Glaxo, AstraZeneca, Lloyds TSB and Ryanair: U.K., Irish Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in U.K. and Irish markets today. Stock symbols are in parentheses
and prices are from yesterday's market close.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index fell 31.3, or 0.5 percent, to
6632.8. The FTSE All-Share Index lost 16.26, or 0.5 percent, to
3442.42. Ireland's ISEQ Index declined 247.45, or 2.5 percent, to
9715.99.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

European Stocks May Drop on Rate Concern; BNP Paribas, ING Might Slide

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks may decline for a
third day on expectations the European Central Bank will raise
interest rates today and signal further increases.

U.S.-traded securities of BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest
bank by value, and ING Groep NV, the largest Dutch financial-
services firm, dropped. Veolia Environnement SA, the world's
largest water company, also fell in the U.S.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Israel Securities Regulator Demands Board Oversight After CEO Pay Scandals

(Bloomberg) -- Moshe Tery, chairman of Israel's
Securities Authority, said he is using an investigation into
executive bonuses to make directors take a bigger role in
overseeing companies.

Tery, head of the ISA since 2002, has probed executive pay
at Bezeq Ltd., Israel's largest phone company, and at Bank Leumi
Le-Israel Ltd. and Israel Discount Bank Ltd., the country's
second- and third-biggest lenders.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

U.K. Consumer Confidence Reaches 18-Month High in May, Nationwide Says

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. consumer confidence reached the
highest level in 18 months in May as Britons became more
optimistic about their jobs and the economy, a survey by
Nationwide Building Society showed.

An index of sentiment rose 9 points from April to 99,
Britain's third-biggest mortgage lender said in a report today.
The gauge, which increased for a fourth month, is based on
replies from 1,000 people representative of the population
surveyed by Taylor Nelson Sofres Plc between April 23 and May 20.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Barclays Global ETFs Shunned by Fidelity, Vanguard 401(k) Retirement Plans

(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Global Investors is
struggling to break into the $2.4 trillion 401(k) market because
the biggest U.S. retirement-plan managers won't offer exchange-
traded funds, the company's hottest-selling product.

Barclays Global is the world's largest ETF manager, with
assets increasing an average 86 percent annually in the past six
years to $363 billion. Less than 1 percent of the San Francisco-
based company's exchange-traded funds are in 401(k) retirement
plans.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Stocks unnerved by U.S. rate woes, twitchy China

(Reuters) - Continued volatility in Shanghai stocks -- which staged a dramatic recovery late on Tuesday after earlier dropping more than 7 percent -- left investors unsure over how steep and how long a correction may be in a market that has nearly tripled in value in the last year.




Bonds were weaker, with U.S. Treasuries extending their fall in the previous session after Bernanke warned inflation was still a risk. That, and data showing strength in the services sector, effectively killed off hopes for a U.S. rate cut this year.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

ANZ National Says Buy New Zealand Dollar on Rate Outlook; Rivals Disagree

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's three biggest lenders
are betting the central bank will raise interest rates tomorrow.
Only one of them predicts the currency will gain as a result.

ANZ National Bank Ltd., the nation's largest, predicts the
currency will climb 1.1 percent to 76 U.S. cents tomorrow as the
Reserve Bank of New Zealand may also signal further rate
increases are needed. Bank of New Zealand Ltd., the third-
biggest, predicts a 2.9 percent drop to 73 this month. Westpac
Banking Corp., the No. 2, sees the currency holding around 75.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News