Indian Rupee May Gain to 39 This Year as Intervention Will Fail, HSBC Says

(Bloomberg) -- India's rupee may strengthen to 39 by
the end of the year, the strongest since February 1998, because
the central bank will fail in its efforts to stem both currency
gains and inflation, HSBC Holdings Plc said.

The Reserve Bank of India is selling rupees so fast that it
can't mop up the cash injected into the economy, causing
overnight interest rates to fall to near zero, Robert Prior-
Wandesforde, a Singapore-based economist, and Pieter Van Der
Schaft, a Hong Kong-based strategist, wrote in a research note.
That rate is too low for an economy growing at 9 percent a year,
they wrote.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

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.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

HSBC, Allied Irish Lead Retreat in U.K., Irish Stocks; Shell, BP Decline

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks fell for a second day, led
by HSBC Holdings Plc and HBOS Plc on concern losses in subprime
mortgages in the U.S. will erode economic and earnings growth.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc dropped after Goldman,
Sachs & Co. downgraded the shares and crude oil retreated.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Bank of England Talks to Banks to Eradicate `Scruffy' Notes, Cashier Says

(Bloomberg) -- The Bank of England is in talks with
U.K. lenders, including HSBC Holdings Plc, to replace ``scruffy''
five-pound ($10) notes in circulation with a billion pounds of
new bills, its chief cashier said.

``We're in close contact with the issuing banks,'' said
Andrew Bailey, whose signature appears on every bill printed by
the central bank, in an interview. ``We will look at the way in
which banks are remunerated for sorting and issuing notes,
whether we've got the distribution of those incentives right
between the denominations of notes. On the face of it I think we
haven't.''


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News