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TOP STORIES

Stocks reach new peak in world full of surprises

LONDON - World stocks breach new record highs as better-than-expected company earnings and economic data from the United States steal the focus from rising geopolitical tension over North Korea's nuclear programme. (GLOBAL-MARKETS/ (WRAPUP 4, PICTURE), updating throughout the day, by John Geddie, 733 words)

Samsung scion Lee fights back tears as prosecutors seek 12 years' jail

SEOUL - Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee fights back tears and denies wrongdoing as prosecutors seek a 12-year jail term on charges that include bribing the former president to help cement control of the South Korean tech giant. (SOUTHKOREA-POLITICS/SAMSUNG-LEE (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Joyce Lee and Christine Kim, 475 words)

China July FX reserves unexpectedly hit 9-month high on boost from weak dollar

BEIJING - China's foreign exchange reserves rise twice as much as expected in July to a nine-month high as tighter regulations and a weaker dollar keep capital outflows in check. (CHINA-ECONOMY/FOREX-RESERVES (UPDATE 2), moved, 740 words)

ANALYSIS

Oil bulls aren't out of the woods yet

LONDON - Oil investors seem to buy the idea that recovery is finally underway after three years of gluts, but a boom in the price seems unlikely given that the options market shows that at least until OPEC's supply deal expires, producers will pounce on any rallies. (OIL-PRICES/ (moved), by Amanda Cooper, 811 words)

As short sellers target Chinese companies in Hong Kong, hostility mounts

HONG KONG - Short sellers are increasingly targeting Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies they allege have committed accounting tricks, market manipulation and fraud. And that’s despite mounting hostility faced by investors who bet against stocks. (CHINA-SHORTSELLERS/ (ANALYSIS, PIX), moved, by Michelle Price, 1050 words)

In Asia financial markets, the fear indicators still send a buy signal

SINGAPORE - Asian investors, wary that the region’s stock markets and currencies have run up too far too fast and wondering whether it is time to take some money off the table, are finding that their concerns are not being reflected in major gauges of volatility and fear. (ASIA-MARKETS/RISK, moved, by Vidya Ranganathan, 900 words)

MARKETS

Dollar edges lower after Friday bounce

LONDON - The dollar edges lower following sharp gains in the previous session, as investors focus on inflation data due this week that could determine the currency's longer-term trajectory. (GLOBAL-FOREX/ (UPDATE 2), updating throughout the day, 251 words)

Oil slides from 9-week highs as market looks to OPEC

LONDON - Oil prices dip on Monday, sliding away from nine-week highs, as worries lingered over high production from OPEC and the United States. (GLOBAL-OIL/ (UPDATE 5), updating throughout the day, by Libby George, 396 words)

Gold hovers near lows, investors wary about U.S. rates

LONDON - Gold prices hold steady, failing to gain support from a weaker dollar as investors digest sharp losses in the previous session and worry about further U.S. rate hikes. (GLOBAL-PRECIOUS/ (UPDATE 3), updating throughout the day, by Eric Onstad, 449 words)

ECONOMY

Euro zone investor morale stable, but expectations dropping

BERLIN - Investor (LSE: 0NC5.L - news) sentiment in the euro zone remain stable in August, buoyed by strong current conditions, but future expectations slump amid growing concerns about the U.S. economy and the potential impact of a widening car emissions scandal. (EUROZONE-ECONOMY/SENTIX, moved, 379 words)

German industrial output drops in June, up in Q2

BERLIN - German industrial production unexpectedly falls for the first time this year in June, data shows, though it increased in the second quarter overall. (GERMANY-ECONOMY/OUTPUT (UPDATE 1), moved, by Michelle Martin, 357 words)

UK house price growth weakest in more than four years -Halifax

LONDON - British house prices rise at their slowest pace in more than four years in the three months to July as households feel the pinch of inflation which is rising faster than wages, mortgage lender Halifax says. (BRITAIN-HOUSEPRICES/HALIFAX (UPDATE 1), moved, 338 words)

No let-up likely in Trump trade war talk

LONDON - Talk of trade war looks here to stay for the time being, especially as data over the coming week seems more likely than not to aggravate U.S. President Donald Trump's gripes with China and Germany. (GLOBAL-ECONOMY/OUTLOOK (PIX, GRAPHIC), moved, by Andy Bruce, 515 words)

UK consumer spending sees longest decline since 2013 - Visa (Xetra: A0NC7B - news)

LONDON - British consumer spending falls for the third month in a row in July in its longest losing streak in over four years, according to data, in another sign that the impact of last year's Brexit vote is rippling through to households. (BRITAIN-ECONOMY/CONSUMERS (moved), moved, 374 words)

Raise rates? Inflation shows central banks should be keeping it easy

LONDON - For all the talk of higher interest rates and monetary policy being "normalized" nearly a decade after the global credit crisis, the case for central banks staying easy is building. (GLOBAL-CENBANKS/INFLATION (COLUMN), moved, by Jamie McGeever, 717 words)

COMPANIES

Deutsche Bank (IOB: 0H7D.IL - news) tumbles down private bank rankings

ZURICH - Deutsche Bank drops out of the world's top 15 private banks in 2016, a year marked by negative headlines for Germany's biggest lender, rankings by wealth management researcher Scorpio Partnership show. (BANKS-WEALTH/ (UPDATE 1), moved, by Joshua Franklin, 300 words)

Germany's FMC to buy U.S. home dialysis firm NxStage for $2 bln

FRANKFURT - German dialysis services provider Fresenius (Swiss: FRE-EUR.SW - news) Medical Care agrees to buy NxStage, a U.S. maker of devices for use in home dialysis, for around $2 billion in cash. (NXSTAGE MEDICAL-M&A/FRESENIUS CARE (UPDATE 2), moved, 285 words)

Paddy Power Betfair (Other OTC: PDYPF - news) 's shares slump after CEO says to step down

DUBLIN - Gambling firm Paddy Power Betfair's Chief Executive Breon Corcoran announces plans to step down, 18 months after completing the merger of Irish bookmaker Paddy Power (EUREX: 27913021.EX - news) with Britain's Betfair, sending the share price down over 8 percent. (PADDY POWER-CEO/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Conor Humphries, 453 words)

Warburg Pincus-backed ESR in talks to buy Singapore's Sabana REIT (SES: _REIT.SI - news) -sources

SINGAPORE - Warburg Pincus-backed e-Shang Redwood (ESR) is in advanced talks to buy struggling Sabana Shariah Compliant Industrial REIT, sources familiar with the process say, in a likely first consolidation step in Singapore's $3.5 billion mid-cap industrial trusts sector. (SABANA SHARIAH-M&A/ESR, moved, by Anshuman Daga, 550 words)

Commonwealth Bank blames 'coding error' for alleged money-laundering breaches

SYDNEY - The Commonwealth Bank of Australia says a software error was behind most of the roughly 53,700 times it allegedly broke anti-money laundering law, in a case that could see the country's biggest lender fined several billion dollars. (AUSTRALIA-CBA/MONEYLAUNDERING (UPDATE 4, PIX), moved, by Paulina Duran and Tom Westbrook, 548 words)

Tesla seeks to raise $1.5 bln to fund Model 3 production

Tesla Inc says it intends to raise about $1.5 billion in a bond offering as the U.S. automaker seeks to ramp up production of its newest electric sedan, the Model 3. (TESLA-OFFERING/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 194 words)

COMMODITIES

COLUMN-More than meets the eye as China tops U.S. as biggest crude importer: Russell

LAUNCESTON, Australia - How impressed should you be by China overtaking the United States as the world's largest importer of crude? The answer is quite a bit, but maybe not as much as you thought. (COLUMN-RUSSELL/CRUDE-CHINA, moved, by Clyde Russell, 850 words)