Pan-Africa Commodities proposes Africa-wide exchange

(Reuters) - Pan-African Commodities Platform, a Botswana-based company, plans to open Africa's first regional physical and derivatives exchange for commodities trading by mid-2008, its chief executive told Reuters on Thursday.

The exchange plans to establish contracts for metals, agricultural products, energy and commodity price indexes for each sector, Anthony Adendorff said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Pertamina Awards $123-Million-Worth Contracts to Build Crude Oil Tankers

(Bloomberg) -- PT Pertamina, Indonesia's state oil
company, awarded $123 million worth contracts to China's
Jiangsu Eastern Heavy Industry Co. to build two tankers to
transport crude.

The Chinese shipbuilder will build tankers with a capacity
of 85,000 deadweight tons each, Ari Soemarno, president
director of Pertamina, said in Jakarta today. The vessels will
be delivered in July 2010, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - June 14

(Reuters) - * A hedge fund managed by Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. is
scrambling to sell large amounts of mortgage securities, a
setback for a Wall Street firm known for its savvy debt-market
trading.




* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is likely to
propose a shift in how it inspects and regulates imported food,
focusing on the biggest potential hazards.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Copec, Gerdau, Grupo Mexico, Masisa, Mexichem, Vale: Latin Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may make
significant gains or losses in Brazil, Chile and Mexico
today. Symbols are in parentheses after the company name, and
stock prices are from the last session.

In Brazil, preferred shares are the most commonly traded
class of stock.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

European Government Bonds May Fall on Speculation Inflation Is Quickening

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds may fall
before a report likely to show inflation in the euro region held
near the European Central Bank's 2 percent limit last month,
fueling expectations of further interest-rate increases.

Benchmark 10-year bund yields touched the highest since
August 2002 yesterday after ECB policy maker Erkki Liikanen said
the outlook for growth in Europe will be ``positive'' for years.
Futures trading shows investors are raising bets the central bank
will lift rates twice more this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Stocks bounce as Treasury yields dip; dollar up

(Reuters) - The dollar held near a 4-½ year high against the yen, buoyed by U.S. figures showing strong retail sales in May and a Federal Reserve report suggesting wage pressures had not increased.




"Investors are thinking the economy is doing well as the stock market has calmed down and they see few signs of inflation," says Koji Fukaya, senior currency strategist at Deutsche Bank in Tokyo. "Unless this trend collapses, the dollar will stay firm."


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

TREASURIES-Slide in Asia, demand hit before price data

(Reuters) - Some investors even began to consider the possibility of a
rate hike somewhere down the line.




The market has been sold off heavily in the past week on
concerns that strength in global economies will require central
banks to raise rates in the future.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News