Markets drop as worries grow

(Reuters) - "The outlook for today does not look good. On top of the worries about the exposure of funds to credit markets, now we've worries about weak U.S. economic data," said Choo Hee-yeop, deputy general manager of asset management strategy at Korea Investment and Securities.




At 0025 GMT, Tokyo's Nikkei average had slid 1.6 percent with exporters such as Canon Inc., electronics components maker Kyocera and chip-tester maker Advantest Corp. further hit by a firmer yen.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Union Investment Halts Bond Fund Withdrawals After $137 Million Pulled

(Bloomberg) -- Union Investment Asset Management
Holding AG, Germany's third-largest mutual fund manager, halted
redemptions from a fund holding subprime mortgages after clients
withdrew about 10 percent of the assets in the past month.

Investors redeemed 100 million euros ($137 million) from the
950 million-euro ABS-Invest Fund, spokesman Markus Temme said
today. The fund, sold to institutional investors across Europe,
has about 6 percent of its assets in securities related to
subprime mortgage loans, Temme said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Fidelity Says Its U.S., Asia High-Yield Funds Have No Subprime Debt, CDOs

(Bloomberg) -- Fidelity International Ltd. said its
U.S. and Asian high-yield funds have no U.S. subprime mortgage
investments or collateralized debt obligations.

Fidelity International, a unit of Boston-based Fidelity
Investments, the world's largest mutual-fund company, sees buying
opportunities in U.S. and Asian high-yield markets, portfolio
managers Harley Lank and Andrew Wells said in a market update
late yesterday titled ``Sub-prime or a prime opportunity?''


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Treasuries Strengthen as Investors Seek Refuge Amid Renewed Credit Concern

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose as evidence of
losses among providers of riskier mortgages encouraged investors
to seek the safety of U.S. government debt.

Ten-year note yields fell to near the lowest in two months
as American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., a lender whose stock
stopped trading after it disclosed a cash shortage, said it may
have to liquidate assets. Standard & Poor's may downgrade an
additional $1 billion of collateralized debt obligations.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Resources lead S.African stock market firmer

(Reuters) - Resource shares continued to lead South African shares to higher ground on Tuesday, with heavyweight miners Anglo American and rival BHP Billiton leading the march.

"We have seen gold and copper prices up quite significantly on the back of improved global markets, which are more than anything driving our markets rather than what is happening locally," Gryphon Asset Management Chief Investment Officer, Abri du Plessis said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Canadian Stocks Extend Decline on Takeover Concern; BCE Shares Retreat

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks fell, extending a
benchmark index's worst week since the September 20001 terror
attacks, as investors concerned about a worsening housing market
in the U.S. sold riskier assets.

Commodity shares such as Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.
retreated on speculation that demand may drop in the U.S. BCE
Inc., target of the largest buyout, retreated after Citi
Investment Research cut its recommendation on the stock, citing
growing risks to its financing.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Barclays gets nod to buy stake in China trust firm

(Reuters) - London-based Barclays Bank Plc will be allowed to buy a nearly 20 percent stake in New China Trust & Investment Co., one of the country's oldest trust firms, after negotiations for more than one year between the two companies, the sources said.




The purchase will make Barclays the first foreign bank with a stake in a Chinese trust firm, while others, including Morgan Stanley and UBS , are still in talks with potential Chinese partners.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

LG Elec shares surge on strong earnings

(Reuters) - "News of Motorola's loss certainly helped LG shares as it highlights its handset margin, which came in higher than competitors," said Kevin Lee, an analyst at Woori Investment and Securities.




The world's fifth-biggest mobile phone maker on Thursday posted a second-quarter net profit of 385 billion won , well above analysts' forecasts. LG had posted a loss of 9.7 billion won a year earlier and a 122.6-billion-won shortfall in the previous quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE1-Genpact sees $16-$18/share price band for 35.3 mln IPO

(Reuters) - Genpact is offering about 17.6 million shares in the IPO,
while some stockholders are offering the remaining shares, the
company said in an amended filing with the U.S Securities and
Exchange Commission.




Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Wachovia Securities,
Merrill Lynch & Co., Banc of America Securities, Credit Suisse,
Deutsche Bank Securities and UBS Investment Bank were
underwriting the IPO, Bermuda based Genpact said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

South Korea's Kospi Falls From a Record; Samsung Drops Most in Three Years

(Bloomberg) -- South Korean stocks fell on concern
a rally that's made the Kospi index the world's best performer
this month more than reflected earnings prospects. Samsung
Electronics Co. led the retreat, sliding the most in three years.

``Tech stocks are pulling back because people are taking
profit on the recent jumps, not because there's a problem with
their fundamentals,'' said Jeon Jeong Woo, who manages $540
million at Daehan Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Asian shares rise after strong Wall Street

(Reuters) - In Hong Kong, conglomerate Fosun International Ltd. is set to make its market debut after raising about $1.5 billion earlier this month in an initial public offering.




"Global markets continue to perform strongly, setting up the stage for more gains," said Kim Hak-kyun, an analyst at Korea Investment and Securities.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Auckland Airport, Goodman Property Viking: New Zealand Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's NZX 50 Index rose 1.72
point to 4245.38 at 10:41 a.m. in Wellington. The following shares
rose or fell. Stock symbols are in brackets after company names.

Auckland International Airport Ltd. (AIA NZ), the nation's
busiest gateway, rose 1 cent, or 0.3 percent, to NZ$3.31. The
shares have gained 17 percent from their level before June 18,
when the airport company said it was in talks with Canada Pension
Plan Investment Board and other parties that may result in an
offer.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Pomeroy to add Flagg Street's nominees to board

(Reuters) - Investment advisor Flagg Street owns about 9.8 percent of
the technology services provider's outstanding stock, Pomeroy
said in a statement.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Canada panel to review competition, investing laws

(Reuters) - TORONTO, July 12 - The Canadian government
appointed a five-member independent panel on Thursday to
examine all aspects of competition and investment policy,
including limits on foreign ownership in certain sectors.




Two key laws -- the Competition Act and the Investment
Canada Act -- need updating, as trade agreements have opened up
markets and investing has become increasingly global, federal
officials said at a press conference.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Bond Risk Soars to One-Year High as S&P Threatens Subprime CDO Downgrades

(Bloomberg) -- Corporate bond risk soared to the
highest in a year after Standard & Poor's said it may cut
ratings on $12 billion of subprime securities, according to
traders of credit-default swaps.

The CDX North American Investment-Grade Index of credit-
default swaps on 125 companies increased $3,000 to $46,000,
according to Phoenix Partners Group in New York, the highest
risk premium since June 2006. In Europe the iTraxx Crossover
Series 7 Index of 50 companies jumped as much as 24,500 euros to
271,000 euros, the biggest daily move in more than two years,
according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Lear accepts sweetened Icahn bid, Pzena not swayed

(Reuters) - Icahn, Lear's biggest shareholder, raised his offer to $37.25 per share from a previous $36 that proxy advisory firms and several shareholders called too low. Just weeks ago, Icahn stood firm against raising the offer.




The bump up was not enough to sway Richard Pzena, head of Pzena Investment Management LLC, a firm that has led opposition to the Icahn bid, and plans to vote against the new offer from Icahn's American Real Estate Partners LP .


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

RLPC-UPDATE 1-Swift & Co. pulls $600 mln junk bond deal--sources

(Reuters) - J.P. Morgan was leading the Rule 144A private placement
deal with a "Caa2" rating by Moody's Investors Service and
"B-minus" rating by Standard & Poor's, according to KDP
Investment Advisors. The bond offering is backed by a $600
million bridge loan.




The offer consisted of a $200 million senior cash-pay
tranche due 2015; a $200 million senior toggle tranche due
2015; and a $200 million senior floating-rate tranche due
2014.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

European stocks rise in early trade, Univar surges

(Reuters) - At 0711 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.37 percent at 1,625.65 points.




"Positive U.S. jobs data on Friday put us in a good mood, but there were concerns about oil, which puts pressure on underlying commodity costs," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at 7 Investment Management.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

U.S. SEC's country watch list draws fire

(Reuters) - Both business and humanitarian groups say the list,
available on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Web
site, is ill-conceived. The tool provides links to companies
whose annual reports contain "some reference" to business
related to Sudan, Syria, North Korea, Iran and Cuba.




"Not only has the SEC named and shamed the wrong companies,
it's missed many with significant operations in countries like
Sudan," Adam Sterling, director of the Sudan Divestment Task
Force, and Todd Malan, president and CEO of the Organization
for International Investment, wrote in an opinion piece in
Thursday's Wall Street Journal.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Gazprom-Shell Venture Tests Russia's First Liquefied-Gas Processing Plant

(Bloomberg) -- An OAO Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell
Plc joint venture said they started testing a liquefied natural
gas plant at Sakhalin, eastern Russia, a further step toward the
country's first LNG export sales, scheduled for 2008.

The LNG facility at the Sakhalin-2 project will be
commissioned, or tested, using gas from Shell's LNG tanker
Granosa, which docked at the plant's jetty in Prigorodnoye
earlier today, the Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. venture said
in a statement.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News