European Stocks May Rise on Mergers; ABN Amro, Friends Provident May Gain

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks may advance after
Barclays Plc raised its offer for ABN Amro Holding NV to 67.5
billion euros ($93.4 billion) and Friends Provident Plc held talks
with Resolution Plc, according to people familiar with the matter.

Siemens AG might be active after Handelsblatt reported the
region's largest engineering company received bids for its VDO unit.
TomTom NV, the world's largest maker of car navigation devices, said
it intends to buy Tele Atlas NV.


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Toyota estimates total lost output of 55,000 units

(Reuters) - "We will gauge how to make up for this lost production in
due time," Watanabe told a mid-year news conference.




Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Westinghouse to buy IST Nuclear in S Africa move

(Reuters) - Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The sale is contingent on
approval from the South Africa Competition Commission.




Japan's Toshiba Corp. took a 77 percent stake in Westinghouse, the
U.S. power plant unit of British Nuclear Fuels, for $4.16 billion late last
year.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Suzano Papel, Cemex, Televisa, Tim and Votorantim: Latin Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may make
significant gains or losses in Brazil 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

Barclays, Diageo, Friends Provident, Shell: 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 the market close on July 20.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index declined 55, or 0.8 percent, to
close at 6585.20 in London. The FTSE All-Share Index fell 25.96,
or 0.8 percent, to 3407.79.


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Turkish Markets May Rise After Erdogan's Justice Party Wins Re-Election

(Bloomberg) -- Turkish stocks, bonds and the lira
may gain after voters re-elected Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, giving him a mandate to extend policies that won Turkey
European Union membership talks and helped bring 21 straight
quarters of economic growth.

Erdogan's Justice and Development Party took 47 percent of
the vote with almost all ballots counted at 1 a.m. in the
capital Ankara, according to the state-run Anatolia News Agency.
That's likely to give the party 342 lawmakers in the 550-seat
parliament, CNN Turk television said.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Mobile-8 Telecom, Vietnam, Shinhan Card, Hyundai Capital: Asia Bond Alert

(Bloomberg) -- PT Mobile-8 Telecom, an Indonesian
mobile-phone operator that counts Qualcomm Inc. as an investor,
and Vietnam are among borrowers seeking to sell at least $7
billion of bonds in Asia, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.

Governments and companies in Asia sold $43.6 billion of
debt denominated in dollars, euros and yen this year, up from
$37.5 billion a year earlier, Bloomberg data show. Sales of
Samurai bonds, yen debt sold by foreign entities in Japan, rose
to 1.4 trillion yen ($11.6 billion), from 741 billion yen in the
whole of 2006.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

South Korean Shares Drop From Record; Samsung Electronics, Posco Decline

(Bloomberg) -- South Korean stocks fell as
investors judged excessive a rally that's made the Kospi index
the world's best-performing benchmark this month. Samsung
Electronics Co. and Posco declined.

The Kospi index lost 3.99, or 0.2 percent, to 1,979.55 as
of 9:44 a.m. in Seoul, after earlier gaining as much as 0.3
percent. It's climbed 13 percent this month.


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Japan's Nikkei 225 Average, Topix Falls; Toyota, JFE Holdings Lead Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese shares dropped, paced by
companies that rely on the U.S. market, after Caterpillar Inc.
said its profit dropped on lower North American sales. Exporters
such as Honda Motor Co. and Komatsu Ltd. led losses.

Investors also refrained from betting heavily on stocks
before the upper house election, which will be held on July 29.
The Nikkei newspaper reported yesterday Japan's ruling coalition
may lose its majority in the election, citing its own poll.


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Exporters, Hanjin Heavy, Hyundai Motor: South Korea's Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following shares may rise or fall
in South Korea. Prices refer to the July 20 close. This preview
includes news announced after markets shut. Stock symbols are in
brackets after the company names.

The Kospi index climbed 2.4 percent to a record 1,983.14. The
Kosdaq added 0.7 percent to 825.33. Kospi 200 futures expiring in
September advanced 2 percent to 252.55, while the underlying index
gained 2.3 percent to 251.45.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

BHP, James Hardie, Dwyka, Woodside, Woolworths: Australian Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may rise or fall in Australia. This preview includes
news announced after markets closed July 20. Prices are from the
July 20 close unless otherwise stated. Stock symbols are in
brackets after the company names.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index futures contract due in September lost
0.7 percent to 6383 at 6:59 a.m. in Sydney. The Bank of
New York Australia ADR Index lost 0.8 percent in New York.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Harry Potter book breaks global record at Borders

(Reuters) - Fans have lined up outside book stores around the globe for a copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" -- the seventh and final volume of the series written by J.K. Rowling.




The sixth book in the series -- "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" -- sold 850,000 copies worldwide by Borders in 2005 during its first day of sales, Borders said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Two AngloGold miners killed in S.Africa rock fall

(Reuters) - Two miners were killed after a rock fall deep underground at a mine owned by AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, the world's third-biggest gold producer, a company official said on Sunday.

The two miners had been trapped for close to 48 hours at the Moab Khotsong mine in the country's North West province, and their bodies were recovered in the early hours of Sunday, said Steve Lenahan, a spokesman for AngloGold.


Read more at Reuters Africa