Norsk Hydro declines comment on Alcan bid report

(Reuters) - Canadian daily Globe and Mail reported that Norsk Hydro was
working on a bid for Alcan worth more than $30 billion.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Philippine Government Borrowing Costs Rise at Five-Year Treasury Bond Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine government borrowing costs
rose at its auction of five-year bonds.

The government sold the 5.75 percent bonds due February 2012
at an average yield of 5.967 percent. That compares with 5.679
percent at the most recent auction in February.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Pound May Advance Versus Dollar as Bank of England Vows to Fight Inflation

(Bloomberg) -- The pound may advance against the
dollar on speculation the Bank of England will keep raising
interest rates to counter inflation in Europe's second-biggest
economy.

The U.K. currency traded near a two-week high versus the
dollar last week after the minutes of the central bank's May
rate-setting meeting showed policy makers voted unanimously to
raise the benchmark rate to curb inflation and rate setters
hinted at further increase in borrowing costs.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Cos. look outside developing countries: World Bank

(Reuters) - With growth in developing countries like China and India outpacing that of wealthy nations, the new phenomenon of corporate globalization is likely to intensify in the next few years, the bank's annual Global Development Finance report said.




"This is shifting the whole landscape of emerging market finance from a sovereign-based framework to corporate based," the report's main author, Mansoor Dailami, told Reuters.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Asian Currencies: Taiwan Dollar Climbs to Two-Month High; Won Unchanged

(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan's dollar climbed to a two-
month high on speculation the central bank will buy the currency
to curb declines after it fell to a 17-month low last week.

The currency has dropped 1.4 percent this year as interest
rates among the lowest in Asia led investors to take funds out
of the island to buy higher-yielding assets abroad. Central bank
buying has helped the Taiwan dollar rise 1 percent since May 22,
when the currency touched its lowest since December 2005.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

SK Corp. Shareholders Approve Plan to Split Into Holding, Operating Units

(Bloomberg) -- Shareholders of SK Corp., Asia's
fourth-largest oil refiner, approved the company's plans to split
into holding and operating companies.

Shareholders representing some 80 percent of outstanding
stock voted at a meeting in Seoul today and all of them approved
the new company structure, SK Corp. said in a statement. The
reorganized companies will be called SK Holdings Co. and SK
Energy Co.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Philippine Peso Rises as Overseas Investors Buy Stocks on Growth Optimism

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippine peso rose as optimism
the economy will sustain its expansion prompted overseas
investors to buy local stocks.

The currency reached a more than six-year high last week as
the benchmark stock index climbed to a record. A report on May
31 will show the economy expanded 5.7 percent in January to
March, the fastest pace in three quarters, according to the
median estimate of 14 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Yen Strengthens Against Euro After Japanese Government Bond Yields Rise

(Bloomberg) -- The yen strengthened against the euro
after better-than-expected Japanese unemployment and household
spending data pushed yields on five-year government debt to the
highest since August.

The yen rose to 163.12 against the euro at 11:01 a.m. in
Tokyo from 163.73 late yesterday in New York. Against the dollar,
it climbed to 121.48 from 121.71.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

New Zealand Dollar May Rise on Prospect of Interest-Rate Boost Next Week

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's dollar may gain for a
third day on growing speculation Reserve Bank Governor Alan
Bollard will increase interest rates as soon as next week.

The chance of a quarter-point rise in the benchmark rate at
a June 7 review rose to 31 percent from 18 percent last week,
according to an index calculated by Credit Suisse. Yesterday,
economists at Westpac Banking Corp. said they expect a rate
increase because of inflation pressures.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Japan's Five-Year Notes Decline; Yields Increase to Highest Since October

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's five-year notes dropped,
pushing yields to the highest since October, after government
reports on jobs and consumer demand bolstered the central bank's
case for raising interest rates.

The notes fell for a fifth day after Japan's jobless rate
unexpectedly fell to a nine-year low and households increased
spending for a fourth month in April. Two-year note yields were at
the highest since 1997, signaling the government may raise a
coupon on the securities it will sell today at an auction.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Symbion says to allow 3 weeks for better offer

(Reuters) - Symbion Chief Executive Robert Cooke said Sigma had made some approaches in recent days.




"We've allowed three weeks for a superior proposal to emerge so we're very conscious of transparency to make sure that we maximize shareholder value for pharmacy and consumer," Cooke told reporters.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Japan's Industrial Production Probably Rebounded in April on Export Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's industrial production
probably rebounded in April, as manufacturers stepped up output
to meet rising demand from Asia and Europe.

Production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent after
dropping 0.3 percent a month earlier, according to the median
estimate of 45 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The Trade
Ministry will release the report tomorrow at 8:50 a.m. in Tokyo.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Sanyo Electric, FamilyMart, NTT DoCoMo, Sumco: Japanese Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may move in
Japanese markets tomorrow. Prices are as of the close of trading.
Statements were released after the close. Stock symbols are in
parentheses.

Acrodea Inc. (3823 JT) and Softbank Technology Corp. (4726
JT): Softbank Technology, a provider of electronic commerce
services, will buy a 1.5 percent stake in Acrodea, a software
developer, to help provide mobile phone services for corporations.
Acrodea climbed 29,000 yen, or 9.7 percent, to 328,000, while
Softbank Technology gained 43 yen, or 4 percent, to 1,113.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-URS to acquire Washington Group for $2.3 billion

(Reuters) - Under terms of the deal, Washington Group shareholders will
get $43.80 in cash and 0.772 shares of URS common stock for
each Washington Group share they own. That values Washington
Group at about $80 per share. Based on Washington Group's 29.2
million shares outstanding, the deal is worth about $2.3
billion in cash and stock.




The price marks a 14-percent premium over Washington
Group's closing stock price of $69.97 on Friday. The U.S.
financial markets were closed on Monday for Memorial Day.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Brazil Stocks Rise For Second Day on Metals Demand, Led By Vale, Gerdau

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil's main stock index gained for a
second day, led by mining and steel companies, on speculation
metal prices will remain strong as Chinese growth pushes up
demand.

Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, the world's biggest producer of
nickel and iron ore, and Gerdau SA, Latin America's biggest
steelmaker, advanced.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Canada Liberals urge pause in takeovers

(Reuters) - OTTAWA, May 28 - Canada's main opposition party
stepped up pressure on the minority government on Monday to
delay approval for any foreign corporate takeovers for three
months while considering changes to foreign investment rules.




The Conservative government should appoint a panel of
experts to review the Investment Canada Act and to recommend
changes within three months, Liberal leader Stephane Dion said
in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Metal Stocks Rise in Global Markets; Alcan, BHP, Arcelor Pace the Advance

(Bloomberg) -- Metal and mining stocks rallied
worldwide on speculation that growing demand for commodities from
China and higher prices may fuel more takeovers in the metals
industry.

Alcan Inc. climbed on a Globe and Mail report that Norsk
Hydro ASA is preparing a bid worth more than $30 billion for the
world's second-biggest aluminum company after Alcoa Inc. BHP
Billiton Ltd., the largest mining company, and Arcelor Mittal,
the biggest steelmaker, also advanced.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

OMX Shares Advance on Report Dubai May Surpass $3.7 Billion Nasdaq Bid

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Sweden's OMX AB, Europe's
fifth-biggest stock exchange, rose as much as 7.8 percent after
London's Sunday Times said Dubai may bid for the company, rivaling
an agreed $3.67 billion offer from Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.

OMX shares climbed 11.5 kronor to 211 kronor at 3:35 p.m. in
Stockholm, higher than Nasdaq's May 25 bid of 208.1 knonor a share.
OMX has a market value of 25.5 billion kronor ($3.73 billion).


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Oil Declines After Nigeria Meets Union Demands for Pay Raises, Strike Ends

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell as much as 1.3 percent
in New York after oil workers in Nigeria, the biggest producer in
Africa, ended a two-day strike.

The government met union demands for higher pay, Lumumba
Okugbawa, deputy general secretary of the Petroleum & Natural Gas
Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, said in Lagos today. The
West African nation is losing more than 600,000 barrels of output
a day because of violence, kidnappings and damage to facilities.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

OMX up on report of counterbid, analysts unsure

(Reuters) - But Britain's Sunday Times, without naming sources, said the government-owned Dubai International Financial Centre , had appointed HSBC to advise on a potential counterbid.




However, DIFC Governor Omar bid Suleiman had told Reuters last Thursday it was not eyeing a bid for OMX.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Dollar sits near peaks, buoyed by rate outlook

(Reuters) - The low yielding Japanese currency looked weak across the board as investors continued to favor selling low-yielders to fund purchases of higher return assets in carry trades.




European market activity was thin due to public holidays in Germany, Switzerland and Britain, while U.S. markets were also expected to be quiet due to the Memorial Day holiday.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Japan's 5-Year Notes Drop as Stocks Gain; Yields at Highest Since January

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's five-year notes dropped,
pushing yields to the highest since January, after the Nikkei 225
Stock Average rebounded from the biggest decline in a month.

Yields on two-year notes touched the highest since 1997 ahead
of a 1.7 trillion yen ($14 billion) sale of the debt tomorrow.
Reports this week may show Japan's industrial production rose and
U.S. hiring increased, according to Bloomberg News surveys. Signs
of growth in the world's two biggest economies may encourage the
Bank of Japan to raise interest rates again this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Nordic Stocks Climb, Paced by Swedish Match, Volvo; OMX Shares Advance

(Bloomberg) -- Nordic stocks advanced, led by Swedish
Match AB, the world's second-largest maker of smokeless tobacco
products, and Volvo AB, Europe's second-biggest truckmaker.

OMX AB rallied after the Sunday Times reported the Nordic
region's biggest stock exchange operator may receive a counterbid
from Dubai.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

China, Korea stocks hit records

(Reuters) - The U.S. currency hovered near a three-month high against the yen and a six-week peak to the euro as traders bet weak U.S. housing data late last week was not enough to warrant a cut in U.S. interest rates later in the year.




Crude oil prices eased about a third of a percent after a Nigerian oil union strike was suspended at the weekend, but remained above $70 a barrel on worries about gasoline supplies ahead of the U.S. summer holiday season.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News