| * EBRD: sharpish cut in forecasts * Indian industrial output up, but underlying growth weak * Sri Lanka: why the unexpected cut? * Japanese investors switch to foreign bonds * ENRC revenues hit by commodities price falls * Panama Canal Cuts Water Use as Drought Prompts Energy Rationing * Chinese car market recovery continues * Khan enjoys late surge in Pakistan polls * Annan report blasts ENRC for costing Congo $725m * Brazil's Itaú BBA wins backing for green push * China calls for closer negotiations on solar panel tariffs * Nigeria signs up MasterCard to make dual-purpose identity card Markets: mostly down EBRD: sharpish cut in forecasts
Rarely has a forecast been cut so fast. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on Friday slashed its 2013 growth forecast for the emerging economies of central and eastern Europe and North Africa from 3.1 per cent in January to just 2.2 per cent.
http://on.ft.com/13IOKt6 Indian industrial output up, but underlying growth weak
India's industrial production grew 2.5 per cent year-on-year this March, against an average forecast of 2.4 per cent in a Bloomberg poll.
http://on.ft.com/18xKQq5 Sri Lanka: why the unexpected cut?
Sri Lanka's government says its economy will grow at a zippy 7.5 per cent this year, making it the self-styled fastest growing economy in south Asia. Yet on Friday morning the central bank suddenly and unexpectedly brought interest rates down by half a percentage point, citing fears of a slowdown. Something doesn't add up.
http://on.ft.com/13JblFO Japanese investors switch to foreign bonds
Japanese investors have turned into net buyers of foreign bonds for the first time in six weeks, reversing a trend in which they had used the yen's fall as an opportunity to sell overseas holdings and prompting further falls for the currency below Y100.
http://on.ft.com/1971r1j ENRC revenues hit by commodities price falls
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp has warned of a dip in quarterly revenues due to the weaker commodity prices that are affecting the wider mining industry.
http://on.ft.com/11XD17X Panama Canal Cuts Water Use as Drought Prompts Energy Rationing
The Panama Canal is taking preventive measures to reduce water use as a drought prompts electricity rationing in Central America's fastest-growing economy.
http://bloom.bg/10JlOMT Chinese car market recovery continues
China's car market, the largest in the world, continued its strong recovery as light vehicle sales rose 13 per cent year on year by volume in April, despite weakening growth in the Chinese economy.
http://on.ft.com/10mdgvs Khan enjoys late surge in Pakistan polls
Former Pakistan cricket star Imran Khan's party was enjoying a late surge of support on Friday, the eve of a landmark election, raising the prospect of a fragmented parliament that could lead to weeks of haggling to form a coalition government.
http://on.ft.com/197egZv Annan report blasts ENRC for costing Congo $725m
Deals cut by Eurasian Natural Resources Corp, the FTSE 100 miner, have been lambasted for "opaque concession trading" costing the Democratic Republic of Congo $725m, in a hard-hitting report on Friday by Kofi Annan's Africa Progress Panel.
http://on.ft.com/YItiFW Brazil's Itaú BBA wins backing for green push
Germany's Commerzbank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have agreed to extend a $200m credit line to Brazil's biggest bank to help finance a growing number of green energy projects in the region.
http://on.ft.com/10mdqmE China calls for closer negotiations on solar panel tariffs
China has called for closer negotiations with Europe over proposed solar panel tariffs after the European Commission agreed to levy tariffs averaging 47 per cent on Chinese made solar panels.
http://on.ft.com/10mdwL3 Nigeria signs up MasterCard to make dual-purpose identity card
MasterCard is teaming up with the Nigerian authorities to launch identity cards that will double up as electronic payment cards.
http://on.ft.com/ZRVjJO Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index down -0.64% at 1,054 Europe
FTSE up +0.52% at 6,627
RTS down -0.42% at 1,449
Warsaw Wig down -0.12% at 44,890
FTSE 300 Eurotop up +0.45% at 1,235 Americas
DJIA down -0.15% at 15,083
S&P 500 down -0.37% at 1,627
Bovespa down -0.64% at 55,448 Asia
Nikkei 225 up +2.93% at 14,608
Topix up +2.43% at 1,211
Hang Seng up +0.47% at 23,321
Shanghai Composite up +0.62% at 2,247
MSCI Asia ex-Japan down -0.59% at 489.08
CNX Nifty up +0.74% at 6,095 Currencies
€/$ 1.30 (1.30)
$/¥ 101.26 (100.59) Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.55 at 103.92
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.67 at 95.72
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -20.90 at 1,448 | 
