European Stocks May Decline; UBS, ING, Philips, BHP Billiton Might Drop

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks may fall, following
declines in Asia and the U.S., as concern mounts that losses in
the U.S. mortgage market will erode economic growth and raise
financing costs for companies.

UBS AG and ING Groep NV may lead financial stocks lower.
U.S.-traded shares of Royal Philips Electronics NV and Nokia Oyj
dropped as the dollar traded near a record low against the euro.
BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group declined in Australian
trading after copper fell in Shanghai.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Gold off 1-week high, Tokyo dips on firmer yen

(Reuters) - Gold dipped in profit taking on Monday after touching a one-week high last week, while Tokyo futures fell on a firmer yen.

Spot gold fell to $671.90/672.40 an ounce at 0320 GMT, from $674.10/674.90 late in New York on Friday, when it hit its highest in a week at $674.20 an ounce as the dollar weakened on lower-than-expected U.S. data on jobs growth.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Indonesia's Mobile-8 says may defer dlr bond issue

(Reuters) - "We have not decided yet, Lehman is still studying whether
we should go ahead or not," Merza Fachys, Mobile-8's corporate
affairs director, told Reuters.




"This week we may come up with a conclusion," Fachys added.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Berkshire, Diebold, Jones Apparel, Rowan, Paychex: U.S. Stock Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
tomorrow. This preview includes news that broke after exchanges
closed. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A US): The investment company
run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett said second-quarter
profit from continuing operations increased to $1,625 a share,
helped by gains from insurance and investments. The result topped
the $1,436 estimate of Charles Gates, an analyst at Credit
Suisse. The stock fell $100 to $109,900 in regular trading.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Copper Futures Tumble in Shanghai on Concern U.S. Economic Growth May Slow

(Bloomberg) -- Copper prices fell the most in more
than two months in Shanghai amid speculation that an economic
slowdown in the U.S., the second-largest consumer of the metal,
will reduce demand. Zinc and aluminum futures also dropped.

Growth in U.S. service industries slowed more than forecast
in July, and U.S. employers added fewer jobs last month than
projected, reports showed Aug. 3. Stockpiles of copper, which
sometimes moves in tandem with economic growth, also increased
last week as summer holidays and maintenance hurt demand.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Hynix, Toshiba Shares Rise on Outage at Samsung Electronics Chip Factory

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and
Toshiba Corp. rose, bucking declines across Asia, on speculation
a power outage at Samsung Electronics Co. may spur increased
orders for the two smaller memory chipmakers.

Hynix's stock gained as much as 2.8 percent in Seoul and
Toshiba shares climbed 1.8 percent in Tokyo as benchmark indexes
in Asia fell. On Aug. 4, South Korea's Samsung said it resumed
production at the six production lines that were halted a day
earlier because of a power outage, estimating 40 billion won ($43
million) in lost sales.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Vietnam's June Reserve Increase Will Be Last for Now, Policy Maker Says

(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam's recent increase in bank
reserves will be the last for now as the government assesses the
effect on inflation, said the policy maker in charge of banking.

Any perceived reluctance to quell the fastest inflation in
17 months is likely to deter overseas investors from buying
Vietnam's stocks and bonds. The threat of inflation ``calls for
action'' by the central bank to reduce the amount of money in the
banking system, HSBC Holdings Plc said in research last week.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Samsung shares pare losses following outage

(Reuters) - Samsung's Kiheung sprawling complex was hit by a power shortage on Friday afternoon that shut down six of its chip production lines, raising the prospect of price increases and boosting shares of rival memory chip makers.




Some analysts on Friday said the incident could wipe out as much as a month's worth of Samsung's total output of NAND flash memory chips, but the firm later said damage from the accident would be smaller than expected.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

South Korea's Kospi Index Falls, Led by Samsung, Posco and Kookmin Bank

(Bloomberg) -- South Korea's benchmark stock index,
the Kospi Index, fell 2.41 percent at 9:05 a.m.

The index of 733 companies traded on the Korea Exchange
fell 45.19 to 1,831.61. Among the stocks in the index, 88 rose,
566 fell and 79 were unchanged.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Dollar Falls to Four-Month Low Against Yen on Concerns About U.S. Growth

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell to a four-month low
against the yen on signs losses related to subprime mortgages
are starting to slow U.S. economic growth.

The dollar also traded near a record low against the euro
after the yield spread between U.S. and German two-year bonds
narrowed to the least in 2 1/2 years. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index slid the most in five months and two-year Treasury yields
dropped to an 18-month low Aug. 3 as reports on employment and
services suggested housing market weakness is causing economic
growth to slow.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Vattenfall Prolongs Maintenance Shutdown by Six Days at Forsmark Reactor

(Bloomberg) -- Vattenfall AB, the Nordic region's
biggest utility, said its Forsmark B2 nuclear reactor will be
shut down for maintenance work six days longer than previously
reported.

The reactor, with a maximum capacity of 1,000 megawatts,
will be off until Aug. 23 instead of Aug. 17, Forsmark Kraftgrupp
AB said today in a statement distributed by the Nord Pool ASA
power exchange. The Forsmark nuclear plant is located on Sweden's
east coast, north of Stockholm.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

ACA Capital shares could fall on subprime: Barron's

(Reuters) - Should the U.S. subprime troubles prove to be systemic across different geographies, then not only would shares be hammered, but the company could be toast, Barron's said.




If ACA buckles under, Wall Street firms whose securities the company insured would also be hurt. The $61 billion of ACA's insured exposure would come cascading back to balance sheets of the likes of Bear Stearns , Merrill Lynch , Lehman Brothers , and Citigroup along with some 25 other Wall Street counterparties, Barron's said.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Fed to weigh hit of credit crunch

(Reuters) - The Fed is widely expected to hold overnight interest rates steady at 5.25 percent, where they have been for more than a year. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee is expected to release a statement outlining its views on the economy at around 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday.




Markets will watch keenly for any sign the U.S. central bank, which has persistently identified the risk of inflation as its main concern, is beginning to worry a bit more about the potential for an undesirable weakening in the economy.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

HK financier Francis Leung joins CVC as adviser

(Reuters) - Leung, a long-time banker to Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing with close China ties, was with Citigroup Global Markets as chairman of Asia until last year focusing on developing Citigroup's Greater China investment banking business, CVC said.




CVC, which is a major shareholder in global motor racing business Formula 1, owns interest in Australia's media group PBL Media, Japan's restaurant chain Skylark, Singapore's precision metals stamping firm Amtek, Malaysia's largest paper packaging firm GS Paper and Packaging, and Chinese wood fibreboards maker Plantation Timber Products.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News