Forex / World news

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - A summary of Asian economic and corporate news at 1000 GMTJAPAN:-April household spending up 1.1 pct yr-on-yr, 4th straight monthly gain-April retail sales drop 0.6 pct yr-on-yr, down for 7th month in a row-Unemployment rate falls to over 9-year low in April-No big gap between BoJ, OECD on view of Japan economy - Fukui-NEC says failed to declare 2...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Oil giant BP PLC will be announcing later today that it is "going back into Libya", said Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman.He declined to give further details, saying they would be released "this afternoon" during Blair's visit to the country as part of his farewell tour of Africa...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Gold was steady at lower levels as a flat dollar against the euro failed to prompt investment into the precious metal as an alternative investment.Market sentiment was also dampened by strength in the equities sector -- which attracted more investment than gold, and general weakness in the base metals sector...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Tens of thousands of UK buy-to-let property owners could face tax bills from up to six years ago in a government crackdown on unpaid duty and excess mortgage relief, the Times said in an unsourced report.It said that HM Revenue&Customs has identified 80,000 landlords who may have claimed too much tax relief, or have failed to declare the amount of rent they receive from the property and/or capital gains generated by its sale...

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - The government has confirmed that the farm minister, Toshikatsu Matsuoka, was found unconscious at his residence today, but had no comment on reports that he attempted suicide.At a news conference, government spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki, citing police reports, said that Matsuoka, minister for agriculture, forestry and fisheries, "was found today at 12:18 pm unconscious at the Akasaka dormitory (for lawmakers)...

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - The approval rating of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government plunged 12 points from April to 41 pct, a record low for his cabinet, according to an opinion poll conducted by the Nikkei financial daily.The survey also showed that the cabinet's disapproval rating rose 7 points to 44 pct, with detractors now outweighing supporters for the first time in two months...

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - Faced with growing competition from Hong Kong and Singapore, Japan aims to reinvigorate Tokyo as a global financial hub with a lofty goal of developing a new foreigner-friendly high-rise banking district.The idea has raised eyebrows among foreign fund managers in the region whose biggest complaint about Tokyo is often not the lack of a decent office or apartment but high taxes and strict regulations...

BOMBAY (XFN-ASIA) - India is expected to confirm on Thursday that its economy expanded at a record 9.2 pct in the past financial year despite tighter monetary policy by the central bank to cool inflation, analysts say.Analysts predict the nation could even show a gain as high as 9...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Major state-owned enterprises in China saw their profits, a main source of funding for new investments, rise nearly 35 pct in the first four months of the year, state media said.The top 424 state companies reported combined profits of 348...

PARIS (XFN-ASIA) - The prospect looms of a major clash between the United States and its G8 partners over global warming, with Washington's view threatening to block agreement at next month's summit of the leading industrial nations.German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel Saturday criticized the US climate policy in a newspaper interview, saying it "was going to difficult to achieve success" at the June 6-8 session hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has made climate change a priority during Germany's presidency of the Group of Eight...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's top economic planning agency has told local authorities to remove preferential policies for industries which consume disproportionate amounts of energy, state media said.The order from the National Development and Reform Commission, reported by the Xinhua news agency, comes amid growing signs the government's ambitious energy-saving plans are failing...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi should face justice in a British court over the murder of former spy Alexander Litvinenko, Britain's Attorney General Peter Goldsmith said.He was speaking after Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said that Russia would try Lugovoi if Britain provided sufficient evidence of his guilt, in comments quoted by the Interfax news agency...

KIEV (Thomson Financial) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych rejected President Viktor Yushchenko's claim of control over interior ministry forces, saying the move violated the constitution."It is a violation of the constitution" and is "interference in the activities of the executive branch" of the Ukrainian government, Yanukovych said in comments to Western diplomats, broadcast live on Ukrainian television...

YALTA, Ukraine (Thomson Financial) - Russia is worried about escalating tensions in Ukraine and urges authorities there to abide by the law, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said here today."We are watching events taking place in Ukraine with some worry about escalation of tensions in society," Fradkov said at a news conference in this Crimean port city in Ukraine...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is determined to keep inflation under control but is aware of the risks posed by raising interest rates too far, according to MPC member Andrew Sentance.The BoE has raised interest rates four times since last August to 5...

KUALA LUMPUR (XFN-ASIA) - Malaysia and Indonesia said they will meet European lawmakers to debunk accusations oil palm plantations are environmentally destructive -- claims they said are hurting the sector.The two neighbors are the world's leading producers of crude palm oil...

ANKARA (Thomson Financial) - Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Levent Bilman has criticised new French President Nicolas Sarkozy's opposition to its EU membership bid."The president in question represents only one member of the European Union... We believe the EU will make an objective decision and negotiations will be opened in June on these three chapters," he told reporters...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - A summary of Asian economic and corporate news at 1000 GMTJAPAN:-Japan April trade surplus up 51.8 pct led by car, steel exports-Japan 20-year govt bond auction lowest accepted price 99.50 yen; yield 2.135 pct-Japanese interest rates should rise only gradually, says IMF-Japan Airlines says no decision yet on recapitalization-Kyushu-Shinwa to sell key unit to Fukuoka Financial ahead of liquidation-Hitachi, Matsushita Electric Industrial to supply each other with PDPs-Fujitsu to take full control of 3 units via share swap to boost group efficiency-Iseki revises financial statements after finding irregularitiesCHINA:-China securities regulator renews stock market risk warning-China to triple QFII quota to 30 bln usd-China may set up central govt entity to manage uranium reserves - source-China stock regulator has no details on US-China accord on securities-China 2007 GDP forecast raised to 10...

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - The OECD said the US should keep interest rates at current levels as long as inflation stays elevated and the jobless rate stays low, but warned that another hike may be necessary."Monetary policy is mildly restrictive. This stance should be maintained as long as core inflation remains high and the unemployment rate stays low," the organisation said...

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - The OECD sees inflation in the UK falling over the coming months although there is also risk of a rebound from a possible rise in wages.It said if wages do rise "additional interest rate hikes might be needed".The annual CPI rate in the UK eased to 2...