Vietnam Will Weaken Dong as Much as 1 Percent, Deputy Prime Minister Says

(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam will engineer a decline in
the dong of as much as 1 percent this year to support exports,
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said, confounding
forecasts by global banks for a stronger currency.

State Bank of Vietnam intervention has led to a
depreciation of about 1 percent in each of the past three years,
even as foreign investment drove faster economic growth. The
currency has dropped 0.4 percent this year, while the Indian
rupee gained 8.6 percent, the Philippine peso climbed 6.2
percent and the Thai baht rose 2.5 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

European Bonds Advance for Second Day ; 10-Year Yield Falls t 4.62 Percent

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds advanced
for a second day in London.

The yield on the 10-year bund fell 3 basis points to 4.62
percent by 7:05 a.m. in London. The price of the 4.25 percent
bond due July 2017 gained 0.24, or 2.4 euros per 1,000-euro
($1,345) face amount, to 97.08. Bond yields move inversely to
prices.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Palm Oil Drops in Asia After Exports Slow, Argentina Forecasts Large Crop

(Bloomberg) -- Palm oil futures on the Malaysia
Derivatives Exchange, which trades the benchmark contract, fell
for a second day on concern over falling exports and a forecast
rise in supply of soybeans, which can be used as a substitute.

Shipments from Malaysia, which with Indonesia produces
almost 90 percent of global output, fell 11 percent in the first
25 days of June from the previous month, Intertek Malaysia said.
Argentina, the third-biggest soybean producer, may have a record
harvest, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said on June 22.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Asian Shares Decline on Concern Over U.S. Home Sales; Taiwan Stocks Climb

(Bloomberg) -- Asian shares fell, led by Toyota
Motor Corp. and BHP Billiton Ltd., on concern figures this week
will show a drop in U.S. home sales, signaling declining demand
in the region's largest export market.

``Stocks globally take a fall every time there's more bad
news on U.S. housing-related or lending data because there's a
threat that this may spill over into other parts of the
economy,'' said Eric Betts, a strategist at Nomura Australia Ltd.
in Sydney. ``This wouldn't be good for companies that depend on
the U.S. consumer.''


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Japanese Stocks Drop, Led by Property Developers; Takeda, Nintendo Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks declined led by
property developers, such as Mitsubishi Estate Co. as investors
shifted funds out of shares that may be hurt by the trend of
increasing interest rates.

Limiting losses, some exporters such as Advantest Corp. and
Fanuc Ltd. gained as investors judged the benefit of a weaker
yen outweighed the implications of mortgage defaults in the U.S.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

JGBs follow Treasuries higher before Japan data

(Reuters) - Investors are awaiting figures on industrial output, consumer
prices, household spending and employment. Strong readings would
add to the view that the economy is on a solid footing, and that
the Bank of Japan may raise rates in August.




"Prices could edge up a bit more, but given the upcoming
events, gains should be capped in the near term," said Tetsuya
Miura, bond strategist at Shinko Securities.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Singapore's Stocks Fall; Chartered Drops on U.S. Subprime Loan Concern

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore's stocks fell for a second
day. Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. paced a decline
by the city's exporters on concern losses from the U.S. subprime
market will be worse than expected.

The Straits Times Index dropped 12.61, or 0.4 percent, to
3602.77 at 9:38 a.m. local time. Two stocks retreated for each
that advanced. June futures slipped 0.2 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Australian Shares Decline, Led by BHP, Westfield on U.S. Economic Concerns

(Bloomberg) -- Australian stocks fell for a third
day. Stocks that depend on global growth, such as BHP Billiton
Ltd. and Macquarie Bank Ltd., dropped on concern losses from the
faltering U.S. subprime market will be worse than expected.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 51.0, or 0.8 percent, to 6331.60
as of 10:28 a.m. in Sydney. About 16 stocks declined for every
three that gained.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Oil slides 0.7 percent as Nigerian strike ends

(Reuters) - U.S. light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 58 cents or 0.84 percent to $68.60 a barrel, unwinding half of last week's gains that were also fuelled by concerns that U.S. refiners are struggling to meet fuel demand in the world's top consumer.




At the weekend, unions in Africa's top oil producer called off their strike after the government agreed to freeze fuel prices for a year.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Japanese Stocks May Drop; Sony, Exporters May Pace Losses on U.S. Concerns

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks may decline, led by
companies relying on U.S. sales such as Sony Corp., on concern
losses from the faltering subprime market will be worse than
expected.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index had its biggest weekly drop
since early March. The U.S. was the largest overseas market for
Sony last business year.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

New Zealand Dollar May Strengthen as Japan Investors Attracted to Yields

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's dollar may rise today
as investors in Japan continue to be attracted to the nation's
higher-yielding assets.

The currency, known as the kiwi, gained 35 percent against
the yen, and 26 versus the U.S. dollar the past year as
investors use cheaply borrowed yen to buy New Zealand bonds and
bills. The country's record 8 percent interest rate is 7.5
percentage points higher than Japan's.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Central banks should keep raising rates: BIS's Knight

(Reuters) - The global economy is poised for a fifth straight year of growth above 4 percent, but risks remain and have as their common thread the highly accommodative financial conditions that have buoyed it in recent years, BIS General Manager Malcolm Knight said.




Tighter rates would have the added benefit of reining in financial markets, which Knight said were still loaded with risk, possibly sowing the seeds for a nasty correction in assets and currencies.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Putin Says Russia Wants to Play Key Role in Making Balkans an Energy Hub

(Bloomberg) -- Russia plans to increase its
influence in southeast Europe by buying state assets, supplying
fuel through new pipelines and linking power grids, President
Vladimir Putin said.

Companies like Russia's gas-export monopoly OAO Gazprom and
turbine-maker OAO Power Machines want to boost spending on the
region's energy infrastructure, Putin told leaders from the 10
Balkan states at an energy summit in Zagreb, Croatia today.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Hyundai Motor says union scales back strike plan

(Reuters) - "The union decided not to stop work from Monday to Wednesday," a Hyundai spokesman said by telephone without elaborations.




Hyundai's union was not available for comments.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Trade rules waiver needed for small firms - Sarkozy

(Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Saturday that European small businesses should have the same exemption as their U.S. counterparts from global trade rules on the awarding of public contracts.

France has long pushed the European Union's executive commission to secure an exemption for small businesses from World Trade Organisation rules that government contracts should be open to all bidders. It argues that the United States and other countries have waivers to help their local companies.


Read more at Reuters Africa