France Doesn't Need to Sell Assets to Reduce Its Public Debt, Lagarde Says

(Bloomberg) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy's
government doesn't have to sell assets to reduce debt, Finance
Minister Christine Lagarde said today.

``We don't necessarily need this to cut France's debt,''
Lagarde told reporters at an economic conference in Aix-en-
Provence, France.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

ONGC Videsh, Indian Oil, Essar Oil, CPC Corp.: Asian Energy Tender Alert

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of oil and
coal sales and purchase contracts in Asia. Some may be concluded
in the next few days and weeks.

India


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 2-Japan machine orders rise, capex seen solid

(Reuters) - TOKYO, July 9 - Japan's core private-sector
machinery orders rose more than expected in May, pointing to
solid corporate capital spending and bolstering the case for a
Bank of Japan rate hike in August.




Core orders, which exclude those for ships and machinery at
electric power firms, rose 5.9 percent from April, Cabinet Office
data showed on Monday, beating a market consensus forecast for a
2.3 percent rise and following a 2.2 percent increase in April.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

TREASURIES-Steady in Asia after jobs report

(Reuters) - That dampened sentiment for Treasuries, keeping benchmark
10-year yields near two-week peaks.




A rise in stock markets across the region on Monday also
prompted investors to shift their money to equities from bonds.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

India's Rupee May End Four-Week Rally on Central Bank Sales, Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) -- India's rupee may end a four-week
rally, a Bloomberg News survey showed, on speculation the
central bank will sell the currency to halt a fall in exports.

Capital flows into Asia's fourth-largest economy helped
push up the rupee 9.5 percent this year. Infosys Technologies
Ltd., India's second-largest computer-services provider, may
miss its local-currency sales forecast because of the stronger
rupee, which lowers the value of overseas revenue, Credit Suisse
said last week. Exports declined in the five months through May.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Japan May core machinery orders up 5.9 percent

(Reuters) - Compared with a year earlier, core orders, which exclude those for ships and machinery at electric power firms, fell 3.1 percent, against a median forecast for a 6.7 percent decline.




The Cabinet Office said in May that core orders, a highly volatile series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, were expected to show a fall of 11.8 percent in April-June from the previous quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Australia Stocks Advance, Led by BHP Billiton on Higher Crude Oil Prices

(Bloomberg) -- Australia's benchmark stock index, the
S&P/ASX 200 Index, rose 0.28 percent at 10:05 a.m.

The index of 201 companies traded on the Australian Stock
Exchange rose 18.10 to 6,369.20. Among the stocks in the index,
107 rose, 65 fell and 29 were unchanged.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

New Zealand Dollar May Gain on Prospect of Another Interest Rate Increase

(Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar may rise this
week on speculation reports will show inflation isn't abating as
fast as the central bank wants, which may prompt an increase in
its record-high benchmark interest rate.

New Zealand Institute of Economic Research Inc.'s quarterly
survey of business opinion tomorrow may show a shortage of
workers and capacity constraints in the economy are forcing
companies to raise prices. Government figures on July 16 may
show inflation accelerated to 0.9 percent in the second quarter,
faster then the 0.7 percent rate predicted by the central bank,
according to Westpac Banking Corp.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

FedEx could lure private equity interest: Barron's

(Reuters) - "One need not get anywhere near the recent double-digit Ebitda valuations of in other industries to get to a share price more than 20 percent above current levels," Barron's said in the report.




The attraction for buyout firms would be the potential to cut capital expenditures to help finance a deal as well as the opportunity to turn around ailing retail unit FedEx Kinko's.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Aramco, Dow to award Ras Tanura contracts soon

(Reuters) - Saudi Aramco and U.S. firm Dow Chemicals are expected to award the engineering, design and project management contracts for the giant Ras Tanura petrochemical plant by the end of July, industry sources said on Sunday.

Dow's investment in the plastics and chemicals plant would be the largest foreign investment to date in the Saudi energy sector.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Bronfman-held Isralom in talks to buy Olimpia stake

(Reuters) - Olimpia owns a 29 percent stake in Dutch Nanette Real
Estate Group , which has residential projects in
Hungary, Romania, and Poland.




The Bronfman-Fisher group, led by U.S.-Canadian businessman
Matthew Bronfman, owns 57.19 percent of Isralom and intends to
turn it into Bronfman-Fischer's real estate investment arm in
Israel.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News