UPDATE 1-Toyota H1 China vehicles sales rise 77 pct

(Reuters) - SHANGHAI, July 5 - Toyota Motor Corp. said on Thursday it sold 77 percent more vehicles in mainland China in the first half than a year earlier, helped in part by brisk demand for its locally made Camry sedans.



Toyota, which competes with Honda Motor Co. and others, sold 212,000 vehicles in the world's second-largest auto market during the period, including imports, a company official told Reuters.


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UN told to overhaul corporate responsibility pact

(Reuters) - Human rights and environmental activists urged the United Nations on Wednesday to overhaul its seven-year-old initiative on business responsibility, saying it needed teeth to spur companies to improve their practices.

Amnesty International, Greenpeace and ActionAid, speaking ahead of a summit of the U.N. Global Compact expected to draw more than 1,000 executives and officials to Geneva, said that voluntary rules had done little to improve companies' practices.


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DLF Rises on Debut in Mumbai After Record Initial Share Sale Last Month

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of DLF Ltd., the Indian
property developer controlled by billionaire Kushal Pal Singh,
rose 8 percent on listing, lifted by demand from investors who
missed out on the country's biggest initial stock sale.

The stock debuted today at 568.80 rupees on the Bombay
Stock Exchange at 9:55 a.m., 43.80 rupees more than the IPO
price. DLF traded at 546.5 rupees, up 4.1 percent, at 11:33 a.m.,
valuing the New Delhi-based developer at 923 billion rupees ($23
billion).


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Indonesia Rupiah Falls Before Today's Interest-Rate Decision; Cut Forecast

(Bloomberg) -- Indonesia's rupiah fell on speculation
the central bank will cut interest rates today, making currency
deposits less attractive.

The rupiah has dropped 2.5 percent this month, the biggest
decline among the 10 most-active Asian currencies, on bets Bank
Indonesia will lower borrowing costs for a 13th time since May
2006. The nation's benchmark rate of 8.5 percent compares with
5.25 percent in the U.S. and 7.50 percent in the Philippines.


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Monster U.S. online jobs index slips in June

(Reuters) - The index's decline, which is typically seen in July, eased
the year-over-year growth rate to 9 percent, the slowest on
record, the firm said. The dip also suggests renewed moderation
in online demand after five months of growth, Monster said.




"The findings are also consistent with other indicators
pointing to further moderation in the U.S. economy. These
include the recent decline in U.S. consumer confidence and
continued softness in the housing sector," said Steve
Pogorzelski, an executive vice president at Monster.


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Deutsche Telekom Applies to Sell Up to 500 Billion Yen of Samurai Bonds

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe's biggest
phone company, applied to sell as much as 500 billion yen ($4
billion) of bonds denominated in yen over two years, according to
a document filed to Japan's Ministry of Finance.

Deutsche Telekom's application to sell debt in Japan will be
for the period through July 2009, according to the document.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Asian Stocks Advance to a Record; Samsung Electronics, BHP Billiton Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose for a sixth day,
lifting a regional benchmark to a record, on signs of increasing
demand for computer chips and metals.

Samsung Electronics Co. jumped after a brokerage report
raised speculation that prices for dynamic random access memory,
or DRAM, will climb, boosting profit. BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio
Tinto Group advanced on higher metals prices.


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Japan's Shares Climb for Sixth Day; Sony Gains on Yen, Retailers Advance

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese shares advanced for a sixth
day. Sony Corp. led gains on speculation exporters' profits
increased in the three months ended in June, aided by a weak yen.

Retailers climbed, led by Seven & I Holdings Co. after
companies including Aeon Mall Co. reported higher income in the
first quarter.


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Aasgard's Mikkelson Beats Europe Hedge Funds With Danish Mortgage Bonds

(Bloomberg) -- Kim Mikkelsen outperformed his
European hedge-fund peers by investing in bonds backed by summer
homes in Hornbaek and waterfront apartments in Copenhagen.

Mikkelsen, 38, put about half of his Aaasgard Fixed-Income
Fund's $150 million of assets into Denmark's mortgage-bond
market, the world's largest per capita. The fund returned 31
percent for the year ended June 29, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg, and is No. 1 in HedgeFund Intelligence's ranking of
fixed-income hedge funds in Europe.


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ECB May Keep Key Rate at 4 Percent, Wait Until September to Raise Again

(Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank will
probably keep interest rates unchanged, preferring to wait for
confirmation that economic growth is fanning inflation before
raising borrowing costs again, a survey of economists shows.

Policy makers meeting in Frankfurt today will keep the
benchmark refinancing rate at 4 percent, according to all 42
economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The bank will raise the
rate to 4.25 percent in September, a separate survey shows.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Ecuador minister facing censure, says will not quit

(Reuters) - Next week, Congress is scheduled to vote on whether to
censure Patino after opposition lawmakers accused him of
deliberately manipulating the debt markets to benefit third
parties.




President Rafael Correa, a leftist former economy
minister, has publicly sided with Patino and he has the final
word on the minister's job.


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Canada June job growth seen slowing from Q1 levels

(Reuters) - However, the softer job numbers expected on Friday at 7
a.m. will not stand in the way of a Bank of Canada
rate hike on July 10.




According to the average forecast of analysts surveyed by
Reuters, the economy will add 17,000 jobs in June and the
unemployment rate will stay unchanged at a three-decade low of
6.1 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Mexico's Bolsa Gains on Outlook for Tax Legislation: Latin American Stocks

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's Bolsa index rose for a sixth
day as prospects improved for the passage of a tax measure that
could spur government spending on infrastructure and energy.

The benchmark Bolsa index advanced 62.16, or 0.2 percent, to
32,179.99 as of 12:19 p.m. in New York, led by Grupo Elektra SA,
Mexico's biggest electronics retailer.


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Coke CEO says mulls Snapple buy in tea push

(Reuters) - Coke also aims to expand its palette of tea-based drinks
using a revived pact with Nestle and recently met with
officials from the Coke-Nestle joint venture, Beverage Partners
Worldwide, to advance their plans, Isdell said.




"You're going to see more value-added products from the tea
platform," he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Copper hits fresh 7-week high, lead sees new record

(Reuters) - Copper touched a seven-week high on Wednesday on persistent strike threats, while fund buying fuelled lead to an all-time record.

But most metal prices were seen trading in narrow ranges with the U.S. markets closed for Independence Day.


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Chile's Peso Advances as Inflation Increases More Than Forecast in June

(Bloomberg) -- Chile's peso gained after a larger-
than-forecast increase in consumer prices in June fueled
speculation the central bank will lift interest rates next week.

Chile's consumer prices rose 0.9 percent in June from the
prior month, after a 0.6 increase in May, the National
Statistics Institute said. The figure was higher than the 0.5
percent median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.


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Italy's Astaldi wins Algerian rail contract

(Reuters) - Italy's Astaldi has won a 616 million euro contract to build a railway in Algeria, the construction company said on Wednesday.

Algeria's Transport Ministry has awarded Astaldi the contract for a new 120-km (75-mile) line between Sada and Moulay Slissen, the company said.


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Xstrata Starts $58 Million Expansion of Altonorte Copper Smelter in Chile

(Bloomberg) -- Xstrata Plc, the world's fourth-
largest copper producer, started the $58 million expansion of its
Altonorte copper smelter in northern Chile.

The upgrade, to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2009,
will increase capacity at the smelter to 380,000 metric tons a
year from 290,000 tons, Zug, Switzerland-based Xstrata said today
in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Germany's KfW Raises Full-Year Forecast for Bond Sales to 60 Billion Euros

(Bloomberg) -- KfW Group, the German state-owned
development bank, raised its forecast for full-year bond sales to
60 billion euros ($82 billion) on strong economic growth in
Germany.

The Frankfurt-based bank originally forecast it would sell
about 55 billion euros in bonds in 2007 compared with 54.2
billion euros in 2006. So far this year, KfW has raised 37.6
billion euros in debt, Guenther Braeunig, a member of KfW's
management board, said at a press conference in Frankfurt today.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Copper Falls in Asia, Ending a Four-Day Rally, Amid Interest Rate Concern

(Bloomberg) -- Copper prices dropped in Shanghai,
ending four days of advances, triggered by a fall in China's
equities market after the central bank signaled it may raise
interest rates.

Chinese central bank yesterday signaled it may increase
interest rates to limit lending and investment. The CSI 300
Index slid 2.3 percent to 3743.58 at the close, after earlier
rising as much as 0.4 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Apollo Bids $6 Billion for Huntsman, Topping Offer From Blavatnik's Access

(Bloomberg) -- Apollo Management LP, a New York-
based private-equity firm, offered to buy U.S. chemical maker
Huntsman Corp. for about $6 billion, topping a bid from
billionaire Len Blavatnik's Access Industries Holdings LLC.

Apollo's Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc. offered $27.25
a share in cash, Huntsman said in a statement today. That's
$2 more than Access's agreed bid made on June 25 and 44
percent higher than the stock's close the previous day.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Emission Permits Steady Near One-Week Low on Speculation of Switch to Gas

(Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon dioxide permits
were little changed near their lowest in a week, as power
utilities will probably burn natural gas instead of coal next
year to generate electricity.

Utilities require half the permits when burning gas instead
of coal, prompting them to switch to the cleaner fuel when
emission allowances trade high enough. The EU system is the
world's biggest greenhouse-gas trading program.


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Air Liquide, Prologis, Bancaja, CRH Plan to Sell Debt: European Bond Alert

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of bond sales
denominated in euros or pounds and expected in the coming days
and weeks.

Investment-Grade Sales


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Gold rallies, Tokyo falls on New York

(Reuters) - Gold bounced on Wednesday on bargain hunting, while Tokyo futures fell close to 1 percent on the heels of New York's decline.

Security worries triggered by the suspected al Qaeda plot to detonate car bombs in London and Glasgow meant that gold had the potential to gain further on safe-haven buying, but some traders said gold lacked the power to break past resistance at


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