beyondbrics

* IMF approves $15bn loan to Ukraine

* Record prices for Turkish stocks lure Mobius

* China govt approves Geely acquisition of Volvo

* Bangladesh lifts pay for garment workers

* BP may sell Venezuela oil stakes to Russian TNK-BP venture

* Reliance, Essar in race to buy BP’s Africa assets

* Danone sells stake in Chinese juice maker

* India storage woes add to strain on wheat

* ‘Softened’ IMF tone eases renminbi pressure

* ICBC in rights issue after heavy lending

* Conoco to sell Lukoil stake after posting profit gain

* Markets mixed

IMF approves $15bn loan to Ukraine
The International Monetary Fund late on Wednesday approved a $15bn loan agreement for cash-strapped Ukraine, a country which was hit hard by last year’s global recession, reports the FT.

Record prices for Turkish stocks lure Mobius
Templeton Asset Management’s Mark Mobius plans to increase his holdings of Turkish stocks, which rank among the cheapest in emerging markets even after gains pushed prices to record highs, Bloomberg reports.

India warns on slowdown in capital flows
The FT reports, growing risk aversion among investors is slowing foreign capital flows to emerging markets such as India, potentially choking inflows needed to fund the nation’s widening current account deficit, India’s central bank said.

China govt approves Geely acquisition of Volvo
Geely Holding Group has received final Chinese government approval to acquire Volvo Cars from Ford Motor, the AP reports, citing the Commerce Ministry on Thursday.

Bangladesh lifts pay for garment workers
Bangladesh has implemented an almost twofold rise in the minimum wage for its garment industry in a bid to end months of unrest by workers who produce clothes for leading western brands such as like Marks & Spencer, H&M and Wal-Mart, the FT reports.

BP may sell Venezuela oil stakes to Russian TNK-BP venture
BP Plc has told Venezuela’s state oil company it’s interested in selling stakes in three projects to its Russian venture, TNK-BP Holding, Bloomberg reports, citing Petroleos de Venezuela SA Vice President Eulogio del Pino.

Reliance, Essar in race to buy BP’s Africa assets
Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries and Essar Oil are among about half a dozen firms in race to buy crisis-hit British energy giant BP’s fuel marketing assets in east African countries. BP is selling retail outlets, terminals and aviation fuel stations in Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, Malawi and possibly also in Zambia, to cover costs related to the worst oil spill in US history, Economic Times reports.

Danone sells stake in Chinese juice maker
Danone has sold its stake in a Chinese juice maker for €200m ($260m), less than half the amount Coca-Cola was prepared to pay in a deal that collapsed last year, the FT reports. The value of Danone’s stake in Huiyuan Juice Group has fallen sharply since the Chinese government blocked Coca-Cola from taking over the country’s largest privately owned juice producer.

India storage woes add to strain on wheat
India is facing an “emergency situation” of a lack of storage for its grain stocks, with about 10m tonnes of wheat and rice at risk of rotting due to exposure to monsoon rains, according to estimates circulating within government, the FT reports. The mountains of food at risk of rotting – equal to a sixth of its stocks – have erupted as a hot political issue.

‘Softened’ IMF tone eases renminbi pressure
China Daily reports, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) softened tone toward China’s exchange rate regime will ease pressure on the appreciation of the renminbi, when the world’s third-largest economy faces increasing risks of a slowdown, Chinese economists have said. But the Washington-based lender still contended that the renminbi was still “undervalued”.

Osborne urges India to break EU trade logjam
George Osborne, the UK’s finance minister, on Wednesday called on India to break a logjam in negotiations over a free trade deal with the European Union and make an agreement by March, the FT reports. Mr Osborne, in an address to Indian bankers in Mumbai, said it was imperative to reduce the costs of trade between Europe and what he identified as a “linchpin power” in the world economy.

ICBC in rights issue after heavy lending
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest lender by market value, said on Wednesday night it planned to raise up to Rmb45bn ($6.64bn) in a rights issue in Hong Kong and Shanghai to shore up its capital base, the FT reports.

Conoco to sell Lukoil stake after posting profit gain
ConocoPhillips plans to sell its entire 20 per cent stake in Russia’s Lukoil, valued at about $9bn, after gains in crude prices spurred a jump in second-quarter profit at the third-largest U.S. oil company. Bloomberg reports, Lukoil agreed to buy back 7.6 per cent of its stock from ConocoPhillips for $3.44bn.

Markets

Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index up +0.23% at 993.56

Europe
FTSE down +0.76% at 5,360
RTS up +1.48% at 1,497
Wig Index up +0.63% at 42,681
FTSE 300 Eurotop up +0.51% at 1,056

Americas
DJIA down -0.38% at 10,498
S&P 500 down -0.69% at 1,106
Bovespa up +0.20% at 66,808

Asia
Nikkei 225 down -0.59% at 9,696
Topix down -0.49% at 861.27
Hang Seng up +0.01% at 21,094
Shanghai Composite up +0.55% at 2,648
MSCI Asia ex-Japan up +0.21% at 488.05
S&P CNX Nifty Index up +0.21% at 5,409

Currencies
€/$ 1.31 (1.30)
$/¥ 87.09 (87.34)

Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.36 at 76.42
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.20 at 77.19
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +5.70 at 1,166