Oil prices up amid Iran, Greek tensions

Oil prices edged higher in Asian trade on Monday.

According to the analysts, the increase was seen as major crude producer Iran and Western powers failed to reach agreement over Tehran s nuclear programme.

Markets were also supported by signs Greeks would elect a pro-austerity government in upcoming polls, easing concerns the debt-wracked country would exit the eurozone and trigger a global economic crisis.

New York s main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in July was up 84 cents to $91.70 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for July gained 55 cents to $107.38 in morning trade.

"The Iranian stand-off looks likely it will remain difficult to break down," said Justin Harper, market strategist at IG Markets Singapore.

On Saturday the head of Iran s Atomic Energy Organisation said Tehran had "no reason" to suspend its enrichment of uranium to 20 percent.

The issue of Tehran s uranium enrichment and stockpile had been at the centre of talks last week between Iran and major world powers -- who believe the country s nuclear activities mask a push to build atomic weapons.

Iran, already under heavy sanctions for refusing to suspend its nuclear programme, has denied the accusations and threatened to disrupt Middle East oil supply if it is faced with further sanctions.

"Iran is desperate for oil revenues to return and was hoping its more accommodating attitude would see oil supply bans lifted immediately," said Harper.

"This has back-fired and it is now back to square one as it reverts to its traditional defiant mood," he added.

Prices were also lifted by a slight easing of bearish sentiment over the eurozone s debt troubles, analysts said.

Opinion polls published Sunday showed Greek pro-bailout conservative party New Democracy is expected to secure most seats in the June 17 general elections but without an outright majority.

Such a result would be welcomed by investors who feared that radical left party Syriza -- which rejects austerity measures outright -- would sweep into power.

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Tropical storm Beryl makes landfall on US coast

The weather system was expected to continue dumping rain over parts of Florida and Georgia.

Tropical Storm Beryl made landfall early Monday in northeast Florida, bringing drenching rains and driving winds to the southeastern U.S. coast, forecasters said.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported that Beryl made landfall over Duval and northern St. John s counties, with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph (113 kph).

"There are strong rain bands that are rotating around the center of the storm..." forecaster Al Sandrik said in an audio statement on the NHC website.

The weather system was expected to continue dumping rain over parts of Florida and Georgia on Monday. It was expected to weaken as it moves inland and become a tropical depression by Monday night.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the entire Georgia coastline, as well as parts of Florida and South Carolina.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott urged Florida residents in the affected areas to "stay alert and aware."

Beryl was expected to bring 4 inches (10 centimeters) to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain to parts, with some areas getting as much as 12 inches (30 centimeters). Forecasters predict the storm surge and tide will cause significant coastal flooding in northeastern Florida, Georgia and southern South Carolina.

The Coast Guard said three people and a dog were rescued from a sinking recreational vehicle by crews in Charleston Harbor late Sunday morning.

"There were wave heights of roughly four feet, the waves started depositing water in the boat and the boat started to get overwhelmed, it started to sink," Petty Officer Christopher Evanson, a Coast Guard spokesman, told the Associated Press. "The Coast Guard was able to get on scene, get alongside the boat and disembark the passengers.

Bars and restaurants along Jacksonville Beach s oceanside roads were enjoying booming business, with outside decks crowded with people listening to music, drinking and watching the weather. At Joe s Crab Shack, which has a deck facing the Atlantic Ocean, the Bee Gees  "Stayin  Alive" blasted from outside speakers.

The southeastern U.S. wasn t the only part of the country dealing with troublesome weather.

In Washington, the annual Memorial Day concert on the National Mall Sunday night was cut short as a line of thunderstorms approached the District of Columbia from the northwest. Mike Musher of the National Weather Service said the thunderstorms developed over Pennsylvania as part of the weather system that created record high temperatures in the Midwest over the weekend.

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British soldier killed in Afghanistan

Captain Stephen James Healey is the 415th British serviceperson to die during Afghan mission.

A British soldier was killed by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan, the defence ministry said on Sunday.

Captain Stephen James Healey of the 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh regiment, was conducting a vehicle patrol in the north of the Nahr-e Saraj District in Helmand Province on Saturday when his vehicle struck the device.

Healey is the 415th British serviceperson to die since the military mission in Afghanistan started in 2001.

Britain has some 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, mainly based in Helmand where they are battling a Taliban insurgency. Britain intends to pull out all its combat troops by 2015.

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Djokovic, Federer open Roland Garros bids

Federer starts his campaign on Monday against Germany's Tobias Kamke.

World number one Novak Djokovic kicks off his bid for an historic Grand Slam on Monday when he tackles Italian claycourter Potito Starace in the French Open first round.

The top seed is just seven wins away from becoming only the third man to hold all four majors at the same time.

But the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion has never made a final in Paris, falling at the semi-finals on three occasions.

He also has Roger Federer in his half of the draw where the great Swiss looms as a potential semi-final opponent.

Federer, the holder of a record 16 Grand Slam titles, was the champion at Roland Garros in 2009, and he also starts his campaign on Monday against Germany s Tobias Kamke.

Defending women s champion Li Na of China is second match on Philippe Chatrier Court where she faces Romania s Sorana Cirstea.

Top seed and world number one Victoria Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, begins proceedings on the main court against Alberta Brianti of Italy.

Former men s world number one Lleyton Hewitt of Australia is also in action against Slovenia s Blaz Kavcic.

The former Wimbledon and US Open champion will take to Court Seven with two screws and a metal plate now locking permanently into place in the big toe on his left foot after undergoing radical surgery to prolong his career.

Hewitt, now ranked 175, has had only two weeks of practice ahead of his first-round match and if he gets past Kavcic his next opponent could be Djokovic.

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Indian rupee woes highlight economic drift

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's has cut India's credit outlook to negative.

India s rupee, which hit an unprecedented string of all-time lows last week, is set for more falls unless policymakers move quickly to put Asia s third-largest economy back on track, analysts say.

The rupee, which slumped to as low as 56.38 to the dollar last week, has lost around a quarter of its value in the past 12 months and is currently Asia s worst-performing currency.

"The Indian rupee s weakness is a symptom and not the underlying problem", which is "policy incoherence, shifting global risk appetite and a comatose government", said Rajeev Malik, senior economist at independent brokerage CLSA.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor s has cut India s credit outlook to negative, growth is slowing and the current account deficit -- the widest measure of a country s trade with the rest of the world -- is at a three-decade high.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has admitted his squabbling Congress-led coalition must do more to get the once red-hot economy moving again.

"I will be the first to say we need to do better," the 79-year-old said as he presented his coalition s annual report card at a function last week.

Singh is credited with opening India s economy when he was the finance minister in 1991 but his premiership has been tainted by a series of policy U-turns and corruption scandals.

His once ambitious reform agenda has stalled amid coalition infighting, and the economic climate has been further strained by the announcement of new tax policies seen as hostile to foreign investment.

"India s weak national government remains the single biggest drag on activity," said Glenn Levine, senior economist at Moody s Analytics.

Now the rupee s free-fall appears to be bringing economic worries to a head.

Out of 58 economists and corporate chief executives polled, 53 said the economic situation had suddenly worsened, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

"The worst disaster is coming from a huge uncertainty on the rupee value and its freefall. Everybody out there in the business world is feeling shaky," said Assocham when it announced the survey at the weekend.

Many analysts are eyeing 60 rupees to the dollar as the next big mark for the currency as lacklustre US data and a worsening European debt crisis prompt risk-averse investors to dump emerging-market assets.

A falling rupee stokes India s inflation -- already running at over seven percent -- by making imports costlier and makes it harder for firms to service dollar-denominated debt.

It also deters capital inflows, making it much tougher to close the gaping current account deficit, which is already running at 4.3 percent of gross domestic product.

Analysts say India could take steps to temper dollar demand and support the rupee -- such as having the central bank sell dollars directly to Indian oil firms, which would lower demand for greenbacks in the foreign exchange market.

Fuel-scarce India purchases 80 percent of its crude from abroad, using dollars.

India could also issue bonds to non-resident Indians at attractive rates.

But the central bank "at best, can only contain the pace of depreciation somewhat, while not being able to reverse it", said Deepali Bhargava, chief India economist at Espirito Santo Securities.

Analysts said the rest was up to the government -- which needs to press ahead with long-delayed economic reforms such as further opening up the retail and aviation sectors to foreign investment.

"The government will have to restore confidence in governance... and address investor nervousness on tax issues," said private bank IndusInd s head of trading Rajeev Mahrotri.

In the meantime, global banks have been taking a knife to their growth estimates following a string of weak economic indicators.

The government has forecast growth of 7.6 percent for this fiscal year to March 2013. But private forecasters are pencilling in numbers from six to seven percent -- enviable by Western standards but not enough to reduce India s crushing poverty, experts say.

Investment house Morgan Stanley said it expects growth for the fiscal year just ended to be 6.5 percent --- lower than the government s estimate of 6.9 percent, and below even the 6.7 percent achieved in 2008-09, the year of the global economic meltdown.

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