Two-Year Treasury Note Yields Fall to 18-Month Lows as Global Stocks Drop

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries were little changed, with
two-year note yields near the lowest in 18 months, as European
and Asian stocks dropped.

Two-year note yields declined 2 basis points, or 0.02
percentage point, to 4.4 percent at 8:30 p.m. in New York,
according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The price of 4
5/8 securities due in July 2009 rose 1/32, or 31 cents per
$1,000 face amount, to 100 14/32. Bond yields move in the
opposite direction of prices.


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Stock futures rise, suggest respite before Fed

(Reuters) - The Fed releases its decision on Tuesday and is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25 percent. Interest rate futures show traders are betting on the central bank delivering at least one rate cut by the end of this year.




By 0927 GMT September S&P futures were up 0.5 percent in Europe but still around their lowest in nearly five months.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Credit, growth fears batter stocks, hit dollar

(Reuters) - European shares opened more than 1 percent lower before recovering slightly. Emerging market shares dropped around 1.8 percent and Japanese equities slipped 0.4 percent.




Heightened concerns for economic growth as a result of credit problems also knocked oil prices, which briefly dipped below $74.50, and dragged Shanghai copper futures down 3 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

South African Rand Climbs Against Dollar Over Week as Carry Trade Resumes

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's rand logged a weekly
gain against the dollar as global stocks rebounded, prompting
investors to resume buying emerging-market assets.

The rand also advanced as the cost of owning European
corporate bonds fell for the first week in seven. The South
African currency pared its weekly gain after Standard & Poor's
Corp. yesterday cut the credit outlook on Bear Stearns Cos.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

European Bonds Snap Three Weeks of Gains After ECB Indicates Higher Rates

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds snapped
three weeks of gains after the European Central Bank indicated
it will raise interest rates further this year.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet signaled rates may rise
from a six-year high of 4 percent as early as September, saying
``strong vigilance'' is needed to guard against price pressures.
Policy makers used the phrase a month before each of the ECB's
eight rate increases since late 2005. Trichet spoke on Aug. 2
after the bank kept borrowing costs unchanged, as forecast.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

British Airways says July traffic down 2.9 pct

(Reuters) - Its load factor -- a measure of how well it filled its planes -- fell by 1.5 percentage points to 81.2 percent.



There was a 2.9 percent fall in non-premium traffic and premium traffic fell by 2.6 percent, Europe's third-largest airline said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Glaxo Avandia FDA Adversity Prompts Doubts of Revenue, Share Resurgence

(Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc convinced a U.S.
regulatory panel this week to keep its best-selling diabetes
drug, Avandia, on the market. Now comes the hard part: persuading
doctors to use a medicine linked to heart attacks.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration committee of advisers
said this week that the diabetes pill should carry new warnings
about cardiovascular risks. Glaxo shares had their biggest gain
in two years yesterday after the advisory panel decided not to
recommend the withdrawal of Avandia, which brought in $3.3
billion in 2006 for the London-based company, Europe's largest
drugmaker.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

European Stocks Drop, Paced by Hypo Real Estate, Depfa, Total, BP

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell, led by energy
companies and banks, after Citigroup Inc. lowered its
recommendation for the oil industry and Union Investment, a
German mutual fund manager, halted redemptions from a fund.

The Dow Jones Europe Stoxx Oil & Gas Index dropped to the
lowest in two months, led by Total SA and BP Plc. Hypo Real
Estate Holding AG, the mortgage bank spun off from HVB Group, and
Depfa Bank Plc also declined.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

European Stocks Rise, Led by Aviva; Lloyds, Ryanair, GlaxoSmithKline Rally

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks rebounded from a
five-day plunge on waning concern that the U.S. subprime-credit
crisis will damp economic growth.

Aviva Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc and UBS AG paced gains by
financial stocks. Lloyds TSB Group Plc rallied on earnings that
topped analysts' estimates. Ryanair Holdings Plc and MAN AG led
airline and auto stocks higher after raising profit forecasts.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc jumped the most in two years after a panel of
doctors said its Avandia drug should remain on the U.S. market.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

German Stocks Advance, Led by MAN on Earnings; DaimlerChrysler, BMW Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Germany's benchmark DAX Index rose,
heading for the biggest one-day gain in more than two weeks. MAN
AG shares paced the advance after Europe's third-largest
truckmaker reported its 16th consecutive profit increase.

Shares of DaimlerChrysler AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke
AG, the world's biggest luxury carmakers, also climbed.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Corporate Bond Risk Declines by Record In Europe, Halting Three-Day Rout

(Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning European
corporate bonds dropped by a record today, halting a three-day
credit market rout.

Credit-default swaps on 10 million euros ($13.8 million) of
debt included in the iTraxx Crossover Series 7 Index of 50
European companies tumbled as much as 60,000 euros to 402,000
euros, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rally sharply as credit market calms

(Reuters) - LONDON, July 31 - Stocks around the world bounced
back sharply on Tuesday as volatile credit markets stabilised
and after Wall St took heart from still-brisk corporate earnings
growth and the smooth wind-up of another troubled hedge fund.




Europe's benchmark index rebounded after five
straight days of losses and gained more than one percent in the
first few minutes of trading. Bourses in London ,
Frankfurt and Paris added 1 percent or more.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

EU will not cover Chinese loans to Africa

(Reuters) - The European Union warned China on Monday of the dangers of lending money to Africa and said it was not willing to write off any unrepaid debt to Beijing from Europe's former colonial backyard.

Europe remains by far Africa's bigger trading partner and aid donor, but recent years have seen a surge in soft loans from energy-hungry China to finance projects in Africa ranging from roads to telecoms networks.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Agfa, Alcatel-Lucent, Bulgari, Danone, Iliad, MAN: European Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in European markets. Prices are from the last close.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 fell 0.2 percent to 372.03. The Dow
Jones Stoxx 50 Index declined 0.3 percent to 3710.74. The Euro
Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the 13 nations using the euro,
dropped 0.1 percent to 4239.18.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Currency Option Volatility Edges Higher as Credit Risk Measures Increase

(Bloomberg) -- Option volatility on most major
exchange rates edged higher as investors demand safer assets and
indicators of corporate bond risk surged.

The perceived risk of owning European corporate bonds
soared to the highest in at least three years after Germany's
IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG reported losses on U.S. subprime
mortgages, credit-default swap prices show.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

European Stocks Rebound; Imperial Chemicals, Linde Shares Advance

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks rebounded. Imperial
Chemical Industries Plc and Linde AG, the world's largest maker
of industrial gases, paced the advance.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 was little changed at 372.59 at 2:49
p.m. in London after falling as much as 0.6 percent earlier. The
Stoxx 50 decreased 0.1 percent, while the Euro Stoxx 50, a
measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro, was little changed.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

European Bonds Advance as Subprime Woes Send Corporate Debt Risk Soaring

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds gained for
a fifth day as the risk of owning corporate debt soared to the
highest in at least three years.

Bunds rose, pushing 10-year yields to the lowest in 2 1/2
months, after Germany's IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG reported
losses linked to loans made to U.S. homeowners with poor credit
histories. Government debt dropped earlier on speculation the
European Central Bank will this week reiterate its preference for
higher rates.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE 1-ADM quarterly profit rises, ethanol volume down

(Reuters) - ADM has been boosted in the past year by demand for
alternative foods made from crops. But higher corn costs and
lower ethanol volume cut profit in its corn processing business
during the quarter, while oilseed processing profit was hurt by
lower European rapeseed and biodiesel margins, the company
said.




The largest U.S. food processor and ethanol producer, ADM
said earnings rose to $954.8 million, or $1.47 per share, in
the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, from $410.3 million,
or 62 cents per share, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

HSBC says profits up 13 pct, but bad debts jump

(Reuters) - LONDON, July 30 - HSBC Holdings , Europe's biggest bank, reported a 13 percent rise in first-half pretax profits as a $1 billion one-off gain helped offset a jump in bad debts linked to its problems in the U.S. housing market.



HSBC said on Monday its charge for bad debts was $6.35 billion in the six months to the end of June, up 63 percent from $3.89 billion a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

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

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks advanced for the first
time in five days, led by HSBC Holdings Plc after Europe's
largest bank reported profit that topped analysts' estimates.

Imperial Chemical Industries Plc and BHP Billiton Ltd. also
paced the gains.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News