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

Japan Shares Drop on U.S. Economy Concern, Strong Yen; Toyota Profit Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks declined, paced by
exporters, on fear losses in the U.S. mortgage market may slow
the world's biggest economy and after the yen strengthened to a
four-month high against the dollar.

Banks including Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and brokerages
such as Nomura Holdings Inc. fell on worry the subprime problem
will erode their profits.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

New Zealand Dollar Falls a Second Day; Housing Woes Spur Carry Trade Exit

(Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar declined for a
second day as concerns U.S. subprime mortgage losses will slow
global growth deterred traders from buying riskier investments.

So called carry trades, where investors borrow cheaply in
yen to buy higher-yielding assets elsewhere, have seen New
Zealand's dollar gain 25 percent against Japan's currency in the
past year. U.S. stocks dropped Aug. 3 after Samuel Molinaro,
chief financial officer at Bear Stearns Cos. called the current
crisis in fixed-income the worst ever.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Little subprime fallout for Asia banks, investors jittery

(Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service said on Friday
that the impact of the subprime meltdown on Asia's lenders
would be limited, with the largest exposure among the biggest
banks through holdings of mortgage-backed securities and
collateralised debt obligations. [ID:nWNA7262]




Standard & Poor's said Japanese banks have about $8 billion
of subprime-related securities, according to the Japanese
Bankers Association, while a small number of financial services
firms in Taiwan have a much smaller combined level of exposure.
[ID:nSPWAcEJwa]


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Yen holds gains, supported by risk aversion

(Reuters) - Traders said the yen took its cue from U.S. share prices, which slid on Tuesday after mortgage lender American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. said it could not fund home loans and might have to liquidate assets.




Risk aversion stemming from such falls in equities and worries about the U.S. housing and credit markets could prompt the dollar to eventually break below 118.00 yen, said a trader for a major Japanese trading house.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Japan Facing Pressure From Asia-Pacific Ministers Over Yen Carry Trades

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's Finance Minister Koji Omi is
likely to face pressure over the value of the yen from economies as
diverse as South Korea and New Zealand at a meeting of 21 Asia-
Pacific policy makers in Australia starting today.

Money borrowed in Japan, where the benchmark interest rate is
0.5 percent, is being invested in economies offering higher returns.
New Zealand, where the key rate is 8.25 percent, has seen its
currency driven to a 22-year high by the so-called yen carry trade.
Thailand's baht has surged to its highest since the Asian financial
crisis a decade ago, as has the South Korean won.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Rubber Futures Gain in Tokyo After JSR Announces Rise in Synthetic Prices

(Bloomberg) -- Natural rubber futures in Tokyo rose
to the highest in five weeks amid speculation demand for the
commodity may grow after JSR Corp., Japan's largest maker of
synthetic rubber, announced a rise in its product prices.

JSR will raise prices of synthetic rubber products, the raw
material for vehicle tires, by between 5 percent and 10 percent
from Aug. 21, to cope with rising petroleum costs, according to
a company news release yesterday. It will be the company's
second increase this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Mitsui Runs Osaka Ethylene Plant at Almost Maximum Rate After Maintenance

(Bloomberg) -- Mitsui Chemicals Inc., Japan's
third-largest ethylene producer, is running its ethylene plant
in Osaka at almost maximum capacity after completing maintenance,
an official said.

The plant, capable of making 455,000 metric tons of
ethylene a year, resumed operations on July 26 as scheduled
after 33 days of maintenance, said the official, who declined to
be identified because of company policy.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Japan's Nikkei Drops, Paced by Nomura on Subprime Concern; Olympus Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average
slipped after Germany's IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG said losses
on subprime loan investments will ``significantly'' lower profits.

Brokerages such as Nomura Holdings Inc., with similar
investments, led declines on concern they will also be affected.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Australian, New Zealand Dollars Rebound as Stock Rally Spurs Carry Trades

(Bloomberg) -- The Australian and New Zealand
dollars rebounded from an eight-week low versus the yen as a
recovery in U.S. stocks gave investors confidence to increase
holdings of higher-yielding assets bought with loans from Japan.

The currencies are favorites of the so-called carry trade
as New Zealand and Australian interest rates are among the
highest of major economies. The New Zealand and Australian
dollars are respectively the biggest gainers today against the
yen among the 16 most-traded currencies as U.S. stocks recovered
from the worst two-day loss since 2003.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Japan's Bonds Decline as Investors Avoid Yields Near Lowest in Eight Weeks

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's government bonds fell on
speculation investors will avoid buying 10-year securities with
the lowest yields in eight weeks.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond rose 2 basis points
to 1.8 percent as of 12:48 p.m. in Tokyo at Japan Bond
Trading Co., the nation's largest interdealer debt broker.
Yields earlier touched 1.78 percent, matching the lowest since
June 1.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Japan's JBIC Plans Islamic Debt Backed by London Metal Exchange Contracts

(Bloomberg) -- Japan Bank for International
Cooperation, the government's main overseas lender, plans to sell
Islamic bonds backed by products traded on the London Metal
Exchange, an official said.

The Tokyo-based bank, known as JBIC, plans to sell Islamic
debt for the first time as early as in October, said Tadashi
Maeda, director general of the bank's energy and natural
resources finance department. JBIC will sell $200 million to $300
million of such securities, to be denominated in Malaysian
ringgit or dollars, in Malaysia, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Japan's Stocks May Drop on U.S. Subprime Concern, Stronger Yen, LDP Defeat

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks may drop after a
report on economic growth in the U.S. showed residential
investment slumping as the subprime problem worsens, pointing to a
weaker outlook for Japan's largest overseas market.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. may lead exporters lower
after the yen advanced to the highest against the dollar in more
than three months, reducing the value of their overseas sales.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Shanghai Auto tie-up may create Chinese car champion

(Reuters) - Shanghai Automotive Co. said on Friday that parent groups of the two companies had signed a letter of intent to discuss ways of achieving a "complete union" between the firms through business cooperation and restructuring.




China's central government and local authorities are pushing the tie-up as a way to build Shanghai Auto into a comprehensive auto maker that can compete with European, Japanese and U.S. giants at home and eventually overseas, industry sources and analysts said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Cattle Futures Climb Fifth Straight Week on Exports; Hogs Futures Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Cattle futures rose to a three-month
high in Chicago, capping their fifth-straight weekly gain, on
expectations that U.S. beef exports will increase. Hog prices
also advanced.

U.S. beef shipments to Japan and South Korea have risen
since both countries lifted bans imposed in December 2003 after
a mad-cow disease outbreak. Japan bought $1.4 billion of U.S.
beef in 2003 and South Korea bought $814 million worth.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Beijing North Star, Korea Gas, Maruti Udyog: Asia Ex-Japan Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in Asian markets, excluding Japan. This preview includes news that
broke after markets closed. Prices are from the local market's last
close. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.

PT Bank Central Asia (BBCA IJ): Indonesia's second-biggest
lender by assets said its second-quarter profit rose 5 percent from
a year earlier to 1.11 trillion rupiah ($122 million) helped by
increased lending to companies and consumers. The shares gained 100
rupiah, or 1.6 percent, to 6,400.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Honda rises on brisk car sales, lifts forecasts

(Reuters) - Like the rest of the Japanese auto industry, second-ranked Honda is suffering from sliding sales at home, but its domestic plants are running near full capacity to fill orders for the popular Civic, CR-V and Fit models overseas.




Rising exports have been an extra boon with the yen's weakening against major currencies.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

BOJ to survey money market, aims to boost activity

(Reuters) - The BOJ launched a half-year project earlier this year,
aiming to activate Japan's long-dormant money markets, as
activity began to pick up slowly after the central bank raised
interest rates for the first time in six years in July 2006.




"Tokyo money markets are starting to move at an accelerated
speed," BOJ Governor Toshihiko Fukui said in a speech at a forum
on Tuesday.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

CORRECTED - CORRECTED-JGB futures slip from 6-week high ahead of auction

(Reuters) - TOKYO, July 24 - Japanese government bond futures
slipped after edging up to a six-week high on Tuesday, hurt by a
slight gain in Tokyo shares and dealers selling longer-dated
paper to prepare for a 20-year auction later in the week.




Activity was subdued as many market players kept to the
sidelines, looking to see whether lingering worries about
problems in the U.S. subprime mortgage sector keep pushing
credit spreads wider and give Treasuries a boost.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Japan Corporate Bond Risk Highest Since August, Credit-Default Swaps Show

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese corporate bond risk rose to
the highest since August, according to traders of credit-default
swaps.

Credit-default swaps based on 1 billion yen ($8.3 million)
of debt included in the iTraxx Japan Series 7 index of 50
investment-grade Japanese companies increased by 175,000 yen to
2.78 million yen in Tokyo, according to prices from Credit Suisse
Group.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News