UPDATE 1-Bernanke says optimistic on Basel II consensus

(Reuters) - "I think the Basel II approach, with perhaps with some
modifications but in essence what was agreed upon with the
international banking authorities, is the right approach for
providing that kind of capital base protection," Bernanke told
the Senate Banking Committee.




"I can assure you that the four agencies are currently
working very hard on a range of issues," he said, adding that
he would prefer that the federal agencies quickly reach a
consensus resulting in a single proposal.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Tunisia buys milling wheat, feed barley in tender

(Reuters) - Tunisia's state grains agency has purchased 150,000 tonnes of soft milling wheat and 100,000 tonnes of feed barley in a tender which closed on Thursday, traders said.

The tender had sought bids for 125,000 tonnes of milling wheat and 75,000 tonnes of feed barley.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Turkish Stocks Jump Before Elections, Led by Akbank: World's Biggest Mover

(Bloomberg) -- Turkish stocks posted the biggest
gain this year, lifting the country's main index to a record, on
bets this weekend's elections will result in a single-party
government that will maintain economic growth.

Akbank TAS and Turkiye Is Bankasi AS, Turkey's two biggest
publicly traded banks, paced the advance.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.S. Stocks Rise on Earnings; IBM Leads Dow Average, S&P 500 to Records

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks gained after
International Business Machines Corp. and Bank of America Corp.
reported earnings that topped analysts' estimates.

IBM, the world's biggest provider of computer services,
climbed the most since 2003 and led the Standard & Poor's 500
Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average to records after saying
software acquisitions boosted results. Bank of America, the
second-largest U.S. bank, rose on private-equity gains and
investment-banking revenue growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-SunPower earnings drop, targets output growth

(Reuters) - However, it posted a net loss of $5.3 million, or 7 cents
per share, for the quarter from a profit of $1.2 million, or 8
cents per share, a year ago including writedowns of assets and
costs of stock-based compensation.




Revenue for the quarter rose to $174 million from $55
million a year ago.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Pool Q2 profit in line with market estimate

(Reuters) - The Covington, Louisiana-based company reported quarterly
net income of $57.8 million, compared with $62.1 million a year
ago. On a per-share basis, earnings were flat at $1.12 due to
lower number of shares outstanding this year.




Net sales rose 3 percent to $726.5 million from $705.7 a
year ago, partly helped by sales centers acquired since the
year-ago period, primarily the Wickham business it bought in
August, and newly opened sales outlets.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Reliance Steel second-quarter profit climbs

(Reuters) - In April, the company said growth in its key segments would
moderate this year, but it still expected record earnings and
sales. For the second quarter, Reliance said it expected
earnings of $1.45 to $1.55 per share.




As a result, analysts raised their estimates and, on
average, were expecting $1.57 in the second quarter, according
to Reuters Estimates.



Read more at Reuters.com Market News