LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland has reached an out-of-court deal to settle a costly and embarrassing lawsuit alleging it misled investors during a 12 billion pound ($16 billion) cash call launched just before its near collapse in 2008, sources said.Sources familiar with the situation said a majority of shareholders in the group look set to accept an offer after days of intense ta...Read More

(Adds dealer's comment, details)ZAGREB, June 6 (Reuters) - Croatia's central bank said on Tuesday it had bought 188 million euros ($211 million) from commercial banks, intervening to ease firming pressures on the kuna currency.It bought the euros in an auction at an average rate of 7.4163 kuna per euro.The kuna was quoted at 7.4110 at 0950 GMT, down from 7.3810 before the intervention.It is the fi...Read More

JOHANNESBURG, June 6 (Reuters) - South Africa's new mining charter, which sets industry targets for black ownership and participation in the sector, will be gazetted and become law next week, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Tuesday.The mining industry has complained that it has not been consulted enough about the revisions and that South Africa's mining industry is losing invest...Read More

(Adds more details, quotes, rand)PRETORIA, June 6 (Reuters) - South Africa has entered recession for the first time in eight years, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Tuesday, after the economy contracted in the first quarter, led by weak manufacturing and trade.The economy contracted by 0.7 percent in the first three months of the year after shrinking by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarte...Read More

* STOXX 600 down 0.4 pct* Arab-Qatar rift hits oil, Norsk Hydro* Roche falls as Aphinity study results disappoint* Vestas Wind jumps on new wind turbine launch* Stronger euro to weigh on European equities - MS (ADVISORY- Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon, see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets)By Helen ReidLONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - E...Read More

June 6 (Reuters) - Indian shares ended lower on Tuesday, reversing course from record highs hit in early session as markets paused ahead of the central bank's policy meeting.The benchmark BSE index closed down 0.38 percent at 31,190.56, after hitting a record high of 31,430.32. The broader NSE index ended 0.39 percent lower at 9,637.15. The index breached 9,700 points for the first time early in t...Read More

* Gold, German bunds hit six-week highs as safe assets thrive* World stocks edge away from record highs, European shares hit* Sterling stays steady as polls narrow ahead of UK election* Graphic: World FX rates in 2017 By Abhinav RamnarayanLONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - World stocks fell while safe-haven gold and German government bonds were in demand on Tuesday as tension in the Middle East, an electi...Read More

London's Metropolitan Police have released the names of two of the perpetrators of Saturday evening's terrorist attack, as polls show the U.K.'s governing party is losing ground in Thursday's general election. Khuram Shazad Butt and Rachid Redouane were named on Monday as the attackers. The third attacker is yet to be named. Butt, who was 27 years old, was a British citizen born in Pakistan. He w...Read More

* Region's largest bunkering hub shuns Qatari vessels* Affected shippers may face delays, higher costs* Norsk Hydro says aluminium shipments blocked from UAE port By Roslan KhasawnehSINGAPORE, June 6 (Reuters) - The costs of Qatari energy and commodity exports are likely to rise as the United Arab Emirates' ban on Qatari vessels cuts the ships off from the region's main refuelling port, forcing s...Read More

(Adds quote, detail)OSLO, June 6 (Reuters) - Norwegian seasonally adjusted housing prices fell by 0.7 percent in May from April in a further sign the market was cooling off from a rapid rise in recent years, a real estate industry association said on Tuesday.On a year-on-year basis, prices rose by 8.3 percent in May, down from 10.7 percent in April and from a decade-high 13 percent in February, R...Read More

By Karin StroheckerLONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - Emerging stocks inched lower and currencies softened on Tuesday, as lower oil and commodity prices and political tensions over a rift between Qatar and fellow Arab nations dampened risk appetite. MSCI's emerging market equity benchmark snapped a three-day winning streak to fall 0.2 percent, with bourses weakening in Asia, Africa and emerging Europe .Cu...Read More

PRETORIA, June 6 (Reuters) - South Africa slipped into technical recession for the first time since 2009 after the economy contracted in the first quarter, led by weak manufacturing and trade sectors, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday.Africa's most developed economy contracted by 0.7 percent in the first quarter after shrinking by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, the statistic...Read More

PRETORIA, June 6 (Reuters) - South Africa's real gross domestic expenditure contracted by 0.8 percent in the first quarter of 2017 after contracting by a 0.1 percent in the final quarter of 2016, the statistics agency said on Tuesday.Household expenditure decreased by 1.4 percent in the first three months of the year after an increase of 1.3 percent in the previous three months. Government expendi...Read More

JOHANNESBURG, June 6 (Reuters) - South Africa's Deputy Finance Minister Sfiso Buthelezi said on Tuesday he was dismayed by a media report alleging he improperly benefited from tenders during his time as chairman of the state-owned rail services company.Allegations of government corruption have escalated this week after local media began reporting on more than 100,000 leaked emails they say show in...Read More

ANKARA, June 6 (Reuters) - Turkey's economic growth will exceed its target of 4.2 percent in 2017, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday, adding that inflation would fall to single digits by year-end with the support of tight monetary and fiscal policies.Turkey's annual consumer price inflation stood at 11.72 percent in May, official data showed on Monday, edging back from an 8-year high...Read More

DUBAI, June 6 (Reuters) - Many UAE banks have stopped providing new loans to their clients to buy bonds of Qatari companies and state entities, sources familiar with the matter said, as banks turn cautious on Qatari credit in the wake of the growing Gulf rift. Leverage for corporate bond purchases is a fairly common practice that banks provide to their affluent or high net worth customers."Local b...Read More

MOSCOW, June 6 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble eased slightly on Tuesday, showing strong resilience to a recent sell-off in oil, one of its key drivers.As of 0820, the rouble shed 0.2 percent to 56.68 against the dollar , trading at levels seen over the past two weeks, while Brent crude prices lost 0.6 percent to $49.2 per barrel, approaching levels seen in early May.Oil prices took a hit from a po...Read More

COLOMBO, June 6 (Reuters) - Strong economic growth in the Maldives is expected to help lower the nation's borrowing costs in future, the government said on Tuesday, after the Indian Ocean archipelago raised $200 million via a debut sovereign bond last week.The government issued the 5-year bond with a coupon of 7 percent, with Hong Kong-based BoCom International Holdings Co Ltd acting as the sole g...Read More

Canadian bullion producer IAMGOLD Corp. (TSX IMG), (NYSE: IAG) is selling a 30% interest in its C??t?(C) Gold project, located in the Abitibi gold belt in Ontario, to Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining in a deal worth $195 million.As part of the transaction, the Japanese miner - the Asian nation's No. 1 gold producer - will become IAMGOLD's partner in the project, which is currently in its pre-feas...Read More

Canadian bullion producer IAMGOLD Corp. (TSX IMG), (NYSE: IAG) is selling a 30% interest in its C??t?(C) Gold project, located in the Abitibi gold belt in Ontario, to Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining in a deal worth $195 million.As part of the transaction, the Japanese miner - the Asian nation's No. 1 gold producer - will become IAMGOLD's partner in the project, which is currently in its pre-feas...Read More