RPT-US RATE FUTURES-View of Fed cut inches up on jobs

(Reuters) - Futures remain priced for the Fed to keep rates steady in
August . Implied chances for a September rate cut rose to
34 percent from 30 percent on Thursday, and prospects for an
October cut firmed to 62 percent from 58 percent.




The Labor Department said 92,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were
created in July, below the median forecast of 130,000. June
payrolls were revised to 126,000 from 132,000 earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

REFILE-TREASURIES-Bond prices rise after soft US jobs report

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. government debt prices
rose on Friday as bond investors added to bets that the Federal
Reserve may start cutting interest rates before year end after
a soft July jobs report.




U.S. stocks futures turned down, pointing to a lower start
on Wall Street, which helped to stoke a moderate safe-haven bid
for Treasuries.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Bond prices extend gains on weak services data

(Reuters) - The benchmark 10-year note was 11/32 higher in
price for a yield of 4.73 percent from 4.75 percent before the
data and 4.77 percent late on Thursday, while the two-year note
_was 5/32 in price for a yield of 4.51 percent from
4.53 percent.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Death toll rises from Minneapolis bridge collapse

(Reuters) - Rescuers spent an entire day extracting the fifth fatality
from under mounds of debris, Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack
said. He said another victim had died in a hospital, but the
local coroner did not confirm either death.




"It took 20 people all day to get the person out. There was
tons of debris," Clack said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Dillard's rebuffs shareholder group; stock tumbles

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, Aug 3 - A firm representing investors who hold 3.7 percent of Dillard's Inc's outstanding stock said on Friday it was rebuffed in its attempt to meet with the company's CEO, sending shares of the department store owner down 5 percent.



Barington Capital Group L.P. said its request to meet with Chairman and Chief Executive William Dillard II was met with an offer of a meeting with the company's investor relations director instead.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Weyerhaeuser profit drops, but beats expectations

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - Timber company Weyerhaeuser Co. reported a sharp drop in second-quarter earnings on Friday as prices fell at its real estate business and U.S. home builders' demand for wood products weakened.



Although the results beat Wall Street expectations, analysts noted that this resulted from lower corporate expenses, rather than the earnings in the company's main businesses.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Costs, charges drag Telus profit down 29 pct

(Reuters) - OTTAWA, Aug 3 - Telus Corp. , Canada's second-biggest phone company, said on Friday that second-quarter profit sank 29 percent as it accounted for costs for a new billing system, the introduction of wireless number portability, and the failed launch of AMP'd Mobile service.



Net earnings declined to C$253.1 million , or 75 Canadian cents a diluted share. That is down from a profit of C$356.6 million, or C$1.02 a share, in the same period last year.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

GLOBAL MARKETS-US stocks, dollar fall on data; bonds surge

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks and the dollar fell,
while safe-haven Treasuries surged on Friday as unexpectedly
weak data reinforced views of slower economic growth.




News that the U.S. economy had created fewer jobs than
anticipated and that the services sector expanded more slowly
in July jarred investors' nerves, already frayed by credit
liquidity worries.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

FBI violated lawmaker's rights in Capitol Hill raid

(Reuters) - The court found that FBI agents violated the U.S. Constitution's mandate that Congress operate as a co-equal branch of government without being intimidated by the law enforcement powers of the executive branch.




The court barred the agents who conducted the search from disclosing contents of any privileged or politically sensitive information from the files. It also limited their further involvement in the case.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

At American Home, it's one last day at the office

(Reuters) - By Lynn Adler



MELVILLE, New York, Aug 3 - In some respects it was a normal summer Friday in this Long Island hamlet roughly 50 miles east of Wall Street. The weather was hot, a bit steamy. The weekend approached, and employees of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. awaited their paychecks.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Bonds rise on weak data, subprime worries

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. Treasury debt prices rose
on Friday with benchmark yields hovering near their lowest
levels since mid-May, as surprisingly soft jobs and services
data and subprime fears spurred safety bids for Treasuries.




Signs of weakness in the economic data prompted investors
to increase bets that the Federal Reserve may start cutting
interest rates before the end of the year.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Bear drops after S&P lowers outlook

(Reuters) - The change pushed Bear Stearns' shares down 6 percent to $108.69 and drove the cost of protecting its debt with credit derivatives nearly 50 basis points higher.




A spokesman for Bear Stearns was not immediately available for comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Bear Stearns, lender shares fall on credit worries

(Reuters) - Meanwhile the cost to insure debt of Countrywide Financial Corp. , the largest U.S. mortgage company, surged as investors fretted over the rising rate of late payments.




"There's continued nervousness about how credit market problems will effect these companies," said Richard Sichel, who helps manage $1.5 billion as chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co. "They're worried that there might be more bad news ahead."


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Oil near record highs; OPEC says no output rise

(Reuters) - Oil hovered near $77 a barrel on Friday, keeping in sight of this week's fresh record high after OPEC officials poured cold water on U.S. hopes for an output rise, reiterating that the world was not short of crude supplies.

U.S. oil dipped four cents at $76.82 a barrel by 0514 GMT after rising 33 cents on Thursday. Prices touched an all-time high of $78.77 on Wednesday, but sharply retreated on signs of improved U.S. refinery operations.


Read more at Reuters Africa

AU plans African Investment Bank to fund development

(Reuters) - The African Union (AU) plans to establish an investment bank in the next three years as part of an effort to raise an annual $25 billion for development projects, an AU official said on Thursday.

Maxwell Mkwezalamba, the AU's Commissioner for Economic Affairs, said in an interview the resource-rich continent is increasingly growing frustrated over wealthy countries' failure to live up to pledges to double aid for Africa by 2010.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Wall St jumps late on profits, credit concerns nag

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday in another late-day rally as enthusiasm about strong earnings tempered nervousness about more weakness in credit conditions with news another mortgage lender may fold.

Pharmacy chain CVS Caremark Corp. and MTV networks owner Viacom Inc. were among companies that posted results that topped Wall Street's expectations, sending their shares higher. CVS shares climbed 3.5 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Miners, banks push S.Africa Top-40 index 1 pct up

(Reuters) - South Africa's blue chip Top-40 index gained over one percent in early trade on Friday, boosted by mining and bank stocks as global stock markets recovered.

The Top-40 index rose as much as 1.28 percent to 25,518 points. By 0748 GMT, the index was 0.97 percent firmer at 25,493 points.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Barclays Kenya's pretax profit rises 17 pct

(Reuters) - Barclays Bank Kenya reported a 17 percent rise in pretax profits on Friday to 3.547 billion shillings for the first half of 2007 as new branches led to growth in its assets.

"This is a very good result ... mainly driven by a strong asset growth and a significantly improved credit risk profile," Charles Ongwae, the bank's director of finance and planning told an investor briefing.


Read more at Reuters Africa

New AngloGold Ashanti CEO to tackle mine deaths

(Reuters) - The incoming chief executive at the world's third biggest gold producer, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, wants to cut the firm's mine fatalities as a top priority, he said on Friday.

Increasing deaths at South Africa's treacherous underground mines have thrust safety into the spotlight recently. The government briefly closed one of AngloGold's mines last week after two more miners were killed in a rock fall.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Nickel hits 9-month low on demand, lead up 3 pct

(Reuters) - Nickel fell to a nine-month low on Friday as weak demand from the stainless steel sector prompted investors to cut their positions, while lead was up almost 3 percent after a strike in Namibia prompted speculative buying.

The market stabilised after a sell-off earlier in the week triggered by risk reduction but analysts said prices were driven by fund interest during a stagnant holiday season rather than supply and demand fundamentals.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa fuel strike into 5th day, motorists queue

(Reuters) - A strike by South African fuel workers entered a fifth day on Friday, prompting motorists in the economic capital to queue at filling stations as stocks dwindled.

"It has been a mad rush since 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) this morning," said Ashwin Chiba, manager of a filling station in the centre of Johannesburg, one of the few still with fuel.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.African stocks slide on global jitters; Lewis up

(Reuters) - South African stocks hit an almost four-month low on Friday as weaker global markets rattled financial stocks but retailer Lewis bucked the trend after it said sales rose and its credit book was in good shape.

The Johannesburg Top-40 index of blue-chip stocks dropped 1.11 percent to 24,915.31 points, its lowest closing level since April 11. The All-share index fell 1 percent to 27,582.01 points.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Richards Bay Coal Exports Fell 3 Percent in July After Train Derailment

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's Richards Bay Coal
Terminal, the world's biggest coal-export terminal, shipped 3
percent less coal in July than a year earlier after a derailment,
an official familiar with the matter said.

The terminal shipped 5.57 million metric tons of coal, the
official said, compared with 5.74 million tons a year earlier. On
July 16, the terminal said a derailment on a line transporting coal
to the port on South Africa's northeast coast delayed the delivery of
150,000 tons. In June, the port shipped 5.45 million tons.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Democrats Split U.S. Power Industry in Drive to Promote Renewable Energy

(Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has split
the nation's largest utilities such as American Electric Power
Co. from their government-owned counterparts in a drive for votes
to mandate more renewable energy.

The Democratic proposal to force publicly traded power
companies to get 15 percent of their supplies from wind, solar
and other renewable sources by 2020 is likely to have only a
narrow margin if it succeeds. The House may vote on the plan as
soon as today. A similar measure that failed in the Senate in
June included municipal utilities, rural cooperatives and
government power agencies that are excluded from the new bill.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

GLOBAL MARKETS-US jobs data hit stocks, dollar, boost bonds

(Reuters) - LONDON, Aug 3 - Stocks and the dollar fell while
safe-haven government bonds rallied on Friday after
weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data fanned concerns about a U.S.
economy already struggling with credit liquidity fears.




U.S. stock futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street
while European stocks moved deeper in negative territory
after data showed U.S. employers boosted payrolls in July at the
slowest pace since February, adding 92,000 jobs.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Gauge of U.S. economy lower in latest week - ECRI

(Reuters) - WLI's annualized growth rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.4
percent in the prior week.




"Despite the fears roiling the markets, WLI growth remains
at the low end of a tight band it has inhabited for 12 weeks,
underscoring the cyclical resilience of the U.S. expansion,"
said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director at ECRI.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Global PMI shows sharp July slowdown, led by U.S.

(Reuters) - The indicator, produced by JP Morgan with research and
supply management organisation, fell to 56.2 in July from 59.1
in June, where 50 marks the dividing line between growth and
contraction.




"Today's activity indicators suggest that global economic
activity is expanding at a 2.5-3.0 percent annualized pace at
mid-year," said David Hensley at JP Morgan. "Although the recent
turmoil in financial markets has undoubtedly renewed concerns
over growth, output still appears set to accelerate in the
second half."


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

MBK Offers to Buy C&M for $3.2 Billion in Korea's Biggest LBO, Bankers Say

(Bloomberg) -- MBK Partners Ltd., the South Korean
private equity group founded by former Carlyle Group executives,
offered 3 trillion won ($3.2 billion) for cable-TV operator C&M,
said two bankers who were asked to provide financing.

The Seoul-based buyout company wants to borrow as much as 2
trillion won to pay for closely held C&M, South Korea's second-
biggest cable-TV operator, said the bankers, who declined to be
identified because the bid hasn't been disclosed. The purchase
would include New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s 30.5
percent stake, they said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Gazprom Postpones Sale of Bonds, Fitch Withdraws Credit Ratings on Debt

(Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, Russia's natural-gas
monopoly, postponed a planned sale of bonds prompting Fitch
Ratings to withdraw assigned grades for the debt.

More than 50 companies from U.S. carmaker Chrysler to
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s Alliance Boots Plc postponed or
reworked debt sales since mid-June as investors shun riskier
assets amid concern that U.S. subprime mortgage-related losses
will spill into other parts of the debt markets.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

GE's $2 Billion Bond Sale May End Game of `Chicken,' Rout in New Issues

(Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. sold $2 billion
of bonds, a sign that top-rated borrowers can still find demand
in a market that shut out at least 36 companies.

General Electric Capital Corp., the finance arm of the
world's second-biggest company by market value, sold 30-year
bonds yesterday for the first time in about five years. Stamford,
Connecticut-based GECC was able to find buyers when companies
from investment-grade Tyco Electronics Ltd. to high-yield, high-
risk Myers Industries Inc. were forced to cancel sales.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Citigroup CEO says not rattled by market woes: report

(Reuters) - He told the Times, "I think our performance is going to
last much longer than the market turbulence does."




Prince said that investors who used to snap up leveraged
loans with easy terms are now on the sidelines as the "market
shakes itself out and probably will for a period of time." But
he told the paper that the businesses that are borrowing the
money are doing fine.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

MOL still wants INA stake, won't go hostile

(Reuters) - "After we will sit down with the Croatian government again," MOL's Chief Executive and Chairman Zsolt Hernadi told web portal Index www.index.hu on Friday.




"It is for certain that we will not make an unsolicited public bid on the Croatian stock exchange, although we could do it," Hernadi added.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Fortis seen clearing shareholder hurdle over ABN

(Reuters) - If it does not garner enough support it could spell the end not only to Fortis's ambitions of expanding in the Benelux but also the joint 71 billion euro bid of its consortium partners Royal Bank of Scotland and Spain's Santander .




Fortis will ask shareholders, who have seen their stock drop by almost 18 percent since it confirmed its approach for ABN in April, to back the planned takeover in general and its financing through Europe's second largest rights issue.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Ford aims to sell Land Rover, Jaguar by Sept.30-NYT

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - Ford Motor Co is hoping to have a tentative deal to sell its Land Rover and Jaguar operations by Sept. 30, and a pact to dispose of Volvo by year end, The New York Times reported on its Web site on Friday.



The auto maker's advisers have begun putting together information that bidders want for Land Rover and Jaguar, the paper said, citing unnamed sources.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Telus profit falls on charges, abandons BCE quest

(Reuters) - OTTAWA, Aug 3 - Telus Corp. , Canada's second-biggest phone company, said on Friday that second-quarter profit sank 29 percent as it accounted for costs for a new billing system, the introduction of wireless number portability, and the failed launch of AMP'd Mobile service.



Net earnings declined to C$253.1 million , or 75 Canadian cents a diluted share. That is down from a profit of C$356.6 million, or C$1.02 a share, in the same period last year.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE1-IBM to buy data management solutions provider

(Reuters) - Financial details of the deal, which is expected to close
later in 2007, were not disclosed.




Princeton Softech, which provides data archiving, test data
management, data classification and discovery software, has
about 240 employees and more than 2,200 companies rely on its
solutions, IBM said in a statement.



Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Glaxo Avandia FDA Adversity Prompts Doubts of Revenue, Share Resurgence

(Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc convinced a U.S.
regulatory panel this week to keep its best-selling diabetes
drug, Avandia, on the market. Now comes the hard part: persuading
doctors to use a medicine linked to heart attacks.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration committee of advisers
said this week that the diabetes pill should carry new warnings
about cardiovascular risks. Glaxo shares had their biggest gain
in two years yesterday after the advisory panel decided not to
recommend the withdrawal of Avandia, which brought in $3.3
billion in 2006 for the London-based company, Europe's largest
drugmaker.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Fidelity Inflation Bond Fund Trails Vanguard After Subprime Mortgage Rout

(Bloomberg) -- Fidelity Investments' Inflation-
Protected Bond Fund is lagging behind its biggest competitor,
Vanguard Group, after losses in subprime mortgages, this year's
worst-performing debt market.

The $1.3 billion mutual fund, run by William Irving in
Merrimack, New Hampshire, rose 3.3 percent this year, trailing
the 4 percent gain of the Vanguard Inflation-Protected
Securities Fund, which holds no mortgage bonds. The Fidelity
fund advanced at an annual rate of 5.6 percent during the past
five years, compared with the 6 percent return of the $10.2
billion Vanguard fund, data compiled by Bloomberg show.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Asian Fish, Tainted With Drugs, Slip Past U.S. Inspectors, States Discover

(Bloomberg) -- Joseph Basile, an Alabama state
scientist, drops a frozen catfish filet into an industrial food
processor and pulverizes it into a fluffy white powder.

The grinding in a laboratory in Montgomery is part of a test
of imported seafood for drugs that U.S. regulators say can cause
cancer or increase resistance to antibiotics. Alabama officials
have reported finding banned medicines missed by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration in seafood from China, Vietnam and other
Asian countries.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Toyota Electric Car May Have Half the Range of GM's, People Familiar Say

(Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s plug-in electric
car may have less than half the range of a competing vehicle
planned by General Motors Corp., people with knowledge of both
companies' development programs said.

GM wants its Chevrolet Volt to travel at least 40 miles
after being charged once at a normal household outlet, while the
Toyota model may go no more than 20 miles on a single charge,
said the people, who asked not to be identified because details
of the plans are still secret.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

EU clears SABIC's buy of GE Plastics

(Reuters) - GE Plastics, headquartered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
employs 10,300 people in 60 countries and makes resins used in
products ranging from health care equipment to packaging for
consumer goods.




It has major factories in Indiana, New York, West Virginia
and Alabama. In 2006, the division's profit fell 22 percent to
$674 million on slightly higher revenue of $6.65 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Virtusa says IPO priced at $14/shr

(Reuters) - The Westborough, Massachusetts-based company said its
common stock has been approved for listing on Nasdaq under the
symbol "VRTU."





Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Asian Currencies Complete Weekly Decline, Follow Drop in Regional Stocks

(Bloomberg) -- Asian currencies completed a weekly
decline, led by a 0.9 percent drop in the Indonesian rupiah, as
overseas investors reduced holdings in the region's stocks.

Global funds were net sellers of shares in South Korea,
Taiwan and Thailand this week as benchmark stock indexes dropped.
Indonesia's central bank said Aug. 1 it's not worried by the
rupiah's decline and the International Monetary Fund said the
next day the volatility in financial markets poses a risk to
economic growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Polish Zloty Set for Weekly Gain as Investors' Appetite for Risk Revives

(Bloomberg) -- The Polish zloty was poised for a
weekly gain, advancing to an eight-day high against the euro as
investors regained their appetite for emerging-market assets.

Investors resumed buying stocks and higher-yielding
currencies such as the zloty, the Turkish lira and the South
African rand as concern abated that losses on U.S. subprime
mortgages would slow global economic growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Canada's Dollar Falls on Credit Fears Impact on Commodity Currencies

(Bloomberg) -- Canada's dollar fell for the first
time in four days as investors sold currencies tied to commodity
exports on concerns U.S. subprime credit losses will spread,
slowing the global economy.

The Canadian and New Zealand dollars were the worst
performers against the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen among the 16
most actively traded currencies today.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

BA CEO expects fines provision to suffice

(Reuters) - BA set aside the provision in May and this week U.S. and UK authorities unveiled fines worth almost 270 million pounds.




Authorities in Europe, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are also probing BA's fuel surcharges.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Ford aims to sell Land Rover, Jaguar by September 30: report

(Reuters) - A Ford spokesman called the report "speculation" and would not comment further.




Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Procter & Gamble profit rises

(Reuters) - Profit was $2.27 billion, or 67 cents per share, in the fiscal fourth quarter ended in June, up from $1.9 billion, or 55 cents per share, a year earlier.




The maker of Gillette razors, Tide laundry detergent and Pampers diapers said in early June it expected to earn 64 cents to 66 cents per share. Analysts, on average, expected it to earn 66 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Weyerhaeuser earnings tumble

(Reuters) - Excluding items, the company earned 48 cents a share in the latest quarter.




The company's shares have fallen 16.1 percent over the last three months, tracking a 12 percent drop in the Standard & Poor's Paper and Forest Products Index.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

China's First-Half Gold Output Rises 15 Percent, Fastest Pace in a Decade

(Bloomberg) -- China, which may surpass the U.S. to
become the second-largest gold producer this year, mined 15
percent more of the precious metal in the first half as higher
prices prompted companies to boost output.

Production rose at the fastest pace in 10 years to 122.5
metric tons in the first six months, the China Gold Association
said on its Web site yesterday. Gold output in June was 23.6
tons, it said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News