Government Bonds Quotes

 Government Bonds                                                         Price            Yield
                                                                                       Change             %

U.S. 5 Year			4/32	1.303
U.S. 10 Year			10/32	2.494
U.S. 30 Year			26/32	3.579
Germany 2 Year			0/32	0.091
Germany 10 Year			1/32	1.524
Italy 2 Year			3/32	2.029
Italy 10 Year			-1/32	4.416
Japan 2 Year			0/32	0.127
Japan 10 Year			0/32	0.806
Spain 2 Year			-2/32	1.977
Spain 10 Year			-7/32	4.666
U.K. 2 Year			-2/32	0.319
U.K. 10 Year			-6/32	2.286

Source  WSJ

Precious Metals Quotes

Gold Price       3months Futures        US$ 1,293.45

Silver Price     3months Futures        US$     19.47

From WSJ Doubts about China's official data

According to a Wall Street Journal article there are many doubts about the accuracy of China´s
official data.

"The official data shows growth on target at 7.5% year-on-year in the second quarter. But on a quarter-on-quarter annualized basis – the way in which growth is measured in the U.S. – the picture isn’t as rosy.

The National Bureau of Statistics put the sequential growth rate at just shy of 7% in the second quarter, up from 6.6% in the first. Estimates from investment bank analysts are in the same ballpark and also show growth accelerating moderately in the second quarter.

By contrast, business surveys show the economy continuing to lose momentum. The HSBC Markit purchasing managers’ index suggests conditions in the manufacturing sector deteriorated in June. A survey by Market News International also pointed to worsening conditions.

With political attention focused on headline numbers like GDP, some analyst favor tracking lower-profile indicators, on the theory they are less likely to be meddled with. A composite of indicators including electricity output, passenger traffic, and seaport cargo put together by Capital Economics shows growth at 6% year-on-year in May, down from 7.3% at the end of 2012"

China’s government is hoping that consumption will start to play a bigger role in driving growth. The official numbers show that effort has stalled, with growth in retail sales slowing to 12.7% in the first half of 2013.

A combination of slower wage growth and uncertainty about the economic outlook seemed to weigh on consumer sentiment. An April survey of 1,000 consumers across 12 cities by the Boston Consulting Group found that just 27% planned to increase spending in the year ahead, down from 38% in 2012.

Over invoicing by Chinese firms was evident in a sharp divergence between China’s data on exports to Hong Kong and Hong Kong data on imports from China.

Russia. Trafigura to supply financing to Rosneft in return up to 10.11 million tons of crude oil and petroleum

Trafigura Ltd. has become the latest trading house to supply financing to OAO Rosneft in return for a long-term supply deal, as the Russian oil company seeks to bolster its finances following its $55 billion acquisition of TNK-BP earlier this year.

The Trafigura agreement—along with a clutch of other deals announced Friday with trading, refining and petrochemical companies from China, Europe and Russia—furthers Rosneft's international expansion.

Rosneft has agreed to supply Trafigura with up to 10.11 million tons of crude oil and petroleum products over five years in return for a prepayment of $1.5 billion, the companies said.

The agreement followed deals with Glencore International GLEN.LN -0.51% PLC and independent energy trader Vitol to deliver a total of 67 million metric tons of crude oil over five years in return for a $10 billion prepayment.

The Rosneft deal will help Trafigura fulfill an ambition to expand in Russia and former Soviet republics, said Christophe Salmon, the company's chief financial officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Rosneft announced a string of other deals it had made to expand its reach in Europe and strengthen ties with China during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

Rosneft completed a 25-year contract with China, agreed to in March, to deliver 365 million tons of oil to the country—a deal valued at $270 billion. It made a $7 billion deal to deliver eight million tons of crude to Poland's largest oil refiner,PKN Orlen SA, by 2016, and agreed to form a trading joint venture with Italian refining company,Saras.

Russian Energy Companies shift gas deals from Europe to Asia

The Wall Street Journal, published today an article where Russian bigger energy companies are said

to be shifting gas deals from Europe to Asia. They are facing competition and regulatory pressure in the former Region.

The world's largest energy producer has for years threatened to switch its exports eastward, but Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that Russia has finally made a breakthrough in its efforts to tap the lucrative Asian market.

Exports from Russian state gas giant OAO Gazprom's  to the EU slid last year as power producers favored cheap coal imports from the U.S. by booming gas production. Lower gas sales are hurting Russia's economy as they account for over 10% of export revenues.

"If Europe prefers energy sources that are not environmentally clean, that's a decision for Europe," Mr. Dvorkovich said. "It's okay. Demand exists in other regions of the world."

Mr. Dvorkovich said Russia would continue to be "safe and stable partners" to Europe and "deliver as much gas as it needs," but saw greater prospects for boosting sales in Asia.

President Putin said Friday that Russia would for the first time allow companies other than Gazprom to export liquefied natural gas.

Shortly before Mr. Putin's announcement last week, Russian energy firms signed  several number  of gas-supply deals with Asian consumers.

OAO Novatek  Russia's No. 2 gas producer, signed an deal to ship gas from its planned Arctic liquefaction plant to China National Petroleum Corp., which acquired a 20% stake in the project.

State oil firm OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) signed agreements to ship LNG to Japan, as well as agreeing to supply China with 15 million metric tons of crude oil annually for 25 years for just over $10 billion per year.

Mr. Dvorkovich said liberalizing LNG exports would speed up the three major projects planned by Gazprom, Novatek and Rosneft by increasing competition. The decision to open up exports "will put us into this market at the right time," he said.

Lawrance Ho will enter Russia´s Casino business

Macau mogul Lawrence Ho is set to become Russia's first well-known casino operator, as China's northern neighbor enters the fray competing for the Asian high rollers who made Macau the world's gambling capital.

A company controlled by Mr. Ho signed an agreement to open a casino on the outskirts of Vladivostok, a person familiar with the deal said. The planned casino-resort in Primorye—a vast eastern region bordering China and Korea—is scheduled to open in the second half of next year. It will be one of the first in Russia after the country in 2009 banned casino gambling outside four special zones, the person said. The company is still discussing the size of the project, the person said.

The news is a boost for Russia's casino industry, which is seldom on the radar of casino executives and investors because of concerns over corruption and a lack of clarity about the country's regulatory structure for gambling.

But some analysts said that Russia's proximity to northeast China, a low tax rate and relatively low required minimum investment are reasons enough to take the plunge. Analysts estimated that companies might need to spend only a couple of hundred million dollars to enter the Russian market, compared with the billions that casino operators shell out on new resorts in Macau.
Source  WSJ

Japan will not allow Chinese development of new gasfields in Senkaku Islands

Japan will not accept China's unilateral development of gas fields in the East China Sea, the government's top spokesman said Thursday, after media reported that Chinese state-run oil companies plan to develop seven new gas fields in the sea at the heart of heightened tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

"We will never accept development of gas fields in a unilateral manner," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference, adding that the government is still gathering information to confirm whether the report is true.Tokyo and Beijing have been at odds over the status of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, controlled by Japan but claimed by China. Tensions have heightened since the Japanese government purchased three of the five islands from a private Japanese owner last year, with Chinese surveillance ships repeatedly intruding into waters near the uninhabited islets.

China´s Foreign Direct Investment US$ 61.98 billion in H1 2013

China's foreign direct investment (FDI) marked a surprise increase in June, soaring 20.12 percent from a year earlier to 14.39 billion U.S. dollars, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Wednesday.

The surprising FDI data for June did not include influxes of overseas funds in the banking, securities and insurance sectors but still marked a significant surge from the 0.29-percent year-on-year increase seen in May, according to the MOC.

The figure marked the fifth consecutive monthly increase since February, when China reported an FDI recovery after seeing monthly declines since June 2012.

In the first half of 2013, China's FDI totaled 61.98 billion U.S. dollars, up 4.9 percent year on year.

"The FDI increase proved the competitiveness of the Chinese economy and international investors' recognition of the investment environment in China," MOC spokesman Shen Danyang said at a press conference.

While the service sector took 49 percent of the total FDI inflows, the manufacturing sector attracted 26.44 billion U.S. dollars of foreign investment, down 2.14 percent, and held a 42-percent share of FDI inflows, Shen said.

Direct investment from the European Union and the United States jumped 14.68 percent and 12.29 percent, respectively, to 4.04 billion U.S. dollars and 1.83 billion U.S. dollars in the first half.

Source  Xinhua

China liberates interest rates for financial institutions

China's central bank on Friday announced to further liberate lending interest rate for financial institutions from Saturday.

The floor limit for lending interest rate will be canceled and the financial institutions can decide their own lending rates following commercial principles, said a statement on the website of the People's Bank of China.