beyondbrics

Apple attacked over pollution in China

Dispute over control of $65bn Libya fund

Reliance Industries, BP complete $7.2bn deal

Aquino seeks $60bn, oil resolution on China trip

Exxon and Rosneft sign Arctic deal

India’s growth cools amid high rates

Brazil may cut taxes by 4bn Reais to speed up telecom investments

Man Utd’s Singapore IPO to be two-tier

China intensifies purchases of copper

Sino-Forest insiders including ex-ceo sold $83m of shares since ’06

Markets, mixed

Apple attacked over pollution in China
Chinese environmental groups have accused Apple suppliers in the country of systemic pollution, underscoring the pressures on one of the world’s biggest companies as opposition grows in China to environmental degradation as the cost of economic growth, the FT reports.

Dispute over control of $65bn Libya fund
A dispute has erupted over control of Libya’s $65bn sovereign wealth fund, as the national transitional council attempts to maintain stability in the oil-rich nation, the FT reports. Several NTC members have contested the authority of Mahmoud Badi, who is probing corruption at the Libyan Investment Authority.

Reliance Industries, BP complete $7.2bn deal
Reliance Industries and BP have completed the $7.2bnn deal in which the British company will pick up 30 per cent in 21 blocks, including D-6, where technical expertise of the oil major is expected to reverse the decline in output from India’s biggest gas field, the Economic Times reports. BP, the first global oil major to make a significant investment in India, will form a 50:50 joint venture with Reliance Industries for sourcing and marketing of gas in India which will also accelerate the development of infrastructure in the sector.

Aquino seeks $60bn, oil resolution on China trip
Philippine President Benigno Aquino arrived in China on his first state visit to the country, aiming to win as much as $60bn in investments and resolve tensions over oil exploration in the disputed South China Sea, Bloomberg reports.

Exxon and Rosneft sign Arctic deal
ExxonMobil has formed an Arctic exploration partnership with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, in a strategic coup over rival BP, the FT reports. In return, Exxon, the world’s largest oil company by market capitalisation, will give the state-controlled Russian group minority stakes in projects in the US Gulf of Mexico, in onshore fields in Texas and elsewhere. The $3.2bn agreement follows this year’s collapse of an Arctic exploration deal between Rosneft and BP.

India’s growth cools amid high rates
India’s economy grew 7.7% in the April-to-June period from a year earlier, its slowest pace in six quarters, confirming fears that a series of interest-rate increases, combined with the global slowdown and a lack of local reforms, have kept growth well below the government’s estimate, the WSJ reports.

Brazil may cut taxes by 4bn Reais to speed up telecom investments
Brazil’s government may cut 4bn reais ($2.5bn) in taxes for companies building fiber-optic networks to expand telephone, cable television and Internet services, Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo said, Bloomberg reports. Bernardo, in an interview, said he will meet with Finance Minister Guido Mantega today to discuss the possible tax cuts, which are part of a plan to attract investment to Brazil’s telecommunications market.

Man Utd’s Singapore IPO to be two-tier
Manchester United football club’s $1bn initial public offering in Singapore will use a two-tier share structure that will minimise the influence of outside shareholders over the US-based Glazer family, the FT reports. The ability to use a dual share structure, in which some shares have more voting rights than others, was an important reason for the club’s decision to switch the IPO from Hong Kong to Singapore, according to people with knowledge of the transaction.

China intensifies purchases of copper
Chinese companies and investors are stepping up their purchases of industrial commodities such as copper, in a show of confidence in the global economy that stands in contrast to the turmoil in western markets, the FT reports. The wave of buying is providing support for metals and minerals prices after commodities prices fell this month at worries about a double-dip. Senior executives at trading houses, mining companies and banks said Chinese consumers had used the recent drop in prices to rebuild stocks.

Sino-Forest insiders including ex-ceo sold $83m of shares since ’06
Former Sino-Forest Corp. (TRE) Chief Executive Officer Allen Chan and other insiders sold C$81m ($83m) of shares since the end of 2006, according to regulatory filings, Bloomberg reports. Chan, who stepped down Aug. 28 after the Ontario Securities Commission suspended trading in Sino-Forest, sold C$3m of stock, the filings show. Kai Kit Poon, with whom Chan founded the tree-plantation company in 1992, sold more than C$30.1m.

Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index up +1.14% at 1,025

Europe
FTSE up +0.97% at 5,320
RTF up +0.91% at 1,678
Wig Index up +1.23% at 41,810
FTSE 300 Eurotop up +1.33% at 952.48

Americas
DJIA up +0.18% at 11,560
S&P 500 up +0.23% at 1,213
Bovespa up +0.96% at 55,385

Asia
Nikkei 225 up +0.01% at 8,955
Topix up +0.43% at 770.60
Hang Seng up +1.64% at 20,535
Shanghai Composite up +0.03% at 2,567
MSCI Asia ex-Japan up +1.80% at 513.76
S&P CNX Nifty Index up +1.65% at 5,001

Currencies
€/$ 1.44 (1.44)
$/¥ 76.52 (76.71)

Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.18 at 113.84
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.82 at 88.08
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -2.20 at 1,825