Trade powers launch new WTO push, US hopeful

(Reuters) - Trade powers launched an eleventh-hour effort to rescue global trade talks on Tuesday as negotiators prepared for what the United States called a critical week.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, leaving the first of five days of closed-door talks in Germany with counterparts from the European Union, Brazil and India, told reporters that this was "a critical week" for the talks, and that the U.S. was prepared to do its part to make progress.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Oil steadies ahead of stocks, Nigeria strike

(Reuters) - London benchmark Brent crude edged 3 cents lower to $71.81 a barrel by 0322 GMT, after losing 34 cents on Tuesday when the market pulled back from a 10-month high.




U.S. light sweet crude fell by 17 cents to $68.93 a barrel, after a week-long rally that lifted prices by nearly $4.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Coal Shipping Rate Rises; Baltic Index Gains for First Time in 10 Days

(Bloomberg) -- The cost of shipping raw materials
such as coal may rise in the coming weeks on port delays as
storms hit Australia's Newcastle harbor, the world's biggest
export terminal for the fuel.

The Baltic Dry Index, the overall measure of commodity-
shipping costs on different routes and ship sizes, rose 1.07
percent to 5310 yesterday, the first time in 10 days, according
to data from the London-based Baltic Exchange. The index lost 13
percent in the past nine days.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Bear Stearns hedge funds near shutting down: report

(Reuters) - Neither Merrill nor Bear Stearns were immediately available to comment on the report.




The struggling Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund suffered 23 percent losses through April, amid money-losing investments in subprime mortgages, and faced demands from creditors to post additional collateral.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 2-Microsoft to change Vista after Google complaint

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, June 19 - Microsoft Corp. has
agreed to modify its new Windows Vista operating system in
response to a complaint that its desktop search function put
Google Inc. and other potential competitors at a
disadvantage, the Justice Department and Microsoft said on
Tuesday.




Under an agreement with the department and 17 state
attorneys general and the District of Columbia, Microsoft will
build into Vista an option to let users select a default
desktop search program.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 6-Home Depot to buy back stock, sell supply unit

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 19 - Home improvement retailer
Home Depot Inc. on Tuesday said it would repurchase
$22.5 billion in stock and sell its supply division to three
private equity firms for $10.3 billion as it refocuses on its
core retail business.




The sale of HD Supply to Bain Capital Partners, Carlyle
Group and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice unloads a business
built up by the home improvement retailer's former chief
executive.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Indian Hotels eyes partners for overseas assets

(Reuters) - "We don't need to fully own all our assets internationally,
and we are in talks with like-minded partners to co-own some of
them," said Chief Financial Officer Anil Goel.




"It is an idea we want to explore, as it will release
liquidity that's key to our growth," he told reporters late on
Tuesday after reporting the company's fourth-quarter earnings.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Citic Resources Shares Gain; Singapore's Temasek Lifts Stake to 11 Percent

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Citic Resources Holdings
Ltd., a unit of China's fourth-largest oil producer, rose after
Temasek Holdings Pte. increased its stake to become the Chinese
company's second-biggest investor.

The stock rose as much as 4.01 percent to HK$4.67 at 10:02
a.m in Hong Kong. Ellington Investments Pte. Ltd., a wholly
owned unit of Temasek, agreed to subscribe to 101 million new
shares at HK$4.46 each, Citic Resources said in an e-mailed
statement yesterday. Temasek will also buy 101 million existing
shares at the same price.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Treasury Notes Are Little Changed After Three-Day Gain as Housing Slows

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasuries were little changed,
following a three-day gain, on expectations a housing slump will
keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates.

Notes had the longest winning streak in two months after a
Commerce Department report yesterday showed home construction
fell for the first time in four months in May as borrowing costs
rose. A private report today on mortgage applications may
compound expectations a cooling property market will dent
economic growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Bank of America Sells $1.7 Billion of Yen Bonds, Benefits From Low Rates

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp., the second-
largest banking group by market value, raised 215 billion yen
($1.74 billion) selling bonds denominated in yen.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America sold bonds
that pay fixed interest maturing in five and 10 years, according
to a statement from the underwriters. It also sold floating-rate
bonds that mature in five years and subordinated samurai bonds
with a 10-year maturity.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Whole Foods CEO saw merger eliminating threat

(Reuters) - " is the only existing company that has the brand and number of stores to be a meaningful springboard for another player to get into this space," Whole Foods Chief Executive John Mackey said in an e-mail.




"Eliminating them means eliminating this threat forever, or almost forever," he said in the e-mail sent to Whole Foods' board prior to a discussion of the deal. The e-mail was quoted by the Federal Trade Commission in its lawsuit seeking to block the deal.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand: Asian Local Bond Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic
reports may influence trading in Asian local-currency bonds today.
Yields are from the previous session.

China: China Development Bank plans to sell 5 billion yuan
($656 million) of bonds in the first yuan-denominated debt sale
in Hong Kong, Caijing magazine reported, without saying where it
got the information.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

PetroChina May Raise $5.7 Billion in Shanghai Share Sale to Fund Expansion

(Bloomberg) -- PetroChina Co., the country's biggest
oil company, plans to sell as many as 4 billion shares in
Shanghai, which may raise 43 billion yuan ($5.7 billion), based
on the company's share price in Hong Kong.

The proceeds of the Shanghai listing will be used to expand
the company's petroleum and gas businesses, PetroChina said in a
statement published in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post
newspaper today.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Merrill Revives $800 Million Sale of Bonds From Bear Stearns Hedge Fund

(Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. will proceed with
a plan to sell about $800 million of bonds from a money-losing
hedge fund run by Bear Stearns Cos., a day after delaying a
similar auction, people with knowledge of the offering said.

Merrill Lynch, a creditor to the fund, began distributing a
list to investors of bonds it may offer in the sale, according to
the people, who declined to be named because the details aren't
public.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Private equity eyes next tax move by Congress

(Reuters) - The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee last week introduced bipartisan legislation that would sharply raise the taxes for private equity firms that go public, as industry giant Blackstone Group LP proposes to do.




But lobbyists and lawyers in the industry said they also expect an eventual attempt in Congress to raise taxes on all private equity firms, not just those going public, by redefining "carried interest" -- the 20 percent cut of profits normally kept by the firms from sales of companies.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Bear Stearns offers $1.5 bln for troubled fund

(Reuters) - Negotiations to rescue the fund are continuing, and the
situation is still fluid, a person familiar with the matter
said.




The fund would pledge collateral against the $1.5 billion
from Bear Stearns, sources said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.S. Stocks Rise as Bond Yields Slip; GE, Financial Shares Lead Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose after bond yields
retreated for a third day, easing concern that higher borrowing
costs will reduce loan demand even amid signs the housing slump
is worsening.

General Electric Co., the world's second-largest company by
market value, climbed to a five-year high. Bank of America
Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. led gains in
shares of companies that benefit from falling interest rates.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Homes prices most at risk in once-hot markets

(Reuters) - "What the markets with the greatest risk of decline have in
common is a history of price volatility: rapidly rising rates
of price appreciation above the long-term average followed by a
recent sharp slowdown in the rate of appreciation," said Mark
Milner, chief risk officer of The PMI Group Inc. unit
PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., which released the report.




"Markets with a history of volatility are more likely to
see price declines in the future," Milner added.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

S&P cuts Expedia's rating to junk; Moody's may cut too

(Reuters) - Expedia said on Tuesday it would buy back shares for up to
$3.5 billion, at a premium of at least 8 percent to Monday's
closing price. For details, see [ID:nN19474106].




"This represents a dramatic change in Expedia's previously
investment-grade financial policy," S&P said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Whole Foods memo sought to avoid price wars-FTC

(Reuters) - The FTC's court filing quoted an e-mail that John Mackey,
chief executive of Whole Foods, sent to his board of directors,
saying, "By buying we will ... avoid nasty price
wars in Portland , Boulder, Nashvile,
and several other cities which will harm gross
margins and profitability."




Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Platinum Is Little Changed as Impala Resumes Labor Talks; Palladium Rises

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum was little changed in New
York as Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. resumed labor talks,
easing the threat of a strike that might cut production in South
Africa. Palladium rose.

The National Union of Mineworkers today rejected a wage
offer from Johannesburg-based Impala, union spokesman Lesiba
Seshoka said. Impala, the world's second-biggest platinum
producer, refused to make an offer last week, prompting the NUM
to declare a dispute that paved the way for a possible strike.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Australia May Cut Wheat Crop Estimate on Dry Start in West, Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Australia, the world's third-largest
wheat exporter, may cut its forecast for the coming harvest by
as much as 12 percent on expectation dry weather in its biggest
grain-growing state will limit output.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource
Economics will say output won't meet its estimate of 25 million
metric tons, the third-highest crop on record, according to a
survey of four analysts and grain traders. The Canberra-based
bureau is scheduled to release its next prediction tomorrow.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

UPDATE 1-Trading in Mexico's Asur halted on pending news

(Reuters) - The Mexican Stock Exchange said Asur asked for
the halt in trading, pending an announcement, but gave no
further details. Asur was not immediately available for
comment.




The bourse also said trading in Asur's American Depositary
Receipts were halted.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Bank of Korea official concerned about strong won

(Reuters) - "We are concerned," about the rise in the Korean currency
against the yen, Lee Sung-il, senior deputy governor of the
Bank of Korea told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.
"As you know, the yen/won rate is decided by arbitrage so we
don't have a choice."




Asked if the central bank would take action to restrain the
won's rise, he said: "No."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-U.S. economy shouLd regain momentum -IMF's Rato

(Reuters) - In text prepared for a speech in Toronto, IMF Managing
Director Rodrigo Rato said the situation in the U.S. housing
market was "more ambiguous" but added that the effects from
problems in the subprime mortgage market appeared to be
limited.




"We believe that the U.S. economic prospects are good,"
Rato told the Economic Club of Toronto.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Blackstone Group IPO to be priced Thursday

(Reuters) - Blackstone, one of the world's largest private
equity investment firms, expects to sell 133.3 million common
units at $29 to $31 each for as much as $4.13 billion in
proceeds.




Blackstone also will let underwriters, led by Morgan
Stanley and Citigroup Inc. , to sell an additional 20
million shares to meet any excess demand. That would boost the
total offering to as much as $4.75 billion, making it the
largest U.S. IPO of the year and the sixth largest ever.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

S.Africa unions, government meet as strike drags on

(Reuters) - New talks to end South Africa's crippling public sector strike opened on Tuesday amid hopes that the 19-day-old dispute might be moving towards an end.

Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of the COSATU union umbrella group, said there was an urgent need to end the strike, but union members would hold out for the best wage hike they could get.


Read more at Reuters Africa

CORRECTED - CORRECTED-Macquarie to buy fixed-base operator for $158.8 mln

(Reuters) - The company said it will fund a portion of the expanded
acquisition with a two-year bridge facility of $80 million
guaranteed by its airport services holding company, Macquarie
FBO Holdings.




In April, Macquarie said it would buy Mercury Air Centers
for $456.2 million. As a result of the increase in the size of
the Mercury transaction, it now intends to raise about $230
million in a follow-on equity offering.



Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Expedia to buy back more than a third of its stock

(Reuters) - The news sent the shares up $4, or 15.7 percent, to $29.50 in morning trading on Nasdaq.




Expedia said it would repurchase 116.7 million shares at $27.50 to $30 each. Without elaborating on the reasons for the buyback or the source of funds to be used, Chairman Barry Diller said the move reflected the board's confidence in the company's future.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Fed economist-Housing downturn may deepen

(Reuters) - "Unwinding the dramatic rise in non-prime mortgages could
have a noticeable effect on home construction beyond what we've
seen in the first quarter," said Dallas Fed economist John Duca
in a interview posted on the bank's Web site.




Some industry analysts think the lending pullback could
slow homebuilding by another 10 percent to 15 percent, but it
is difficult to gauge the full impact, Duca said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. Treasury seeks nominations for auditing panel

(Reuters) - The committee will evaluate and make recommendations to
strengthen the auditing profession. The Treasury said it
expects the recommendations to be issued within a year.




The committee will examine the state of the profession
since it was rocked several years ago by massive accounting
fraud scandals such as the collapses of Enron Corp. and
WorldCom Inc. as well as massive profit restatements by housing
finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Carnival profit narrowly higher

(Reuters) - Revenue rose 9 percent to $2.9 billion despite price pressures in Caribbean operations.




Wall Street analysts had expected Miami-based Carnival to earn 47 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Home Depot in $10 bln deal to sell unit

(Reuters) - HD Supply was put up for sale earlier this year, with investment bank Lehman Brothers hired to auction the business, which sells building materials, waste water and utility products to municipalities and contractors.




Several groups of private equity firms showed initial interest in the unit, but backed away late in the process as the slowdown in the U.S. housing market pressured the business, sources involved with the auction previously told Reuters.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Brazil to Offer More Real-Denominated Bonds Due 2028 in Foreign Markets

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil plans to sell more of its
real-denominated bonds due in 2028 in international markets.

The Treasury said in a statement it plans to sell the 10 1/4
percent bonds in the U.S. and European markets and may extend the
offer to Asian markets. The Treasury didn't say how much it plans
to sell.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Copper Falls in New York After U.S. Housing Report Raises Demand Concerns

(Bloomberg) -- Copper futures fell by the most in a
week in New York after a report showed U.S. housing starts fell
in May, raising concern demand from homebuilders will slump in
the world's second-largest consumer of the metal.

Builders broke ground on new houses at an annual rate of
1.47 million, down 2.1 percent from April, the U.S. Commerce
Department said today. Copper has fallen 16 percent since
reaching a high in May 2006 as declining home construction helped
lower U.S. demand by 6 percent last year.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

De Beers launches wage talks, offers 7 pct rise

(Reuters) - The South African unit of De Beers, the world's biggest diamond producer, has launched wage negotiations, offering workers a 7 percent pay rise, the firm said on Tuesday.

The negotiations will cover around 3,500 employees out of a total of 6,100 at the South African unit, De Beers Consolidated Mines spokesman Tom Tweedy said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

French Stocks Including Carrefour, Air France Decline While Renault Rises

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks including Carrefour SA
and Air France-KLM Group declined while Renault SA advanced.

The CAC 40 Index slid 10.17, or less than 0.2 percent, to
6076.98 at 2:39 p.m. The SBF 120 Index slipped 0.2 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Norilsk CEO expects LionOre deal by June 28

(Reuters) - Norilsk Nickel expects to complete the acquisition of LionOre Mining International Ltd. by June 28, when a rival offer by Xstrata Plc. is due to expire, the company's chief executive said on Tuesday.

Denis Morozov told a conference he considered it unlikely Xstrata would match Norilsk's C$6.8 billion bid for the world's 10th-largest nickel producer.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Actuant posts higher third-quarter profit

(Reuters) - Including items, net income for the third quarter rose to $29.6 million, or 95 cents a share, from $26.8 million, or 86 cents a share in the year-ago period.



Third quarter net sales rose to $385 million from $316.7 million a year ago.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Canada May core inflation cools from April spike

(Reuters) - Indeed, the rate would have been closer to 2.1 percent if
not for the introduction of an updated basket of goods used to
calculate the consumer price index.




The total inflation rate stayed unchanged at 2.2 percent
but also would have been 2.1 percent in May under the old
basket, used through April.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

UPDATE 1-Citigroup flags interest in German banks

(Reuters) - "We are not in any talks at all with Commerzbank," Sue
Harnett, Citi's Germany head, said on the sidelines of a press
conference, throwing cold water on recent rumours that Citi had
prepared a bid for the bank.




Citibank is interested in all banks in Germany that would be
for sale, Hartnett said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 2-Japan manufacturers' confidence up -Reuters Tankan

(Reuters) - TOKYO, June 19 - Japanese manufacturers' business
sentiment nudged up to a five-month high in June, a Reuters
survey showed on Tuesday, signaling that manufacturers remain the
drivers behind the country's economic growth.




Sentiment of services firms such as retailers worsened for a
second month to a 15-month low, however, a sign that the
country's growth is still uneven and possibly hinting that
household consumption is slowing.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

U.K. Electricity Gains as Spare Capacity Drops; French Prices Increase

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. power for delivery on the next
working day rose as the volume of spare power-generation
capacity in Britain declined. French power increased, narrowing
its discount to the German electricity market.

Day-ahead baseload power for delivery in the U.K. gained as
much as 7.4 percent to trade at 29 pounds ($57.52) a megawatt
hour, according to prices on Bloomberg from the energy broker
Spectron Group Plc. It last traded at 28.75 pounds a megawatt
hour as of 10:14 a.m. in London.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

British Energy Halts Dungeness-B Nuclear Reactor After Circuit Is Tripped

(Bloomberg) -- British Energy Group Plc, whose
nuclear reactors can produce about a fifth of the U.K.'s
electricity, stopped production at Unit 1 at its Dungeness-B
plant.

The reactor, which can generate about 550 megawatts of
power, was halted at 4:30 a.m. London time today, according to
data on a Web site operated by U.K. electricity network manager
National Grid Plc.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

MAN AG's Truck Division Predicts Sales in Russia Will Triple This Year

(Bloomberg) -- MAN AG, Europe's third-largest
truckmaker, predicted that purchases from Russian customers will
triple this year as a booming economy increases transport
demand.

MAN plans to increase Russian sales to ``clearly more
than'' 4,000 trucks from 1,570 vehicles in 2006, Anton Weinmann,
the commercial-vehicles division chief, said yesterday in
written responses to questions from Bloomberg News.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

German DAX Benchmark Gains for Fifth Day, Led by Infineon, Bayer, SAP

(Bloomberg) -- Germany's benchmark DAX Index
advanced for a fifth day, led by Infineon Technologies AG after
Deutsche Bank AG raised its price estimate for the shares.

Bayer AG increased after the drugmaker said profit is
growing faster than expected. SAP AG also climbed.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Fired London Traders Try to Use U.K. Whistle-Blower Law to Win Big Payout

(Bloomberg) -- Cantor Fitzgerald LP says it refused
to pay the former head of a U.K. trading unit millions of dollars
in incentives because he'd quit. Lewis Findlay says he was pushed
out for complaining about business practices and is using a
whistle-blower law to seek $30 million.

The lawsuit is one of at least 10 in London courts involving
executives earning six-figure salaries who are suing under
legislation designed to protect employees who raise workplace
concerns about illegal or dangerous behavior.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Tesco's UK sales slow as consumers cautious

(Reuters) - By Rachel Sanderson



LONDON, June 19 - Tesco , the world's fifth-largest retailer, reported a slowdown in its core UK sales in the first quarter and said it expected a "tougher year" as four interest rate hikes make consumers wary.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Rand firmer, could test 7.05/dollar

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed slightly versus the dollar on Tuesday and traders said it was supported by favourable sentiment towards emerging markets.

At 0640 GMT, the rand stood at 7.08 to the dollar, from its New York close of 7.0872 on Monday.


Read more at Reuters Africa