U.S. Treasuries Decline on Speculation Bonds Have Become Too Expensive

(Bloomberg) -- Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries
fell, snapping four days of gains, on speculation the securities
have become too expensive with yields near a 10-week low.

The yield on the 10-year note rose 2 basis points, or 0.02
percentage point, to 4.78 percent at 1:32 p.m. in Singapore,
according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The price of the
4 1/2 percent note due May 2017 fell 5/32, or $1.56 per $1,000
face amount, to 97 26/32. Yields move inversely to bond prices.
Ten-year note yields fell 19 basis points last week, the biggest
decline since the period ended Sept. 22.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Singapore's Venture Seeks S$600 Million Loan for GES Purchase, Bankers Say

(Bloomberg) -- Venture Corp., Singapore's biggest
maker of customized electronics, plans to borrow S$600 million
($396 million) to refinance debt used to acquire GES
International Ltd., two bankers involved in the deal said.

The company hired Citigroup Inc. and DBS Group Holdings Ltd.
to replace a short-term loan with a three-year financing, the
bankers said, asking not to be identified because the
information is private.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Barclays lifts ABN offer with China, Singapore help

(Reuters) - British bank Barclays has raised its bid for Dutch group ABN AMRO to 67.5 billion euros, helped by some of the biggest ever overseas investments by China and Singapore.

Barclays said on Monday its new bid was 42.7 billion euros in shares and 24.8 billion euros in cash, up from its previous all-stock offer of 65 billion euros but still below a rival 71 billion euro offer from a group of European banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Barclays Raises ABN Offer to $93.4 Billion With China, Singapore Funding

(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc, vying to buy ABN Amro
Holding NV in the biggest banking takeover, raised its offer to
67.5 billion euros ($93.4 billion) after securing investments
from the governments of China and Singapore.

Barclays's revised bid is worth 35.73 euros a share and
includes 37 percent cash, the London-based company said today,
4.3 percent more than its previous offer. The bid remains lower
than the 38.40 euro-a-share offer made last week by a trio of
banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Asia Fuel Oil Rises to Record Singapore Supplies Decline on Lower Imports

(Bloomberg) -- Asian benchmark fuel oil prices rose
to a record as inventories in Singapore, Asia's biggest
petroleum trading center, fell on concern about declining
imports in August from Europe and South America.

Benchmark 180-centistoke fuel oil for immediate delivery in
Singapore gained $14.25, or 3.7 percent, to $397.50 a metric ton,
according to Bloomberg data. The price of 380-centistoke fuel
oil, mainly used as marine fuel, rose $15.50, or 4.1 percent, to
$392 a ton. Dubai crude, an Asian benchmark, gained $1.96, or
2.9 percent, to $70.54 a barrel.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Asian Oil-Product Shipping Rates Advance; Japan's Supplies May Limit Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Freight rates for shipping jet fuel
and other oil products on medium- to large-range tankers in Asia
were mostly higher as companies started booking vessels for
August. Larger product inventories in Japan may cap the gains.

The rate for shipping 30,000 tons of oil products to Japan
from Singapore rose a fourth day yesterday, adding 2.9 percent to
Worldscale 233.33, based on the London-based Baltic Exchange data.
That translates to $20.25 per ton of product shipped on the route,
according to Bloomberg data.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Gold, Silver Prices Little Changed in Asia as Dollar Stabilizes Vs Euro

(Bloomberg) -- Gold was little changed in Asia
after falling for the first day in three yesterday as the
dollar's decline seemed to stall, reducing the precious metal's
appeal as an alternative investment. Silver was unchanged.

Gold generally moves in tandem with the euro, which fell
for the second day yesterday after reaching a record against the
dollar on July 13. Gold has gained 4.5 percent while the euro
has risen 4.4 percent against the dollar this year. Europe's
single currency traded at $1.3787 at 2:16 p.m. in Singapore
compared with an all-time high of $1.3814.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Asian Currencies Gain as Stock Rally Draws Investors to Emerging Markets

(Bloomberg) -- Asian currencies, including
Indonesia's rupiah and the South Korean won, gained on
speculation a regional stock rally will increase demand for
emerging-market assets.

Investors sold yen to fund higher-yielding currencies in
so-called carry trades, said Catherine Tan, head of emerging
markets at Forecast Singapore Ltd. A surge in U.S. stocks
yesterday eased concern a housing slump will stunt export-led
economic growth in Asia.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Baht to Gain From Decade-High as Rate Cuts Spur Stock Demand, UBS Says

(Bloomberg) -- The Thai baht will extend its gains
from the highest in almost a decade as interest-rate cuts prompt
overseas investors to buy the nation's stocks, UBS AG said.

The currency, which traded at 33.20 per dollar at 10:57 a.m.
in Bangkok, will climb to 33 within a month, said Nizam Idris, a
Singapore-based strategist at UBS, the world's second-biggest
currency trading firm. The baht has gained 3.8 percent over the
past month, the best performance among 42 currencies in the
Asia-Pacific region.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Morgan Stanley Hires Tanker to Ship Fuel Oil From Saudi Arabia to Far East

(Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley, the biggest oil
trader on Wall Street, has hired a tanker to ship 80,000 tons of
fuel oil to the Far East from Saudi Arabia, a shipbroker said.

The tanker Feng Huang Zhou will load fuel oil at Yanbu on
July 29 at a rate of Worldscale 147.5, Seatown Shipbroking Ltd.
in Singapore said in a report today. Yanbu is a major Red Sea
port in the Al Madinah province of western Saudi Arabia, about
350 kilometers (218 miles) north of Jeddah.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Singapore Dollar Rises to Eight-Week High as Economic Growth Accelerates

(Bloomberg) -- The Singapore dollar rose to the
highest in more than eight weeks after a government report
showed economic growth exceeded expectations last quarter.

The currency is the second-best performer in the past month
of the 10 most-commonly traded Asian currencies as reports
showed manufacturing accelerated last June and industrial
production in May beat economists' forecasts. The central bank
has kept a policy of gradual appreciation for the past three
years to temper inflation.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Singapore Air may sell Virgin Atlantic stake-paper

(Reuters) - Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic could not
immiediately be reached for comment.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Rogers Says He's Sold `Over-Exploited' Emerging Markets, Apart From China

(Bloomberg) -- Emerging markets are a sell with the
exception of China, said Jim Rogers, the chairman of New York-
based Beeland Interests Inc.

``I've sold out of nearly all the emerging markets,''
Rogers said in an interview in Singapore today. ``Right now,
there are probably 10,000 young MBAs on airplanes flying around
from one emerging market to another, they're all over-exploited,
so I've sold out.''


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China Eastern Wins Approval to Sell Stake to Singapore Airlines, Temasek

(Bloomberg) -- China Eastern Airlines Corp., the
nation's third-largest carrier, won preliminary approval to sell
a stake to Singapore Airlines Ltd., which is seeking better
access to the world's second-largest aviation market.

Singapore Airlines and parent Temasek Holdings Pte. plan to
buy about 25 percent of China Eastern, Li Fenghua, the Chinese
carrier's chairman, said at a shareholders' meeting in Shanghai
today. Final details of the plan are now under discussion after
the State Administration of State-Owned Assets Commission
approved the deal, he added.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Asian Oil-Product Tanker Rates Rise After Japan's Product Inventory Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Asian freight rates for shipping
jet fuel, gasoline and other clean petroleum products were
mostly higher on a dearth of vessels and may rise in the next
few days following a drop in Japan's oil product inventories.

The cost of hiring medium-range or MR tankers capable of
shipping 30,000-ton oil-product cargoes on the benchmark
Singapore-Japan rose for a third straight day, according to the
London-based Baltic Exchange. It added 2.2 percent to
Worldscale 203.33 yesterday, up 2.6 percent from June 22.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 1-UTAC jumps on bid news, analysts say offer is fair

(Reuters) - SINGAPORE, June 27 - Shares of United Test and
Assembly Center rose as much as 8.3 percent on
Wednesday after private equity firm Texas Pacific Group and
Asia-focused buyout firm Affinity Equity Partners offered to
buy the Singapore microchip tester.




UTAC shares hit S$1.17, a level last seen in February 2004,
and the stock was the most actively traded stock on the
Singapore bourse with more than 146 million shares changing
hands.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Asian Oil-Product Tanker Rates May Fall on Adequate Japanese Fuel Supplies

(Bloomberg) -- Asian freight rates for shipping jet
fuel, gasoline and other clean petroleum products may extend last
week's decline because Japanese stockpiles are adequate, reducing
demand for vessels.

The cost of hiring medium-range or MR tankers capable of
shipping 30,000-ton oil-product cargoes on the benchmark
Singapore-Japan route fell 3.3 percent in the past week to
Worldscale 198.18, the fifth straight week of declines, the
London-based Baltic Exchange said. The rate has slumped 23
percent since May 25.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 1-ICICI share sale well covered, pricing seen high

(Reuters) - MUMBAI, June 22 - India's second-largest lender
ICICI Bank is set to price its $4.9 billion share sale at the
top end of the range after the local order book was filled more
than 11 times, bankers said.




Demand for the country's biggest ever share sale was boosted
by a significant bid from Singapore's Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL]
and private equity firm Warburg Pincus, but retail interest was
less strong.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Asian Aframax Oil Tanker Rates Are Steady Before Start of July Bookings

(Bloomberg) -- The cost of shipping 80,000 metric
tons of oil on Asian routes, which has risen the last two weeks,
may be little changed before hirers start making bookings for
July, shipbrokers said.

The rate of shipping crude or fuel oil on so-called Aframax
tankers to Singapore from Kuwait was unchanged at Worldscale
145.96 yesterday, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange.
The cost of shipping on the route has risen 5.2 percent in the
last two weeks.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UBS Hedge Fund Loss Ensnares Wuffli With Mess Reprising Long-Term Capital

(Bloomberg) -- UBS AG Chief Executive Officer Peter
Wuffli spared no expense when he agreed two years ago to let
John Costas, the top-ranking American at Switzerland's largest
bank, start an internal hedge fund.

Wuffli gave Costas $3.5 billion, 80 top traders and 40
support staff for the Dillon Read Capital Management LLC
venture. Costas hired another 130 people and leased space in
London, Singapore, Tokyo, Connecticut and Manhattan, where his
corner office on the 22nd floor has a view of St. Patrick's
Cathedral. By the time he was done, Dillon Read's 250 employees
received bonuses averaging $1 million a year, or almost three
times the comparable payout at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News