Reuters Business News Schedule at 1230 GMT

Published: 03 Jun 2009 17:10:19 PST

REUTERS BUSINESS NEWS SCHEDULE

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

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EDITORS (TIMES GMT)

Asia: Sonya Hepinstall and Mathew Veedon +65 6870-3827 - 0230, 0630 GMT

Europe: Malcolm Davidson +44 20 7542 6958 - 0830, 1230 GMT

Americas: Eddie Evans and Jonathan Oatis +1 646 223 6207 - 1430, 1830 GMT

TOP STORIES

More evidence worst is past for world economy

LONDON - The euro zone's dominant service sector shrank at a slower pace in May while Australia reported first-quarter growth, strengthening the case that the worst of the global recession is over (FINANCIAL/ (TOPWRAP 4), moved, tv, pix, graphics, by Dan Lalor, 900 words)

+ See also:

- AUSTRALIA-ECONOMY/ (UPDATE 1), moved, by Wayne Cole, 700 words

UK service sector grows, econ may expand in Q2-Markit

LONDON - Britain's service sector stage a surprise return to growth in May, the monthly services PMI survey showed, and the compiler of the survey said the economy as a whole could start expanding in the second quarter (SERVICES-BRITAIN/PMI (UPDATE 1), moved, by David Milliken, 600 words)

+ See also:

- EUROZONE-ECONOMY/GDP (UPDATE 1), moved, by Marcin Grajewski, 800 words

Singapore's Temasek sold Barclays stake - sources

LONDON/SINGAPORE - Singapore state investor Temasek sold its stake in British bank Barclays several months ago at a big loss, people familiar with the matter say, (BARCLAYS/ (UPDATE 2), expect by 1400, by Steve Slater and Saeed Azhar, 600 words)

+ See also:

- BARCLAYS/PENSIONS, expect by 1300, by Steve Slater, 200 words.

Global crisis spending lacks direction - poll

NEW YORK - Two-thirds of people believe "massive government spending" to combat the financial crisis shows a lack of clear direction, according to a poll of nations representing 75 percent of the global economy (FINANCIAL/GLOBALAGENDA), moved, by Michelle Nichols, 800 words)

MARKETS

Reuters surveys foreign exchange traders on currency outlook

LONDON - Reuters surveys around 60 foreign exchange strategists on their outlook for major currencies against the dollar (MARKETS-FOREX-DOLLAR/POLL, moved, by Nigel Davies, 600 words) + See also:

- MARKETS-FOREX-STERLING/POLL, moved, by Jonathan Cable, 600 words

- MARKETS-FOREX-YEN/POLL, moved, by Jonathan Cable, 600 words

Stocks under pressure; dollar rebounds

LONDON - European stocks fell and Wall Street was set for a weaker start as investors turned cautious after economic optimism pushed world stocks to fresh 7-1/2 highs and sterling to 2009 peaks earlier (MARKETS-GLOBAL (WRAPUP 4),moved, by Natsuko Waki, 600 words)

Asian comments lift dollar from 2009 lows vs euro

LONDON - The dollar rebounds from its lowest levels this year against the euro after Asian monetary sources said they would keep buying U.S. Treasuries even if the U.S. credit rating were to be downgraded (MARKETS-FOREX (UPDATE 4), moved, by Naomi Tajitsu, 600 words)

Oil falls towards $68 after seven strong days

LONDON - The oil markets' seven-day rally dipped ahead of weekly U.S. inventory data and as investors grew more cautious ahead of the $70 mark (MARKETS-OIL (UPDATE 3), moved, by Chris Baldwin, 600 words)

Gold holds steady, eyes dollar

LONDON - Gold was steady in Europe, having pared early gains as the dollar recovered lost ground versus the euro, denting interest in the metal as a hedge against weakness in the U.S. currency (MARKETS-PRECIOUS (UPDATE 4), moved, by Jan Harvey, 600 words)

+ See also:

- MARKETS-METALS (UPDATE 3), moved, by Rebecca Curtis, 600 words

Emerging markets funds cautious after rally

LONDON - Managers of last month's top performing global emerging markets funds are cautious for prospects in June and reluctant to predict another bumper set of numbers (FUNDS-LIPPER-SCORE/EMERGING, moved, by James Molony, 400 words)

U.S. grains edge down, weak dollar underpins

PARIS/SINGAPORE - U.S. soybean and wheat futures edge down after hitting eight-month highs on Monday but a weak dollar plus tight old-crop supplies for soy underpin grain markets (MARKETS-GRAINS (UPDATE 2), moved, by Naveen Thukral and Gus Trompiz, 500 words)

ENERGY SUMMIT

IEA executive director addresses Reuters Summit

PARIS - International Energy Agency head Nobuo Tanaka speaks to Reuters against background of a strong oil price and steady OPEC supply (ENERGY-SUMMIT/IEA (UPDATE 2), expect by 1500, by Muriel Boselli, 500 words)

COMPANIES

Shell sees pick up in oil products

LONDON - Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's largest fuel retailer, sees a pick-up in demand for oil products across Europe in the past two months, a senior executive said on Wednesday, in another sign the worst of the economic slump may have passed (SHELL/DEMAND (ENERGY SUMMIT) (URGENT), expect by 1130, by Tom Bergin, 600 words)

Dutch utility Essent scraps sale of waste unit

AMSTERDAM/LONDON - Dutch utility Essent scraps the sale of its waste-management unit -- once pegged at 1 billion euros or more -- in the latest auction scuppered by price disagreements and scarce debt (ESSENT-MILIEU/(UPDATE 2), expect by 1430, by Catherine Hornby and Quentin Webb, 600 words)

Fiat seen shelving expansion plans for now

MILAN - Italian automaker Fiat SpA likely will have to shelve its ambitious expansion plans for now and focus on reviving Chrysler after its bid for Germany's Opel was rebuffed (FIAT (ANALYSIS), expect by 1300, by Ian Simpson, 500 words)

Italy's A2A to replace supervisory board

BRESCIA, Italy - Shareholders of Italian regional utility A2A agree to replace its supervisory board in a move which should smooth corporate governance at the group and let it focus on strategy (A2A-AGM/ (UPDATE 2), expect by 1300, by Giancarlo Navach, 500 words)

ECONOMY

BOJ Kamezaki: Huge bond issuance may push up yields

SHIZUOKA, Japan - Bank of Japan policy board member Hidetoshi Kamezaki warns that huge bond issuance to fund government stimulus measures taken across the globe could push up interest rates (JAPAN-ECONOMY (UPDATE 3), moved, by Tetsushi Kajimoto, 700 words)

ANALYSIS

Silver returns outpace gold but analysts advise caution

LONDON - Silver investors have reaped glittering rewards in recent weeks as the metal benefited from a recovery in industrial commodities and rising gold prices, but the market could be due a sharp correction if investment interest wanes (PRECIOUS/SILVER (ANALYSIS), expect by 1500, by Jan Harvey, 600 words)

Commodity ETPs offer opportunities, but "buyer beware"

LONDON - Commodity-based exchange-traded products (ETPs) are growing rapidly as they offer easy access to markets usually reserved for professionals, but investors need to know what they are buying as such funds can involve significant risks. (COMMODITIES/FUNDS (ANALYSIS), expect by 1500, by Christopher Johnson, 750 words)

Palm Pre launch key for Palm, Sprint

NEW YORK - This weekend's debut of Palm Inc's Pre smartphone may not attract lines around the block to rival Apple Inc's iPhone launches, but the Pre will be just as closely watched as it is seen as a badly needed shot of adrenalin for both Palm and Sprint Nextel, its exclusive launch service (PALM/PRE (PREVIEW) , moved, by Sinead Carew, 800 words)

FEATURES

U.S. construction workers cheer stimulus dollars

WASHINGTON - Willie Fort is a lucky man. Last month he came within a whisker of losing his construction job, but he is off to Louisiana to work on a highway project that will employ him for at least two years. The 32-year-old father of four from Mississippi is among hundreds of construction workers who are either keeping their jobs or finding new employment as the U.S. government's record $787 billion package to jump-start the economy is slowly disbursed (USA-ECONOMY/CONSTRUCTION (FEATURE), pix, moved, by Lucia Mutikani, 1040 words)

Small investors flock to forex trading amid crisis

NEW YORK - After half his investment in emerging market hedge funds evaporated, Cenk Utkan made a financial U-turn toward the most liquid market he could find. He's been trading in foreign currencies ever since (MARKETS/CURRENCIES