French Utility Stocks Drop, Led by Suez; Michelin and France Telecom Gain

(Bloomberg) -- French utility stocks dropped, paced
by Suez SA and Veolia Environnement SA. Michelin & Cie. and
France Telecom SA gained.

The CAC 40 Index slid 9.20, or 0.2 percent, to 5634.76 at
9:11 a.m. in Paris. The SBF 120 Index fell 0.1 percent.


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Barclays China Deal Spurs U.S., Europe to Limit Government-Fund Investment

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S., France and Germany are
racing to draw up rules to govern developing nations' secretive
state-controlled investment funds, spurred in part by Barclays
Plc's use of Chinese and Singaporean money in its takeover bid
for ABN Amro Holding NV.

With no international body such as the World Trade
Organization to oversee such investment, officials in the U.S.
are pushing the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to set
guidelines. Germany and France, meanwhile, are urging a joint
European response.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

French Foie Gras Makers Flourish, Dismissing Protests of Pope, Terminator

(Bloomberg) -- Remi Olivier pins a trusting goose
under his arm and thrusts a tube down its throat to pump a day's
worth of food into the bird in three seconds.

``If it's well prepared and knows you, it just comes right
up to you to be fed,'' the 22-year-old says as he stuffs 250 gram
(8.8-ounce) portions of polenta and corn grains into 100 geese at
a farm in Coulaures, southwestern France.


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Total lifts force majeure on Angola's Dalia oil

(Reuters) - France's Total said on Friday it had lifted the force majeure it declared on oil exports from its 220,000 barrel per day Angolan offshore platform Dalia.

The company was forced to cut output by half on Tuesday due to a technical problem at the platform.


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French Shares Including Renault, Alstom Advance; Unibail Paces Declines

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks including Renault SA,
the country's second-largest carmaker, and Alstom SA, the world's
third-biggest producer of power plants, increased.

Unibail, France's largest real-estate investment trust,
paced declining shares.


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UPDATE 1-Ryanair to sue European Commission over state aid

(Reuters) - Ryanair , Europe's biggest low cost airline, said it
submitted complaints involving Air France , Lufthansa
, Alitalia and Olympic Airways [OLY.UL] to
the Commission over a year ago.




"These complaints involved hundreds of millions of euro in
illegal state aids being granted by the French, German, Italian
and Greek governments to subsidise their flag carrier airlines,"
the company said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Sarkozy May Clash With EU, Trichet Over Plans to Revive France's Economy

(Bloomberg) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy has
a message for European finance ministers and central bankers
criticizing his plans to revive France's economy: Back off.

Sarkozy, 52, heads to Brussels today to meet officials from
the 12 other nations that share the euro. At the meeting, he
will defend his plan to cut taxes even though they may cause the
budget deficit to exceed government forecasts in 2008.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

European Stocks May Decline; Shares of Barclays, Credit Suisse Might Fall

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks may retreat after
U.S. and Asian equities fell. Barclays Plc and Credit Suisse
Group may drop after their U.S.-traded securities declined.

France Telecom SA may be active as the French government
sells as much as 3.8 billion euros ($5.1 billion) of the nation's
largest phone company. Shares of Cumerio NV, owner of the biggest
copper smelter in southeastern Europe, may be active after
Germany's Norddeutsche Affinerie AG agreed to buy the company.


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Venezuela says some oil majors reject takeovers

(Reuters) - Exxon Mobil , ConocoPhillips , Chevron Corp. , Norway's Statoil , Britain's BP Plc and France's Total are the targeted companies in projects valued above $30 billion and capable of producing 600,000 barrels per day.




"It seems there are some transnational companies that do not want to accept ," said Chavez, who met his energy minister to review the progress in negotiations earlier on Friday.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Axa, Carrefour, EADS, France Telecom, Suez, Risc: French Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of the following companies
may make gains or losses on the Paris stock exchange. Stock
symbols are in parentheses and prices are from the last close.

France's benchmark CAC 40 Index rose 21.62 points, or 0.4
percent, to 6093.29. The SBF 250 Index rose 0.3 percent.


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UPDATE 1-France wants delay to China textile quota lifting

(Reuters) - "Europe must help us and must stop being naive about
globalisation," Fillon told reporters during a visit to a
textiles factory in northern France.




"We will fight to push back the 2008 date for the lifting of
quotas on Chinese textiles, like the United States."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

EDF, EnBW Reach Deal to Store Natural Gas in Etzel Salt Caverns in Germany

(Bloomberg) -- Electricite de France SA, Europe's
largest power supplier, and Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG have
reached an agreement with a German property company for long-term
storage of natural gas in underground salt caverns at Etzel, near
the North Sea.

EDF and EnBW, Germany's third-largest utility, each signed an
agreement with IVG Immobilien AG for access to the salt caverns,
which have a storage capacity of 400 million cubic meters, for 35
years, EDF said in an e-mailed statement.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Europe shares hit 6-1/2 yr high as E.ON, ASML star

(Reuters) - European shares tracked Asian and U.S. stocks higher early on Thursday to hit fresh six-and-a-half year highs, with German utility E.ON and Dutch chip equipment maker ASML buoyed by plans to return money to shareholders.

At 0756 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.6 percent at 1,609.41 points, with shares on Germany's DAX outperforming peers in Britain and France with a 1-percent increase.


Read more at Reuters Africa