UPDATE 1-US July consumer confidence at 6-year high-Conf Bd

(Reuters) - The Conference Board said its index of consumer sentiment
rose to 112.6 in July, the highest reading since August 2001
and above an upwardly revised 105.3 in June.




"An improvement in business conditions and the job market
has lifted consumers' spirits in July," said Lynn Franco,
director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, in a
press release.


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UPDATE 1-US Midwest business grew more slowly in July

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, July 31 - Business activity in the U.S.
Midwest expanded less than expected in July and at its slowest
pace since April, constrained by a drop in new orders even as
hiring expanded, a report showed on Tuesday.




The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago
business barometer fell to 53.4 from 60.2 in June.


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UPDATE 1-UST to acquire Stag's Leap wine in joint venture

(Reuters) - Ste. Michelle will own 85 percent of the joint venture with
privately held Marchesi Antinori, a UST spokesman said. UST
already distributes Antinori wine in the United States.




The acquisition, while small, adds to UST's commitment to
its wine business, which represented about 16 percent of UST's
sales through the first half of 2007. Only four years ago, the
company was deciding whether to keep its wine business.


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Barloworld to spin off, list coatings unit

(Reuters) - South African industrial group Barloworld will list its coatings unit on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange before the end of 2007, it said on Tuesday.

Barloworld, which markets Caterpillar earth-moving machines and Avis car hire, has said it plans to focus on its equipment, motor, materials handling and logistics divisions, and is disposing of its other units.


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Egypt's indexes recover, OCI leads blue chips

(Reuters) - Egyptian shares rebounded on Tuesday after two consecutive sessions of declines, led by Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) as foreigners returned to buying, brokers said.

Mostafa Badra of National Securities said recovery in global markets drove foreigners back to buying mostly affecting OCI," he added.


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UPDATE 1-Bre-X gold scam figure not guilty on all counts

(Reuters) - The Ontario Securities Commission, Canada's main market
regulator, accused him in 1999 of four counts each of insider
trading and misleading investors, saying he sold C$84 million
of Bre-X stock in 1996, months before
independent surveys showed the company's much-touted gold
deposit in Indonesia was worthless.




Shares of the company, which had soared to value the firm
at C$6 billion, collapsed to nothing, costing thousands of
investors their savings, and leaving ruined shareholders to
sell their stock certificates off as bitter souvenirs to a
public fascinated by the story.


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Ireland's Norkom buys U.S. Digital Harbor

(Reuters) - "The experience and domain expertise of Digital Harbor's
people are a perfect match for our own and will supplement our
position as experts in the field," Norkom Chief Executive Paul
Kerley said in a statement.




The acquisition would enhance earnings per share on an
adjusted basis in the financial year ending March 2009, he
added.


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