UPDATE 1-US RATE FUTURES-Chances of Fed cuts up on weak job data

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, Aug 3 - U.S. short-term interest rate
futures on Friday boosted the implied chances for Federal
Reserve rate cuts this year after weak July payrolls growth and
a rise in the unemployment rate.




The U.S. Labor Department said 92,000 nonfarm payroll jobs
were created in July, below the median forecast of 130,000. The
July jobless rate inched up to 4.6 percent from 4.5 percent in
June, for its highest since January.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Indexes open down after jobs data

(Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average was down 18.70
points, or 0.14 percent, at 13,444.63. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index was down 1.97 points, or 0.13 percent, at
1,470.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 5.50
points, or 0.21 percent, at 2,570.48.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US RATE FUTURES-Gains build on weak ISM services

(Reuters) - The Institute for Supply Management said its services index
in July was 55.8 -- still showing growth, but below the Wall
Street consensus of 59.0 and the lowest since March.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Bond prices gain after soft jobs, services data

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. government debt prices
rose on Friday as soft data on the U.S. job market and services
sector spurred more bond investors' bets the Federal Reserve
may start cutting interest rates before year end.




U.S. stocks sagged partly on weak signals in the data,
helping to contributed to safe-haven bids for Treasuries, with
worries about riskier credit and the impact of subprime debt on
the financial sector resurfacing. Credit rating agency Standard
& Poor's cut Bear Stearns 's debt outlook, sending its
shares down.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-S&P drops 1 percent as Bear Stearns sinks

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U S. stocks dropped on Friday,
with the S&P 500 losing more than 1 percent, after Standard &
Poor's cut Bear Stearns Cos. Inc.'s rating outlook,
dragging down shares of the investment bank and other
financial-sector stocks.




The Dow Jones industrial average was down 118.52
points, or 0.88 percent, at 13,344.81. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index was down 14.72 points, or 1.00 percent, at
1,457.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 21.67
points, or 0.84 percent, at 2,554.31.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Bush signs bill to strengthen anti-terror effort

(Reuters) - "There is still other work to be done," Bush said as he signed the legislation.




He cited the need to reform the "dysfunctional" way Congress oversees intelligence and counter-terrorism activities and the urgent need to expand the government's powers to eavesdrop on telephone calls and e-mail from abroad.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Canada 2007-08 budgets all in the black - report

(Reuters) - "Official projections put the 2007-08 federal and aggregate
provincial budget balances at $3 billion each,"
said Lovely.




"However, robust nominal income growth hints that planning
targets could again be too modest, particularly at the
provincial level, where fiscal results are traditionally more
tightly correlated with underlying economic conditions than at
the federal level."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Mortgage fallout, economic data weigh on Wall St

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks fell on Friday, as
worries about mortgage losses deepened after a ratings agency
cut its outlook on investment bank Bear Stearns Cos.'
debt, and data suggested weakness in the economy.




Standard & Poor's said it changed its ratings outlook on
Bear Stearns, the biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds,
to "negative" from "stable," indicating there is a better
chance of a downgrade over the next two years. For details,
see [ID:nN03300207].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Italy's UniCredit clinches Polish sale to GE Money

(Reuters) - MILAN, Aug 3 - Italian bank UniCredit said on Friday it had agreed to sell to GE Money about 66 percent of its so-called New BPH bank, which comprises 200 bank branches from UniCredit's Polish unit, for 625.5 million euros



in cash.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 3-S&P changes Bear outlook to negative; shares fall

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - Standard & Poor's on Friday
changed its rating outlook on Bear Stearns Cos. to negative
from stable, indicating a greater chance of a downgrade over
the next two years, as it warned of problems that could hurt
the firm's performance "for an extended period."




S&P said issues include problems at some of Bear Stearns'
managed hedge funds.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Plusses seen in end of Boston Scientific unit sale

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, Aug 3 - Boston Scientific Corp.'s
decision not to divest part of its Endosurgery business signaled
the medical devices company has confidence it can pare down its
sizable debt through other means and would be better off hanging
on to its most stable product line, analysts said.




The decision announced on Thursday to change course and keep
the business, which makes products used to treat gallstones,
kidney stones and to perform colonoscopies, is the first major
financial decision by Boston Scientific under its new chief
financial officer.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Sandisk, Micron rise after Samsung chip outage

(Reuters) - Conversely, some consumer electronics makers may be forced to pay more for NAND flash, a slim form of flash memory with no moving parts that is poised to eventually take over a market once dominated by clunkier hard drives.




For example, Apple Inc. uses NAND flash in some of its iPod digital media player devices. Shares of Apple fell 1.34 percent to $134.66 in early trading on Friday on Nasdaq.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Mortgage fallout, economic data weigh on Wall St

(Reuters) - Standard & Poor's said it changed its ratings outlook on Bear Stearns, the biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds, to "negative" from "stable," indicating there is a better chance of a downgrade over the next two years.




"People are very concerned. They do not know how deep these loan problems are and how it will affect the economy," said William Lefkowitz, options strategist at brokerage firm vFinance Investments in New York.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Gold miner Newmont has 2nd-quarter loss after charges

(Reuters) - Gold miner Newmont Mining Corp. posted a quarterly net loss on Thursday as a result of huge charges on the value of its discontinued merchant banking operation and the elimination of its gold hedge positions.

Still, the operating results of the world's No. 2 gold producer beat estimates, even as it sold less gold than a year earlier, but at higher average prices.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Brazilian company to rebuild crucial Angola dam

(Reuters) - Brazilian company Odebrecht is set to rebuild a crucial hydroelectric dam in Angola, raising hopes that foreign investment will boost an electricity industry battered by civil war, a state official said on Thursday.

The $158 million, 20-month project approved by the Angolan cabinet on Wednesday, has raised hopes that businesses in the southern region stand to benefit from investment.


Read more at Reuters Africa

FTSE up as miners support but credit fears remain

(Reuters) - The FTSE 100 index of Britain's leading shares edged up on Friday after U.S. stocks climbed overnight as robust earnings tempered nervousness about more weakness in credit conditions.

Such worries were heightened after Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. -- a subprime lender in the process of being sold -- which raised concern about its ability to stay in business. For details, see.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Dollar steady ahead of payrolls; credit still key

(Reuters) - The dollar steadied against major currencies on Friday, hugging tight ranges as investors shifted focus to upcoming U.S. employment data from the credit and stock market volatility that has dominated trading in recent weeks.

The monthly non-farm payrolls report could give a clearer picture of the health of the U.S. economy and help set the tone in currency markets for the next week.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Miner Anglo to sell Tarmac; raises profit, buyback

(Reuters) - Anglo American put its Tarmac road-covering business up for sale on Friday as it met forecasts with a 22 percent rise in first-half earnings and pledged to return a further $4 billion to shareholders.

Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll said the sale of UK-based Tarmac, which analysts believe could fetch over $6 billion, was the mining group's last major piece of restructuring as it moves to focus on its metals and minerals businesses.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Morocco H1 c/a surplus up 72 pct, trade gap widens

(Reuters) - Morocco's trade deficit grew in the first half of 2007 as a construction boom increased demand for foreign building materials and equipment, the North African country's Exchange Office said on Friday.

However, the current account surplus, boosted by increases in remittances from Moroccans abroad and tourism receipts, rose by 72 percent year-on-year.


Read more at Reuters Africa

India Tata Steel to buy 35 pct in Mozambique project

(Reuters) - India's top private steel maker Tata Steel Ltd. said on Friday it would spend A$100 million to buy a 35 percent stake in a Mozambique coal project run by Australia's Riversdale Mining Ltd..

Tata Steel, which bought Anglo-Dutch Corus for $12.9 billion this year to become the world's sixth-largest steel maker, said it would source coking coal from the project for Corus' plants in the U.K. and Europe, and for Tata's Indian units.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa's c.bank casts doubt on maize for ethanol

(Reuters) - South Africa's central bank chief Tito Mboweni has questioned the wisdom of using maize as a source for ethanol, saying global trends have shown this would push up prices of the staple food.

"It seems that we in South Africa think that we are going to produce ethanol from maize," Mboweni said at a dinner.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Rand softer vs dollar as risk aversion weighs

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand was weaker against the dollar in late Friday trade -- giving up its earlier gains -- as the greenback's own softness against the yen brought risky-asset jitters back to the fore.

At around 1510 GMT, the rand was trading at 7.1135 against the dollar, down 0.33 percent from New York's Thursday close of 7.09, having earlier strengthened to 7.0360 as some market players liquidated long dollar positions.


Read more at Reuters Africa

European Carbon Emission Permits Fall as U.K. Natural-Gas Prices Decline

(Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon dioxide permits
fell as U.K. natural-gas prices dropped, making the cleaner-
burning fuel more attractive to power producers.

Permits for December 2008 lost as much as 30 cents, or 1.5
percent, to 20.40 euros ($27.94) a metric ton on the European
Climate Exchange in Amsterdam. They traded at 20.57 euros at
11:13 a.m. local time. That's the second drop in three days.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Brazil's FIPE inflation slows to 0.27 pct in July

(Reuters) - Clothing prices fell 0.62 percent and transport costs
extended their drop to 0.38 percent after 0.16 percent the
previous month. Food prices rose the most, by 1.06 percent, but
much less than in June, when the rise was of 1.9 percent, due
to a seasonal decline in output of certain crops.




The Fipe index is closely watched by economists for trends
in Brazil's benchmark IPCA inflation index, which is used by
the central bank to set interest rates.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Services growth deteriorates in July: ISM survey

(Reuters) - The services sector represents about 80 percent of U.S. economic activity, including businesses like restaurants, hotels, banks and airlines.




Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

UPDATE 1-Jobs data show US economy strong-WH's Lazear

(Reuters) - "I think the jobs numbers, although lower than the previous
month, are still within range and we still think of these as
good, solid numbers," Council of Economic Advisers Chairman
Edward Lazear told reporters.




He was speaking after data showed a less-than-expected
92,000 new U.S. jobs were created in July versus a downwardly
revised 126,000 the previous month.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

WRAPUP 2-U.S. July job growth slowest since February

(Reuters) - In another sign of slowing growth, the Institute for Supply Management reported signs of a weakening service sector as its index of July activity fell to 55.8 from 60.7 in June. Any reading over 50 indicates growth.




Problems in the housing sector, where lenders are encountering difficulties with rising mortgage defaults and prices are declining in many metro markets, appeared to spread into hiring as construction businesses cut jobs.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Japan's Bonds Advance on Speculation Mortgage Losses to Slow U.S. Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's five-year notes rose for a
fourth week on speculation losses tied to mortgages will slow
growth in the U.S., making it harder for the Bank of Japan to
raise interest rates this month.

Five-year notes completed the longest weekly advance since
May 2005 on concern riskier assets such as corporate bonds and
stocks will extend losses. Bear Stearns Cos., the manager of two
hedge funds that collapsed last month, said this week it blocked
investors from pulling money out of a third.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

European Government Bonds Post Weekly Decline as ECB Signals Rates to Rise

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds posted their
first weekly decline in a month after the European Central Bank
indicated it will raise interest rates further this year.

The decline in German bunds, Europe's benchmark, pushed 10-
year yields to the highest in a week yesterday after ECB
President Jean-Claude Trichet signaled rates may rise from a six-
year high of 4 percent as early as September. Fellow policy maker
Lorenzo Bini Smaghi told Italian newspaper Il Sole-24 Ore that
inflation would quicken this year, adding to the case for higher
borrowing costs.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Treasuries Climb as Jobs, Services Data Add to Bets on Economic Slowdown

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose after weaker-than-
forecast reports on jobs and services reinforced speculation
that losses in mortgage-backed bonds will lead to a broad-based
economic slowdown.

Two-year notes, more sensitive than longer-maturity debt to
changes in monetary policy, led the rally as traders increased
bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.
The gains accelerated after Bear Stearns Cos., the second-
largest underwriter of mortgage-backed bonds, had its credit-
rating outlook cut to negative by Standard & Poor's.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

India HDFC to pick insurance partner in 2 wks-paper

(Reuters) - The shortlisted firms include U.S.-based Travelers and Australia's IAG Group and another U.S. company that was not named, the paper said without directly attributing the information to a source. HDFC had ruled out Germany's Ergo as a partner in its wholly owned HDFC Chubb General Insurance Co., although the two firms were still in talks, the newspaper said with no direct attribution to a source.



HDFC bought its partner Chubb Corp's 26 percent stake in the general insurance venture earlier this year after an uneasy relationship stalled growth.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Ahold Q2 sales up, U.S. stores beat forecasts

(Reuters) - AMSTERDAM, Aug 3 - Dutch supermarket group Ahold NV said on Friday second-quarter sales rose 2 percent, thanks to favourable conditions in its main markets, but a revamp of U.S. stores would continue to hurt margins.



Net sales increased to 6.6 billion euros from 6.47 billion a year ago, matching an average forecast of 6.6 billion euros from 13 analysts polled by Reuters. Adjusted for currency effects, sales rose 5.6 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Israeli Blue Square to buy 51 pct stake in pvt retailer

(Reuters) - The Bronfman-Alon Group owns Blue Square.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Garmin to buy its Italian distributor

(Reuters) - Aug 3 - Navigational devices maker Garmin Ltd. said it plans to buy its Italian distributor, Synergy S.p.A., to strengthen its European sales and marketing presence.



Financial terms of the proposed deal were not disclosed.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Air Liquide says KKR bid talk "barely credible"

(Reuters) - Potier added that Air Liquide had a long-term shareholder
base and highlighted the company's regular earnings growth.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Investors Bancorp, Summit Federal announce merger deal

(Reuters) - This will be followed by the merger of Summit Federal
Savings Bank into Investors Savings Bank, with Investors
Savings Bank surviving.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Michael Dell Wins Over Investors, Plans to Trade `Cheap' PC Image for Cool

(Bloomberg) -- Michael Dell is undoing everything
that made Dell Inc. unique so he can make it the world's largest
personal-computer maker again. It just may work.

Eleven of Dell's 16 largest outside investors added to their
holdings, according to the most recent filings. The stock has
risen 15 percent since the founder's return as chief executive
officer, more than twice the gain of Hewlett-Packard Co. In the
second quarter, Dell had its first increase in PC shipments from
the previous quarter in a year.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

`Uncle Ted' Stevens's Corruption Probe Imperils Federal Dollars for Alaska

(Bloomberg) -- The federal corruption investigation
of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens not only threatens the career of the
longest-serving Republican in Senate history, it also puts at
risk the billions of dollars that ``Uncle Ted'' steers to
Alaska.

``Republicans, Democrats, everybody still hopes that
nothing has gone wrong here, since he's so important to the
state,'' said Republican State Representative Ralph Samuels, the
majority leader in Alaska's House.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Doomsday Simulations Help U.S. Gird for Hurricanes, Pandemics, Terrorism

(Bloomberg) -- The computer screen shows a toxic
cloud rolling slowly over buildings, a visualization that
permits scientists to record every lethal swirl and eddy and to
calculate the toll for a city's residents.

It's a far cry from ``The Sims,'' an addictive computer
game that lets users create a virtual universe. As displayed on
computers nicknamed ``Coyote'' and ``Thunderbird,'' disaster
simulations conducted under a $25 million program run by Sandia
and Los Alamos national laboratories are helping the U.S.
government predict the impact of chemical or biological attacks,
killer hurricanes, or accidents such as the collapse of the
bridge on the main highway into Minneapolis.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Warren Buffett's $46 Billion Cash Pile Can Buy WellPoint, Nucor, Kohl's

(Bloomberg) -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman
Warren Buffett is ready to spend $40 billion to $60 billion on
an acquisition, and his opportunities are expanding as stocks
fall and leveraged buyouts dry up.

Shares of health insurers, steelmakers and department
stores are as much as 18 percent cheaper than in May, when
Buffett said he would ``figure out a way'' to come up with $60
billion for the right deal. WellPoint Inc., Nucor Corp., Kohl's
Corp. and dozens more companies are now closer to meeting his
investment criteria.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

UPDATE 1-EU executive sees no pan-EU fallout from IKB

(Reuters) - Officials working for Internal Market Commissioner Charlie
McCreevy, the bloc's top financial regulator, and for Economic
and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia are studying
the situation at IKB, a Commission spokesman said.




"We see no particular reason at this moment in time to be
worried. We see no pan-European implications. The matter has
been dealt with by the competent authorities," he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-Virtusa says IPO priced at $14/shr

(Reuters) - The company said it expects net proceeds of about $53
million, of which it plans to use about $30 million to fund the
construction and build-out of a facility on its planned campus
in Hyderabad, India.




The remainder of these proceeds will be used to finance the
expansion of its global delivery centers or capacity in
Chennai, India and Colombo, Sri Lanka, the hiring of additional
personnel, sales and marketing activities, capital expenditures
and the costs of operating as a public company.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Australian, New Zealand Dollars Rise as U.S. Stock Gain Lifts Carry Trade

(Bloomberg) -- The Australian and New Zealand
dollars gained for a second day against the yen as a rally in
U.S. stocks attracted investors to higher-yielding assets funded
by loans from Japan.

The two currencies headed for weekly gains, recovering from
two-month lows, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average had the
first two-day gain in two weeks. New Zealand's 7.75 percentage
point and Australia's 5.75 point interest-rate premium over
Japan make the currencies favorites for so-called carry trades.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

U.K. Pound Heads for Weekly Advance Versus Dollar as Carry Trade Resumes

(Bloomberg) -- The pound headed for a weekly gain
against the dollar as credit markets rebounded, prompting
investors to resume so-called carry trades.

The pound is also poised for its biggest advance against
the yen in six weeks as stocks recovered and traders bought
high-yielding currencies with loans from Japan. Investors added
to bets the Bank of England will raise interest rates at least
once more from 5.75 percent by year-end.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Jim Rogers Calls U.S. Housing Market One of History's `Biggest Bubbles'

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. subprime-market rout that
wiped out $2.1 trillion from global share values last week has
``got a long way to go,'' said Jim Rogers, who predicted the
start of the commodities rally in 1999.

This week's rebound in equity markets hasn't persuaded
Rogers, 64, to pull out of bets that U.S. investment banks and
homebuilders are heading for further declines.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

RBS profits up 11 percent

(Reuters) - The bank said income grew 8 percent to 14.7 billion pounds and costs as a percentage of revenue improved to 41.4 percent from 41.9 percent.




Profits in its U.S. banking arm Citizens fell 7 percent in sterling terms to 752 million pounds, but operating profit was up 2 percent before the impact of the weak dollar.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Allianz beats forecasts as life insurance shines

(Reuters) - "The good results from the first half year provide an excellent platform for attaining our goals in 2007-2009," Chief Executive Michael Diekmann said in a statement.




"We are expecting net income of around 8 billion euros for the year 2007."


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Miner Anglo to sell Tarmac

(Reuters) - The copper, platinum and gold specialist said on Friday it made underlying earnings of $3.1 billion in the six months to June 30, broadly in line with analysts' average forecast of $3.2 billion, according to Reuters Estimates, and said the outlook for most of its metals and minerals remained positive.




Read more at Reuters.com Business News

July job growth slowest since February

(Reuters) - The Labor Department also revised down its estimates for job creation in each of the two prior months by a total of 8,000 - to 126,000 in June from a previously reported 132,000 and to 188,000 in May instead of 190,000.




July's new-job total was the smallest for any month since February, when 90,000 were added. The consensus forecast of economists in a week-old Reuters poll was for 130,000 new jobs in July.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Nickel Heads for 2nd Weekly Drop in London on Stockpile Gain; Lead Rises

(Bloomberg) -- Nickel headed for a second
consecutive weekly decline as stockpiles of the metal rise,
expanding supply. Lead increased and copper dropped.

Inventories of nickel tracked by the London Metal Exchange
grew 330 metric tons to 15,138 tons, the exchange said today in
a daily report. Stockpiles have risen fivefold since Feb. 6,
when they were at a 15-year low.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News