investment strategy at M.M. Warburg & Co. in Hamburg. ``Positive earnings surprises are the groundwork for further share price gains.''


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Corn Futures Rise to One-Month High as Rains Delay Planting of U.S. Crop

(Bloomberg) -- Corn futures rose to a one-month high as wet weather in the U.S. Midwest causes more delays in planting the country's biggest crop, reducing yield potential.

As much as 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of rain the next two days will slow planting from Kansas to Ohio, said Mike Tannura, a meteorologist for T-Storm Weather in Champaign, Illinois. Another storm will bring 1.5 inches to parts of Nebraska and South Dakota on May 6 before moving east, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Monster online jobs index edges up in April

(Reuters) - The index is now up 14 percent year-over-year, showing a modest annual growth pace compared with a year ago, it said.

"The index is slightly higher in April, but its pace of growth does reflect a moderating U.S. economy so we see growth and demand at lower levels than we saw in 2006 and 2005," said Steve Pogorzelski, group president of Monster Worldwide, parent company of Monster. "At the same time, the demand we do see is relatively stable."


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Estee Lauder profit up but weak sales hit stock

(Reuters) - Analysts on average had expected profit of 46 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales increased 7.1 percent to $1.69 billion. Makeup and skin care sales rose, but the New York-based company reported weakness in its core brands and in the domestic market.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Dutch court tells ABN to freeze LaSalle sale

(Reuters) - The commercial court in Amsterdam said the deal should be put to shareholders, as well as any other decision to sell the entire bank or parts of the bank.

At issue was whether ABN's sale of LaSalle can be considered a "major transaction" requiring shareholders' approval.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 2-Gold Fields Q3 adjusted EPS falls, costs weigh

(Reuters) - JOHANNESBURG, May 3 - South African gold miner Gold Fields Ltd 10 suffered water shortages, the firm said.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-International Flavors 1st-quarter earnings climb

(Reuters) - The company, which makes flavors and aromas used in products such as detergents and foods, posted a quarterly profit of $62.7 million, or 69 cents a share, compared with $53.7 million, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier.

Sales in the quarter rose more than 10 percent to $566.1 million, from $511.4 million, in the year ago quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

PPL Corp 1st qtr earnings drop 28 percent

(Reuters) - The company reported 13 cents per share in net one-time charges linked mostly to those divestitures.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Agrium narrows first-quarter loss, see Q2 profit

(Reuters) - Canada's second-largest fertilizer producer said it lost $11 million, or 8 cents a share, for the period ended March 31. That compared with a loss of $48 million, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier.

Sales for the Calgary, Alberta-based company were $861 million, up from $688 million a year earlier, when it had just bought U.S. chain Royster-Clark, which boosted its retail market share.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Tesoro earnings jump on stronger margins

(Reuters) - The company also said its board approved a 2-for-1 share split and a doubling of the quarterly cash dividend.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Brazil steelmaker Gerdau's profit rises 4 percent

(Reuters) - Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a measure of cash flow known as EBITDA, rose over 17 percent to 1.37 billion reais from 1.17 billion reais. Net revenues rose nearly 16 percent to around 6.5 billion reais.

Gerdau, Brazil's leading producer of long-rolled steel, also has operations in Canada, the United States, Spain, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Tembec reports smaller second-quarter loss

(Reuters) - The company lost C$45 million , or 54 Canadian cents a share, in the quarter ended March 31, compared with a net loss of C$168 million, or C$1.96 a share, in the year-earlier period.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Brazil's Real Reaches More Than 6-Year High on Export, Asset Sale Flows

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil's real rose to the highest in more than six years before retreating as currency from exporters and from purchases of local financial assets flood the market with dollars.

``Flows are so strong today that if the central bank doesn't act, the rate could move very, very close to 2.0-reais- per-dollar,'' said Luiz Pizani, a trader at Liquidez Corretora in Sao Paulo, one of Brazil's largest currency brokerages.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

S.Africa new vehicle sales fall in April

(Reuters) - South African new vehicle sales declined by 4.4 percent year-on-year in April as higher interest rates and rising debt levels curbed spending on passenger cars, but commercial vehicle sales remained strong.

The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (NAAMSA) said on Thursday the industry sold 43,588 vehicles during the month compared with 45,590 units in April 2006.


Read more at Reuters Africa

China's Acorn International IPO priced at $15.50/ADS

(Reuters) - The company had last month said that the offering would be priced between $12.50 and $14.50 per ADS.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

St. Jude wins US and European OK on new pacemaker

(Reuters) - The medical device maker said Zephyr also is the first pacemaker that can tell physicians which device timing settings are optimal for each patient's needs in only about 90 seconds.




Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-ECB plans new oversight for card payment services

(Reuters) - The bank said it had been monitoring risks to which card payment schemes were exposed and to "promote a level playing field across the euro area", had developed an oversight framework for schemes that process euro payments.

"The proposed framework applies to all CPSs providing card payment services, including debit and/or credit cards," the central bank added in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-ITG quarterly profit falls, but revenue rises

(Reuters) - Investment Technology, a provider of technology-based trading services and transaction research, reported net income of $24.7 million, or 55 cents a share, compared with $26.4 million, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts had forecast earnings of 53 cents a share before items, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

CenturyTel posts lower profit

(Reuters) - Excluding non-recurring items, first-quarter profit rose to $77.9 million, or 68 cents per share, from $72.3 million, or 57 cents per share.

Operating revenue excluding nonrecurring items fell to $600.9 million in the quarter, from $611.3 million.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 2-Estee Lauder profit rises despite weak US sales

(Reuters) - Earnings rose to $93.9 million, or 45 cents a share, in the third quarter ended on March 31 from $59.5 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected profit of 46 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Norilsk Nickel Makes Cash Offer for LionOre, Trumping Bid From Xstrata

(Bloomberg) -- OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest nickel producer, offered C$5.3 billion ($4.8 billion) for LionOre Mining International Ltd. to break up Xstrata Plc's agreement to buy the Canadian company.

Norilsk's offer of C$21.50 in cash is 16 percent more than the C$18.50-per-share bid made on March 26 by Zug, Switzerland- based Xstrata. The bid from Moscow-based Norilsk, announced today in a statement, is 14 percent more than LionOre's closing price in Toronto yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Royal Ahold, Valeo, NXP: Credit-Default Swap Market Movers in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning European corporate bonds rose, according to traders in the credit-default swaps market.

The cost of a credit-default swap based on a 10 million- euro ($13 million) contract on the iTraxx Crossover Series 7 Index, which includes 50 companies with investment-grade and non-investment grade ratings rose 1,500 euros to 205,500 euros, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Oppenheimer's Steinmetz Tops Bond-Fund Rankings With Bet on Brazilian Real

(Bloomberg) -- Arthur Steinmetz, manager of the best- performing international bond fund in the U.S., is buying more Brazilian debt during what he calls the country's ``golden age.''

The $6.7 billion Oppenheimer International Bond Fund has 6.7 percent of its assets in Brazil, the second-biggest stake after the U.S. The Brazilian real's 74 percent increase since 2003 propelled Steinmetz's fund to average annual returns of 14.6 percent in the past five years, the most among 10 competing mutual funds that buy debt globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

HAL 9000-Style Machines, Once Kubrick's Dream, Outwit Human Stock-Pickers

(Bloomberg) -- Way up in a New York skyscraper, inside the headquarters of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Michael Kearns is trying to teach a computer to do something other machines can't: think like a Wall Street trader.

In his cubicle overlooking the trading floor, Kearns, 44, consults with Lehman Brothers traders as Ph.D.s tap away at secret software. The programs they're writing are designed to sift through billions of trades and spot subtle patterns in world markets.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Belgian Opel plant extends strike - union

(Reuters) - "Therefore we continue the strike," Kennes said.

Belgian unions say they want assurances from GM that a sufficient number of cars will be produced at the plant to compensate for the loss of the new Astra. The next generation of the best-selling car will not be built in Belgium.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

HCA posts lower quarterly net

(Reuters) - Interest expenses in the latest quarter totaled $557 million, up from $186 million in the 2006 quarter, while revenue rose 4.1 percent to $6.7 billion.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Chicago Wheat Falls as U.S. Winter Crop Yields May Top 2006; Corn Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat futures fell for a second day as hard red winter wheat yields in Kansas and Oklahoma may surpass last year as most of the crop only had minor damage from a freeze April 7. Soybeans fell, while corn gained for a third day.

Yields are estimated to be 43.2 bushels an acre when the crop is harvested in June, compared with 37.2 bushels a year earlier, according to data gathered by about 60 participants in a four-state tour of fields.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

MITY Enterprises agrees to be bought for $21.50/shr

(Reuters) - The company said its board had approved the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter or early in the third quarter.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Sanofi silent on possible Bristol-Myers bid

(Reuters) - "We don't comment on this," head of finance Jean-Claude Leroy told analysts in a post-results conference call.

There were widespread rumours earlier this year that a bid for the U.S. company, which has a market value of close to $60 billion, could be immiment -- though speculation has since cooled.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Rand Advances as Rallying Stock Markets, Commodities Boost Investor Flows

(Bloomberg) -- The South African rand gained for a third day, its best performance in almost a month, as rising global stocks persuaded investors to reduce their aversion to risk and boosted demand for commodities.

Foreign investors have bought 24.3 billion rand ($3.5 billion) more of South African stocks than they've sold this year, helping to boost demand for the currency. The rand has also benefited as gold and platinum, which account for about a fifth of exports in Africa's largest economy, have risen.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Starbucks, Ethiopia reach licensing agreement

(Reuters) - Ethiopia, which prides itself as the birthplace of coffee, has been in dispute with Starbucks, saying the U.S. coffee shop chain had tried to block Africa's biggest producer from trademarking its best-known beans: Sidamo and Harar.

In theory, trademark agreements could bolster incomes for Ethiopia's farmers by allowing the country to negotiate purchasing conditions for coffee roasters or retailers that want to use the names.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

LME copper near $8,000/tonne, data, strike support

(Reuters) - Copper prices firmed on Wednesday, flirting with $8,000 a tonnes, with sentiment supported by positive data, threats to supply and the possibility investors may use a week-long holiday in China to drive prices higher.

Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange was at $7,965 a tonne at 0354 GMT, up $15 from the previous close, when it peaked at $8,030.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Rand firms, buoyed by weaker yen

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand headed back towards recent highs against the dollar on Thursday despite the greenback's own gains overseas, riding mainly on a weaker yen, which had boosted sentiment towards higher yielding currencies.

At 0647 GMT, the rand was at 6.98 against the dollar, a gain of 0.6 percent from its Wednesday New York close of 7.02/dollar, and within sight of the 6.9325/dollar level it visited last week -- its strongest level since January 3.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Barloworld forms Caterpillar joint venture in Congo

(Reuters) - Barloworld and Tractafric Equipment of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have set up a joint venture to supply earth moving equipment in Congo's copper and cobalt rich Katanga Province.

The pairing of South African industrial conglomerate Barloworld's equipment division with Tractafric would be known as Congo Equipment, Barloworld said on Thursday, and has been formed on the basis of an agreement between Caterpillar and the two firms to sell its products in Katanga Province.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Spar sees H1 earnings 25-30 pct higher

(Reuters) - South African food retailer Spar Group said it expects earnings per share and headline earnings per share for the six months to end-March to be 25-30 percent higher than for the same previous year period.

The increase in earnings is attributable to Spar's strong retail performance and buoyant market conditions experienced during the period, it said in a statement on Thursday.


Read more at Reuters Africa