Rand steady ahead of data heavy week

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand was steady against the dollar on Monday and traders said the unit will probably be rangebound as investors brace themselves for a slew of market moving data this week.

The rand was trading at 7.1595 versus the dollar at 0630 GMT from a New York close of 7.1625 on Friday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Thailand Plans to Buy Electricity From China in Next Decade to Meet Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Thailand, Southeast Asia's second-
biggest economy, plans to buy electricity from China for the
first time starting in 2017 because the country isn't building
its own plants fast enough to meet an expected surge in demand.

The Thai government has signed an initial agreement to buy
about 3,000 megawatts of electricity from hydropower plants in
southern China starting in 2017, Energy Minister Piyasvasti
Amranand, 53, said in an interview. Thailand needs to add more
than 30,000 megawatts of generating capacity by 2021 to avoid
shortages, according to the ministry's forecasts.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Dobson Communications considers sale-WSJ

(Reuters) - Dobson, based in Oklahoma City, primarily serves rural
markets. A Dobson spokesman did not immediately return a call
seeking comment.




Shares of the company closed Friday at $10.09 on the
Nasdaq.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

European Government Bonds May Decline Before Consumer Confidence Report

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds may drop
before a report that's expected to show German consumer
confidence rose, adding to expectations the European Central Bank
will keep raising interest rates.

Benchmark 10-year bund yields held near the highest in
almost five year last week after surveys showed euro-region
manufacturing grew at an unexpectedly rapid pace in June and
Belgian business confidence rose more than forecast. GfK AG's
confidence index for July probably climbed to 7.8 from 7.3 in
June, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Taiwan's CPC Corp. Offers 30,000 Tons of Jet Fuel for Loading in August

(Bloomberg) -- CPC Corp., Taiwan's state oil
refiner, offered to sell 30,000 metric tons of jet fuel for
loading in August, said a company official who declined to be
identified.

Details of the tender are as follows:


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Nintendo Surpasses Sony in Market Value as Wii Game Console Outsells PS3

(Bloomberg) -- Nintendo Co., the world's largest
maker of handheld game players, surpassed Sony Corp. in market
value as its Wii home console outsells the rival PlayStation 3.

Shares of Nintendo, based in Kyoto, western Japan, rose 1.8
percent to 46,250 yen as of 10:33 a.m. on the Osaka Securities
Exchange, valuing the company at 6.55 trillion yen ($53 billion).
Sony stock fell 0.8 percent to 6,500 yen, giving the Tokyo-based
company a value of 6.51 trillion yen.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.S. Notes Little Changed; Report Will Probably Show Home Sales Declined

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. 10-year notes were little
changed before a private report that economists say will show
home sales fell to a four-year low last month.

Benchmark Treasuries may extend gains, after their first
weekly advance since early May, as a U.S. housing slump would
support the case for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut. Notes
may gain by the end of the year, according to a survey of
investors published today by Ried, Thunberg & Co., a research
unit of ICAP Plc, the world's largest inter-bank broker.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

JGBs follow Treasury prices higher, data in focus

(Reuters) - "Prices could edge up a bit more, but given the upcoming
events, gains should be capped in the near term," said Tetsuya
Miura, bond strategist at Shinko Securities.




Monday's rise came as the market has regained its composure
following a frantic sell-off in the past month or so, when
concerns about climbing global bond yields and growing
expectations for an August rate rise by the BOJ drove JGB
futures to a seven-year low.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Japan's 10-Year Bonds May Rise After Treasuries Gain on Flight to Safety

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's 10-year government bonds may
rise for a second day after U.S. Treasuries gained as investors
sought a haven from possible hedge fund losses.

U.S. Treasuries, which often lead Japanese bond prices,
advanced on June 22 after Bear Stearns Cos. offered to provide
$3.2 billion in loans to bail out one of its money-losing hedge
funds. Ten-year yields in Japan and the U.S. had a 0.88
correlation in the past year, according to Bloomberg data. A
value of 1 means the two moved in lock step.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Australian Coal Price Jumps to Record After Storm Cuts Newcastle's Exports

(Bloomberg) -- The price for power-station coal at
Newcastle, Australia, the world's largest export harbor for the
fuel, rose to a record after exports were disrupted by storms
and heavy rainfall.

The price of thermal coal for immediate delivery from the
port in New South Wales state rose $3.19 a metric ton to $66.30
in the week ended June 22 from a week earlier, according to the
globalCOAL NEWC Index. Coal deliveries by rail to the port were
due to reach full capacity by today, the Hunter Valley Coal
Chain Logistics Team, coordinator of coal movements on the
railway, said June 22.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

U.S. Gasoline Pump Price Declines 11 Cents to $3 a Gallon, Lundberg Says

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. gasoline at the pump fell 11
cents during the past two weeks to an average $3 a gallon,
Trilby Lundberg said, citing her survey of 7,000 filling
stations nationwide.

Prices dropped as inventories of the motor fuel for the
week ended June 15 rose for a seventh consecutive week, the U.S.
Energy Department reported on June 20. Supplies were 4.2 percent
below the five-year average. Higher gasoline output by refiners
helped pare the deficit to the average from 7.5 percent in mid-
May.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Global property investment at a turning point

(Reuters) - Future trends will be a key theme for top executives from the world's property industry at the Reuters Real Estate Summit, which is being held in London, New York and Singapore on June 25-27.




A bullish mix of surging rents, cross-border investment, capital values, and shrinking or stable yields remains intact in many parts of the world, where the amount of capital chasing investment opportunities still exceeds the amount of physical stock available.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Dollar Is `Vulnerable' to a Decline in Investment Flows to U.S., BIS Says

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar is ``vulnerable'' to a
drop in the investment inflows that the U.S. relies on to fund
its trade and current-account deficits, according the Bank for
International Settlements.

The currency has been supported by purchases of Treasuries
by foreign investors attracted to U.S. yields and central banks
that buy dollars to curb appreciation in their exchange rates.
Such investors now own a record 80 percent of Treasuries due in
three to 10 years, according to research from HSBC Holdings Plc.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Russia to Help Balkans Become New Energy Hub, Putin Tells Energy Summit

(Bloomberg) -- Russia will take an increasingly
central role in turning southeast Europe into a new energy hub,
President Vladimir Putin said.

Russian companies are ready to increase supplies of energy
to the region and invest in new power plants, Putin said,
speaking at a Balkans energy summit in Zagreb, Croatia, today.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

China says regrets new IMF currency guidelines

(Reuters) - China's representative to the International Monetary Fund "regrets" changes to the fund's currency surveillance guidelines that were adopted this month despite objections from Beijing and other members, according to an interview published on Sunday.

"Such an important revision should be adopted with the maximum consensus. But since this revision was adopted without addressing the concerns of some developing countries, China had to withhold its support," Ge Huayong, Chinese representative to the IMF executive board, said in an interview published on the central bank's Web site (www.pbc.goc.cn).


Read more at Reuters Africa