Crude Oil Little Changed on Unrest in Nigeria, Outlook for U.S. Gasoline

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil traded little changed in New York, near $62 a barrel, after Chevron Corp. said four contractors were kidnapped in Nigeria, raising concern supplies from Africa's largest producer would be disrupted.

Four U.S. citizens working a Chevron contractor were abducted in the Niger delta, said Femi Odumabo, a spokesman for Chevron's Nigerian venture. U.S. refineries may have increased production last week by 1 percentage point before the summer driving season, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Dollar drifts sideways ahead of Fed meeting

(Reuters) - The dollar dipped against the yen but was mostly steady on Wednesday as investors looked to see if the Federal Reserve would give any signals to back up market expectations for an interest rate cut later in the year.

The yen posted broad gains as investors took profits on carry trades -- using the low-yielding Japanese currency to fund purchases of higher-yielding currencies and assets -- before this week's string of central bank meetings.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Robusta Coffee Climbs to Three-Month High as Stockpiles in Vietnam Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Robusta coffee in London jumped to a three-month high as stockpiles in Vietnam, the world's biggest producer of the beans, dwindled and prices for the commodity in the Asian country rose to a record.

``Vietnamese prices have hit a record 24,700 dong ($1.54) per kilogram,'' Elizabeth Miller, head of research at RedTower Ltd. in Aberdeen, U.K., said in a report. ``Stocks have nearly run out.''


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Polish Mutual Funds Boost Assets to New Record in April as Stocks Rally

(Bloomberg) -- Assets at Polish mutual funds rose to a new record in April as Poles continued to shift savings, seeking to take advantage of the Warsaw bourse's four-year rally, the country's main investment association said.

Fund assets increased 5.6 billion zloty ($2 billion), or 4.8 percent, to a record 123.2 billion zloty as of April 30, the Warsaw-based Chamber of Fund and Asset Managers said in an e- mailed statement today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Sanyo Elec to complete past earnings review by Dec

(Reuters) - The Asahi newspaper reported in February that Sanyo had considered writing off losses of about 190 billion yen in the year ended March 2004, mainly from subsidiaries, but it ended up writing off only around 50 billion yen.

The Osaka-based company said any revision would have no impact on its consolidated earnings.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-E.ON's Q1 profit rises 21 pct on UK, gas unit

(Reuters) - Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in the three months through March rose to 3.32 billion euros from 2.73 billion euros, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

That was more than expected, with 13 analysts polled by Reuters on average forecasting EBIT of 2.95 billion euros.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Al-Imtiaz Hires Liquidity Management Centre for Sale of Islamic Bonds

(Bloomberg) -- Al-Imtiaz Investment Co., a Kuwait- based Islamic financial firm, hired Liquidity Management Centre BSC to help sell as much as $150 million of Islamic bonds.

Liquidity Management, or LMC, in Bahrain, will now seek to form a group of banks to underwrite the three-year securities, known as sukuk, it said in a statement posted on Dubai-based business Web site Ame Info today.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News