U.S. stock futures rise, suggest respite before Fed

(Reuters) - The Fed releases its decision on Tuesday and is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25 percent. Interest rate futures <0#FF:> show traders are betting on the central bank delivering at least one rate cut by the end of this year.




By 0927 GMT September S&P futures were up 0.5 percent in Europe but still around their lowest in nearly five months.


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European Stocks Decline, Led by UBS, BNP, Philips, BHP Billiton, Lafarge

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell, following
declines in Asia and the U.S., on mounting concern that losses in
the U.S. mortgage market will erode economic growth and raise
financing costs for companies.

UBS AG and BNP Paribas SA led a drop by financial shares.
Royal Philips Electronics NV and Lafarge SA decreased as the
dollar traded near a record low against the euro. BHP Billiton
Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group slipped after copper fell in Shanghai.


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U.S. worries pressure Asian stocks, dollar

(Reuters) - The negative trend is expected to spread to Europe where financial bookmakers are calling for major markets to open around 1 percent lower.




Heightened concerns for economic growth knocked oil prices, which briefly dipped below $74.50, and dragged Shanghai copper futures down 3 percent, but flight to safety helped gold stay near one-week highs and held the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield near 2-½ month lows.


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Asia-Pacific Corporate Bond Risk Increases on Subprime, Default Swaps Show

(Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning corporate bonds in
the Asia-Pacific region rose on concerns that losses tied to the
U.S. subprime mortgage market will widen.

The cost of default protection, measured by credit-default
swaps, increased in Australia and Japan, approaching the highest
in more than three years. Similar contracts tied to U.S. and
European corporate bonds rose on Aug. 3 after Bear Stearns Cos.,
the manager of two hedge funds that collapsed last month, had
its debt-rating outlook cut to negative by Standard & Poor's.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Nissan to launch diesel SUV in Japan in 2008

(Reuters) - The introduction of the diesel X-Trail, due out in the autumn of 2008, could mark the first diesel passenger car launched in Japan by a local brand in years after the powertrain all but disappeared in the 1990s due to its poor image as dirty and loud.




Diesel cars' weakness has been higher exhaust levels of nitrogen oxide and pollutants, but they are slowly gaining traction around the world following their success in Europe since they can get 30 percent better mileage than gasoline engines and emit less carbon dioxide.


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Corporate Bond Risk Rises After Bear Stearns Rating Outlook Cut by S&amp;P

(Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning corporate bonds
rose in the U.S. and Europe after Bear Stearns Cos., the manager
of two hedge funds that collapsed last month, had its debt-
rating outlook cut to negative by Standard & Poor's.

The failure of the Bear Stearns funds, which invested in
subprime mortgage-related bonds, triggered a flight from the
riskiest debt that spurred some lenders to balk at financing
leveraged buyouts. Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan and six more banks
today canceled the sale of 1 billion pounds ($2 billion) of
loans for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s LBO of U.K. drugstore
chain Alliance Boots Plc after failing to find investors, two
people with direct knowledge of the deal said.


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US jobs data hit stocks, dollar, boost bonds

(Reuters) - Stocks and the dollar fell while safe-haven government bonds rallied on Friday after weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data fanned concerns about a U.S. economy already struggling with credit liquidity fears.

U.S. stock futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street while European stocks moved deeper in negative territory after data showed U.S. employers boosted payrolls in July at the slowest pace since February, adding 92,000 jobs.


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BA CEO expects fines provision to suffice

(Reuters) - BA set aside the provision in May and this week U.S. and UK authorities unveiled fines worth almost 270 million pounds.




Authorities in Europe, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are also probing BA's fuel surcharges.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Stocks set for steady start ahead of jobs data

(Reuters) - By 6:05 a.m. EDT S&P and Dow futures were flat, while Nasdaq futures eased 0.1 percent. European stocks were steady but dipped from early highs.




Citigroup chief executive Charles Prince said the recent market pullback "feels sharp," but he was bullish on the bank's growth, the New York Times said on its Web site.


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IAC/InterActiveCorp quarterly net rises 78 percent

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 31 - IAC/InterActiveCorp , the Internet conglomerate owned by Barry Diller, said on Tuesday its quarterly profit rose 78 percent, helped by the sale of its European shopping channel and growth at its membership business.



At the same time the company said its key HSN shopping unit posted a slight 1 percent decline in revenue and reported what it said was unexpected softness in U.S. ticket volumes for its Ticketmaster box-office service. Second-quarter net profit rose to $95.97 million, or 32 cents per share, from $53.8 million, or 17 cents per share, a year ago.


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Treasury Notes Decline as Corporate Bond Risk Falls in Europe, Stocks Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell for a second day as a
measure of corporate bond risk declined in Europe, sparking
speculation investor demand for the relative safety of U.S. debt
is waning.

The yield on the 10-year note rose 2 basis points to 4.82
percent as of 8:06 a.m. in London, according to bond broker
Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The price of the 4 1/2 percent security due
in May 2017 declined 5/32, or $1.56 per $1,000 face amount, to 97
16/32.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

European Business, Consumer Confidence May Have Declined for Second Month

(Bloomberg) -- European business and consumer
confidence probably fell for a second month in July as the euro's
appreciation and higher oil prices threatened to curb economic
growth, a survey of economists shows.

The European Commission's index of sentiment among
executives and consumers in the euro region declined to 111.2
from 111.7 in June, according to the median of 29 forecasts in a
Bloomberg News survey. Inflation stayed at 1.9 percent in July, a
separate survey shows.


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Most U.S. Stocks Drop on Lending Conern; Energy Shares, Exxon Mobil Fall

(Bloomberg) -- Most U.S. stocks declined, dragging
European shares lower, after a German bank's losses from
subprime mortgages spurred concern rising defaults will reduce
lending and end the boom in leveraged buyouts.

Financial shares fell to a 10-month low after Germany's
IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG said it scrapped an earnings
forecast because of ``massive uncertainty'' in the markets.
Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest energy producer,
retreated on a drop in oil prices from an almost one-year high.


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FTSE 100 Index Stocks Advance, Led by HSBC, Imperial Chemicals, Vedanta

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose for the first time
in five days, led by HSBC Holdings Plc after Europe's largest
bank reported profit that topped analysts' estimates.

Imperial Chemicals Industries Plc also gained, while BHP
Billiton Ltd. led shares of mining companies higher.


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ISDA sets out European loan CDS template

(Reuters) - The European template differs from the U.S. standard in that
it relates to a specific underlying loan rather than an
underlying borrower.




The parties to the default swap can agree that a contract
will be canceled if that loan is subsequently refinanced.
Alternatively, the contract will continue, referencing the new
loans used to refinance the original underlying obligation.


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Sarkozy Complaints About Euro's Impact on Exports Not Supported by Data

(Bloomberg) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy
complains the euro's increase to a record against the dollar is
hurting European exports. So far, the numbers don't back him up.

Shipments from the 13-nation euro area rose 9 percent in the
five months through May from a year earlier, the second-fastest
pace in six years. That's because the euro has increased less than
half as much against the currencies of the region's 24 biggest
trading partners as it has against the U.S. dollar.


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ABN Amro Holding NV, Bulgari, Geox, Linde, Tod's: European Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in European markets. Prices are from the last close.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 fell 0.5 percent to 372.69. The Dow
Jones Stoxx 50 Index declined 0.4 percent to 3720.33. The Euro
Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the 13 nations using the euro,
dropped 0.2 percent to 4244.58.


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European Bond Yields Hold Near Lowest in Two Months as Stocks Decline

(Bloomberg) -- European bond yields held near the
lowest in two months as stock markets across the region fell and
corporate-debt risk surged to a record

Bunds reversed earlier losses on speculation investors
switched to the safety of government securities. Benchmark 10-
year yields rose earlier after data showing consumer-price
inflation accelerated in Germany in July, adding to the case for
the European Central Bank to keep raising interest rates.


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Risk aversion sends high yielders tumbling

(Reuters) - High yielding currencies fell sharply in volatile markets on Friday as an overnight sell-off in credit and stock markets led investors to pare risky carry trades.

The rise in risk aversion originally sent the low-yielding yen to a three-month high against the dollar and a six-week high versus the euro. But the Japanese currency's gains proved short-lived, in part due to soft retail sales data from Japan and also because of a recovery in European stock markets.


Read more at Reuters Africa

European Stocks Advance, Led by Volkswagen on Profit; Nokia, Siemens Gain

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks rose for the first
time in four days after Volkswagen AG, the region's largest
carmaker, reported earnings that exceeded analysts' estimates and
investors speculated this week's sell-off was overdone.

Volkswagen paced gains by automakers. Nokia Oyj, the world's
biggest mobile-phone maker, rallied after a five-day decline, and
Siemens AG, Europe's largest engingeering company, rebounded from
a two-month low.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News