Rand steady; eyes equities, euro

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed against the dollar on Monday and looked set to take direction from equities and the euro, traders said.

At 0638 GMT, the rand stood at 7.09 versus the dollar, about 0.3 percent firmer than its New York close of 7.1125 on Friday. Traders said the local unit would probably trade in the 7.02 - 7.13 range in the session.


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European stocks tick up in early trade; miners help

(Reuters) - European stocks rose in early trade on Monday as gains in miners and chemicals group ICI offset fears over the impact of a credit crunch on liquidity and mergers and acquisitions.

BHP Billiton gained 2.1 percent and Rio Tinto rose 1.5 percent, helped by gains in Australian trading.


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U.K. Stocks Rise for First Time in Five Days; ICI, BHP Billiton Pace Gains

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose for the first time
in five days. Imperial Chemical Industries Plc and BHP Billiton
Ltd. paced the advance.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 12.9, or 0.2 percent, to
6228.1 at 8:30 a.m. in London. The FTSE All-Share Index gained
0.3 percent to 3218.95. Ireland's ISEQ Index rallied 0.3 percent
to 8378.62.


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Kookmin Bank's Second-Quarter Profit Plunges to $256 Million on Back Taxes

(Bloomberg) -- Kookmin Bank, South Korea's largest,
said second-quarter profit fell 70 percent because of back taxes
related to the 2003 takeover of its credit-card unit.

Net income fell to 236.3 billion won ($256 million) from 777
billion won a year earlier, the Seoul-based company said in
regulatory filing today. Kookmin was expected to earn 672 billion
won, according to the average of six analyst estimates
compiled by Bloomberg.


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U.S. Treasuries Decline as Rebound in Global Stocks Dims Allure of Debt

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. 10-year Treasuries fell for the
first time in a week as a rebound in global stock markets reduced
the appeal of fixed-income securities.

Treasuries declined as Asian shares rebounded from a slump
after higher profits at Japanese companies helped ease concerns a
U.S. housing slowdown would crimp the economy. U.S. notes snapped
four days of gains that had been driven by investors seeking the
relative safety of government debt as equity markets dropped.


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Insurer Beazley makes record H1 pretax profit

(Reuters) - It made 60.2 million pounds in the first six months of this year, more than double its profit of 28.3 million pounds during the same period last year.



Its profits were boosted by 25.2 million pounds released from reserves that were no longer needed to pay claims, more than double the amount it released from reserves during the first half of 2006.


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UPDATE 1-India's i-flex Q1 net up, but firm rupee weighs

(Reuters) - BANGALORE, July 30 - India's i-flex solutions
ltd. said on Monday its April-June net profit rose
4.6 percent, as the banking software maker gained from rising
orders, but a strong rupee was a concern.
The company, majority owned by U.S. business software firm
Oracle Corp. , was winning large deals from banks
looking to cut costs, Chief Financial Officer Makarand Padalkar
said.




"The business momentum is very, very strong, both on our
strength and Oracle's. There are number of large engagements
which are in progress," Padalkar told Reuters in a telephone
interview from the company's Mumbai headquarters.


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