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.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-China's Xinhua Media eyes stake in online bookstore

(Reuters) - SHANGHAI, July 16 - Shanghai Xinhua Media Co.
is in early talks to buy into Dangdang.com, a Chinese
online bookstore that media have said is planning a Nasdaq
listing, two sources close to the situation said on Monday.




Dangdang.com, partly held by a group of global investors,
including Doll Capital, Walden International and IDG Ventures,
has entered talks with Xinhua Media, which approached the online
bookstore about a month ago, the sources told Reuters.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

European Bonds May Fall as Inflation Report Points to Interest-Rate Rise

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds may decline
on speculation a report today will show inflation held near the
European Central Bank's target last month, boosting the case for
higher interest rates.

The European Union will probably say consumer prices in the
13-nation euro region increased 1.9 percent in June from a year
earlier, the same as in May, according to economists in a
Bloomberg survey. ECB policy makers last week said benchmark
borrowing costs remain supportive of economic growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Philips posts 22 pct rise in Q2 EBIT

(Reuters) - Its hospital equipment business, singled out by analysts
for lacklustre growth in the first quarter, showed comparable
sales growth of 4 percent in the second quarter.




Philips, Europe's biggest consumer electronics producer,
said it was on track for meeting its targets of 5 to 6 percent
of average annual sales growth and a margin of earnings before
interest, tax and amortization of at least 7.5 percent
of sales in 2007.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Air Berlin, Commerzbank, Siemens, Duerr, Vattenfall: German Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in German markets. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company
names and prices are from the Xetra close unless otherwise
stated.

DAX futures expiring in September rose 50 points, or 0.6
percent, to 8155.50 on July 13 in Frankfurt. The DAX increased
0.5 percent to 8092.77 on the Xetra electronic-trading system.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Dow Jones board member moves to block News Corp: WSJ

(Reuters) - News Corp., owner of Fox News, the New York Post and a sprawling media empire, has offered $5 billion, or $60 a share, for Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal.




Bancroft is trying to buy more "supervoting" shares from other Bancroft heirs who may be ready to sell their stakes but share his distaste for handing the family legacy to Murdoch, the Journal said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Corn, Soybean Futures Fall in Chicago on U.S. Forecast for Normal Rainfall

(Bloomberg) -- Corn and soybean futures fell in
Chicago on a forecast for normal rainfall in the U.S. Midwest
grain growing areas over the next six to 10 days.

Corn prices fell as much as 5.1 percent and traded down 4.3
percent at $3.53 a bushel at 10:45 a.m. Singapore time. Soybean
prices declined as much as 4.4 percent and traded down 3.2
percent at $9.1950 a bushel. The U.S. National Weather Service
predicted normal rainfall for the Midwest in its six to 10 day
forecast issued on Sunday.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News