** MORNING WRAP **
May 30th, 2006** US HEADLINES **
- Kinder Morgan Gets $13.4 Billion Takeover Bid From Group Led by CEO Kinder
- U.S. Stocks, Cheapest in 10 Years Relative to Earnings, May Lure Investors
- Global Economic Boom Stokes Inflation, Increasing Chance of Hard Landing
- Companies Rush to Bond Market as U.S. Borrowing Cost Hits Six-Month High
- Snow’s Ordeal May Be Near Conclusion as Bush Considers Evans for Treasury
** ASIAN MARKETS **
Nikkei -0,35%; Kospi -0,75%; HSI -0,33%; Taiwan -0,46%; China 0,87%; India
0,84%; Thailand -0,39%; Australia 0,02%
** ASIAN HEADLINES **
- Japan Industrial Production Rises as Unemployment Stays at Seven-Year Low
- Asian Stocks: Japan’s Nikkei Drops, Led by Retailers; Hyundai Motor Falls
- China’s Steel Mills Likely to Accept 19 Percent Ore Gain, Executive Says
- India’s Nuclear Power Plans $1.2 Billion Spending on Stake in Uranium Mine
- Bank of Japan’s Fukui Says That Reserves, End to Zero Rates Are Unrelated
- Hewlett-Packard to Hire More People, Expand Sales Network in China, India
- India’s Economic Growth Probably Accelerated, Led by Gains in Services
** EUROPEAN MARKETS **
S&P future -0,24%; Bund future 0%; Crude future 71,5; €/$ 1,28185; Gold 650,98
** EUROPE: IN PLAY TODAY **
- Money supply expansion in the 12 nations sharing the euro may have held near
the fastest pace in almost three years in April, reinforcing the argument for
higher interest rates, a survey of economists shows. The European Central Bank’s
preferred measure of money supply, M3, probably increased 8.5 percent from a
year earlier after growing 8.6 percent in March, the most since July 2003,
according to the median of 31 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The ECB will
publish the report at 10 a.m. in Frankfurt.
- Vodafone Group Plc, the world’s biggest mobile-phone company, reported a
fiscal full-year loss after writing down the value of assets. The net loss in
the year through March was 21.9 billion pounds ($40.9 billion), or 35.01 pence a
share, compared with a profit of 6.41 billion pounds, or 9.65 pence, a year
earlier. The loss stems from a writedown of assets,mostly related to the German
unit.
- KBC Group NV, Belgium’s second-largest financial-services company, said
first-quarter profit rose 37 percent, helped by higher earnings from banking.
Net income was 980 million euros ($1.3 billion) compared
with 717 million euros a year earlier, Brussels-based KBC said
on its Web site today. That beat the 820 million-euro median
estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
** EUROPE: UPS & DOWNS **
+ ROYAL DUTCH SHELL RAISED TO `BUY’ FROM `NEUTRAL’ AT UBS
+ ENI RAISED TO `BUY’ FROM `NEUTRAL’ AT UBS
+ EUROPE PHONE GEAR STOCKS RAISED TO OVERWEIGHT AT CREDIT SUISSE
+ LUKOIL PRICE ESTIMATE RAISED 2% TO $116 AT CREDIT SUISSE
+ MAN AG PRICE ESTIMATE RAISED TO EU57 FROM EU52 AT UBS
- CABLE & WIRELESS PRICE ESTIMATE CUT TO 95P FROM 100P AT LEHMAN