Blackstone shares fall nearly 6 pct on 2nd day

(Reuters) - Blackstone units slid more than 5 percent in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, dropping as much as $2.06 to $33.00.




The units rose 13 percent in their Friday market debut to $35.06, in contrast to the wider market, which fell sharply.


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REFILE-Almost half of Canadians oppose BCE-Telus merger

(Reuters) - The Angus Reid Strategies poll, released on Sunday, found
48 percent of respondents believe the federal government should
not approve the merger if it were to occur, while only 27
percent think the deal should get a go-ahead from Ottawa and 25
percent are unsure.




Last week, Telus touted the creation of a "national
champion" by proposing a takeover of BCE, Canada's largest
telecom company. Telus became the fourth party interested in
mounting a bid for Montreal-based BCE. The other three are
buyout consortiums that each include a different U.S.
private-equity firm.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US STOCKS-Indexes rise as bond yields fall; GM up

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 25 - U.S. stocks advanced on
Monday as data on existing-home sales landed near analysts'
estimates and bond yields fell, easing worries about higher
borrowing costs and helping stocks recover from last week's
losses.




General Motors Corp. gave a boost to the Dow
industrials after Goldman Sachs lifted its rating on shares of
the largest U.S. automaker. Goldman, cited expectations GM may
win concessions from unionized workers. For details, see
[ID:nN25282960].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Soybeans Rise for First Session in Three as Drought Threatens China Crops

(Bloomberg) -- Soybeans in Chicago rose for the
first time in three sessions on speculation unusually dry
weather threatens crops in China, the world's biggest buyer of
the oilseed.

Parts of the North China Plain and all of the Manchurian
Plain were dry during the weekend, with temperatures rising as
high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), said John
Dee, president of Global Weather Monitoring in Mohawk, Michigan.
Unusually hot, dry weather will persist in the region through
next week, Dee said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

UPDATE 2-BASF sees sales growing faster than market

(Reuters) - If market conditions worsen, however, its earnings before
interest and tax could drop, it added.




Chief Executive Juergen Hambrecht told investors in New York
that sales growth should outpace that of the market by 2
percentage points. EBIT should be between 5 billion and 8
billion euros in 2010, compared with 6.75 billion in 2006.


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Rand in ranges vs dollar, market awaits data

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand drifted in narrow ranges against the dollar on Monday and should mostly be influenced by overseas market trends ahead of domestic inflation, credit and trade data later in the week.

At around 1445 GMT the local unit was at 7.1570 against the dollar, just 0.08 percent firmer than its Friday New York close of 7.1625, and within a session trading band of 7.1350/1815.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Miners, MTN drag South African bourse down

(Reuters) - Mining stocks, led by Anglo American, and mobile operator MTN pushed South Africa's blue chip Top-40 index lower on Monday, amid investor concern about lower metal prices and a possible interest rate hike.

The Top-40 ended 0.59 percent lower at 26,139 points while the broader All-share index closed down 0.62 percent at 28,914 points.


Read more at Reuters Africa