Sunday, April 15, 2007

Copper Prices Rise in Shanghai on Stockpiles Decline; Zinc, Aluminum Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Copper futures in Shanghai rose near a seven-month high, as a drop in global stockpiles signaled improved demand for the metal used in wires and pipes.

Copper stockpiles monitored by London, New York and Shanghai exchanges fell 1.9 percent last week to 267,846 metric tons, the lowest since Jan. 30. Stockpiles in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses fell for the first week in more than two months.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

UPDATE 1-GPC cancer drug satraplatin gets FDA priority

(Reuters) - The German biotech company, which estimates peak annual sales of satraplatin at $500 million, said on Monday the FDA had accepted its filing for the product, an oral drug for prostate cancer patients who fail to respond to hormone treatment.

"With the designation of priority review, we expect an action on the application from the FDA in August of this year and are thus moving forward with commercialisation plans for satraplatin," GPC said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Daiwa's Suezawa Says Sell Call, Put Options for Japan's June Bond Futures

(Bloomberg) -- Investors should simultaneously sell call and put options on Japan's bond futures for June delivery because the outlook for unchanged interest rates will limit price swings, according to Daiwa Securities SMBC Co.

Sell call options with a strike price of about 135 yen and sell put options with a strike of 132 yen by the end of May, said Hidenori Suezawa, chief strategist at Daiwa Securities. Call options give the owner the right, not the obligation, to buy bond futures at a specific price by a fixed date in exchange for a fee. A put option grants the right to sell.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

German Investor Confidence Probably Increased as Economy Showed Resilience

(Bloomberg) -- German investor confidence probably rose to a nine-month high in April on evidence the economy is overcoming the effects of a U.S. slowdown and a rising euro, a survey of economists shows.

The ZEW Center for European Economic Research may say its index of investor and analyst expectations increased to 10, the highest since July 2006, from 5.8 in March, according to the median forecast of 42 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. ZEW will release the report at 11 a.m. in Mannheim tomorrow.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Google rivals urge antitrust scrutiny of deal

(Reuters) - Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, said the deal would allow Google to corner the online advertising market and provide them access to a huge amount of information on consumer behavior on the Internet.

"This proposed acquisition raises serious competition and privacy concerns," said Brad Smith, Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel in an e-mail statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Terra Firma accesses Alliance Boots books - paper

(Reuters) - A comment was not immediately available from Alliance Boots or Terra Firma.

Terra Firma and medical charity Wellcome Trust confirmed last Tuesday they were at the early stages of considering a counterbid for Alliance Boots.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Hong Kong May Shift Dollar Reserves to Riskier Assets, Says Morgan Stanley

(Bloomberg) -- The Hong Kong Monetary Authority may invest more of its $135 billion of foreign-exchange reserves in Asia to increase returns, said Stephen Jen, head of currency research at Morgan Stanley.

The city's de facto central bank, whose reserves are mostly in dollar-denominated debt, may buy riskier Asian assets, which would support the region's currencies, wrote Jen in a research note April 12. Yields on 10-year bonds in India and Indonesia are more than 3 percentage points higher than those of similar- dated U.S. Treasuries.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News