Gulf Finance Sells Its First Islamic Bonds to Finance Banking Ventures

(Bloomberg) -- Gulf Finance House EC, a Bahraini
Islamic investment bank managing more than $10 billion of property
projects and assets, sold its first Islamic bonds to help finance
two regional banking ventures.

Manama-based Gulf Finance sold $200 million of five-year
bonds, known as sukuk, to investors in Asia and Europe, it said in
an e-mailed statement yesterday. HSBC Holdings Plc and Dresdner
Kleinwort Group Ltd. managed the sale with help from Emirates
Islamic Bank PJSC and Emirates Bank International PJSC.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

New Zealand Dollar Advances Above 80 U.S. Cents on Rate Rise Speculation

(Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar rose
above 80 U.S. cents to a 22-year high as the prospect of another
increase in interest rates this week lures investors to the
nation's higher-yielding assets.

The currency has gained 14 percent this year as the central
bank raised the benchmark rate three times in a bid to subdue
consumer demand, which it says is boosting inflation. There is a
67 percent chance bank Governor Alan Bollard will raise the
official cash rate by a quarter-percentage point for a fourth
time at his monetary policy review on July 26, according to a
Credit Suisse Group index based on interest-rate swaps trading.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

China silences green GDP study, report says

(Reuters) - Wang Jinnan, a senior expert at the Chinese Academy for
Environmental Planning who was technical head of the project,
said publicly spelling out the cost of bad air, water and soil
had drawn fierce opposition from local officials eager to
maintain growth.




"Taking out the costs of environmental damage would lead to a
huge fall in the quality of economic growth in some areas," Wang
told the paper.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Bank Loan Recovery Rates Declining as Financings Get Riskier, Moody's Says

(Bloomberg) -- Banks can expect to recover less
money when borrowers default than in the past, Moody's Investors
Service said.

The stripping away of traditional investor safeguards on so-
called covenant-lite loans, higher leverage and the sharing of
collateral between different types of creditor will reduce the
recovery rate in the U.S. and Europe, Moody's said in a summary
of a report to be released today.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

China's June Thermal Coal Prices Increase as Much as 2.7 Percent From May

(Bloomberg) -- Prices for power station coal in
China rose by as much as 2.7 percent in June from the previous
month, increasing fuel costs for electricity producers in the
world's fastest-growing major economy.

The price of thermal coal climbed as much as 12 yuan to
between 445 yuan ($58.8) and 455 yuan a metric ton at the end of
last month at Qinhuangdao, China's largest coal port, the
Beijing-based National Development and Reform Commission said in
a statement posted on its Web site July 20. Average coal prices
and transportation costs were ``stable,'' it said.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Japan Bonds Gain on Speculation Investors Sought Safety of Government Debt

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's bonds rose for a fifth day on
speculation a decline in emerging-market debt and equities will
prompt investors to seek the relative safety of government
securities.

The Japanese 10-year yield fell to the lowest in almost
three weeks as a drop in U.S. stocks extended to Asia. The yield
premium required to compensate buyers for the extra risk of
holding emerging-market debt compared with similar-maturity U.S.
Treasuries climbed to the highest since March, according to
JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s EMBI Plus index.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Seoul shares hit record, then fall

(Reuters) - Steel maker POSCO Co. Ltd. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. were among the day's leading decliners, sapping momentum in a main KOSPI that is still on the cusp of breaking 2,000 points for the first time.




"China's rate hike is having an impact, although the effects may not last, as the move had been widely expected and was tamer than market expectations," said Kim Jeong-hwan, a strategist at Woori Investment and Securities.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

China's Exported Inflation May Signal Interest-Rate Pressures Around Globe

(Bloomberg) -- The rising cost of goods the U.S.
imports from China may be an early warning signal that central
bankers from the U.K. to India are about to pay a price for a
cause they've championed: globalization.

China, a source of cheap manufactured products for the past
two decades, may be starting to export inflation as the world
economy grows at the fastest pace in a generation.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Carbon offsetting needs code of practice-UK report

(Reuters) - LONDON, July 23 - Carbon offsetting has a role to
play in fighting climate change but urgently needs a code of
practice, an environment committee of British parliamentarians
said on Monday.




Voluntary offsetting involves individuals and companies
paying others to cut greenhouse gas emissions on their behalf.
It is unregulated, and so distinct from a mandatory
international scheme under the Kyoto Protocol.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Yen Drops on Bets Japan's Ruling Coalition to Lose Upper House Elections

(Bloomberg) -- The yen dropped to a record low
against the euro after the Nikkei newspaper reported yesterday
Japan's coalition may lose its majority in upper house elections
on July 29, citing a poll it conducted.

The yen was at 168.12 per euro at 7:17 a.m. in Tokyo and
earlier reached 168.99, the lowest ever. It was at 167.61 per
euro late in New York July 20. Japan's currency traded at 121.49
per dollar from 121.27 last week.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Gold May Gain for 4th Week on Demand for Dollar Alternative, Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Gold may rise, topping $700 an ounce
for the first time since May 2006, on speculation the dollar
will weaken further against the euro and boost the appeal of the
precious metal as an alternative investment.

Twenty-three of 27 traders, investors and analysts surveyed
by Bloomberg from Sydney to Chicago on July 19 and July 20
advised buying gold, which rose 2.6 percent last week to $684.70
an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange. Three said to sell, and one was neutral.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

RPT-IPO VIEW-Validus set to raise more than $450 mln in IPO

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 22 - Reinsurance company Validus
Holdings Ltd. will test investor enthusiasm with an initial
public offering it hopes will raise as much as $468 million
when it becomes the fourth in its sector this year to tap U.S.
public markets.




The Bermuda-based company, one of several reinsurers to
stage IPOs in recent months, has filed to sell 18 million
shares with an anticipated per-share price range of $24 to
$26.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Roche unlikely to raise Ventana bid price - paper

(Reuters) - Roche last week also said it did not intend to increase its
$3 billion hostile bid for Ventana. But earlier this month, the
Swiss company appeared to suggest it might be ready to improve
its offer, in a letter from Humer to the U.S. company.




"I hope that he will
be ready to negotiate," Humer said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News