| * China's companies spurn directive to pay 30% dividend * Tony Hayward becomes Glencore Xstrata interim chairman * Aviva shares boosted by Asian growth * Watchdog raises fears over wealth funds * China agrees free trade deal with Switzerland * Brazil oil licences raise record R$2.8bn * Iranian hardliners lobby for Rafsanjani to be banned from poll * Citi sells Brazil units to Itaú-Unibanco * Czech GDP: it gets worse Markets: mixed China's companies spurn directive to pay 30% dividend
Just 60 per cent of China's biggest listed-companies met the dividend guidelines laid out by the Shanghai Stock Exchange earlier this year, a blow for attempts to build credibility in China's equity markets.
http://on.ft.com/1039fNL Tony Hayward becomes Glencore Xstrata interim chairman
Tony Hayward, the former BP chief executive who resigned after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, will on Thursday make an extraordinary return to the top of British business by becoming interim chairman of natural resources giant Glencore Xstrata.
http://on.ft.com/183jPtp Aviva shares boosted by Asian growth
Aviva is the latest UK insurer to benefit from a move into fast-growing Asian markets, which helped its first-quarter numbers shine and sent its shares to the top of the FTSE 100.
http://on.ft.com/103hhpG Watchdog raises fears over wealth funds
Sovereign wealth funds from resource-rich countries controlling more than $500bn of assets operate with no disclosure, limiting their accountability and increasing the risk of corruption, a leading transparency watchdog has said.
http://on.ft.com/10ruCeB China agrees free trade deal with Switzerland
China has agreed the technical details of a free-trade agreement with Switzerland, and the deal is likely to be signed in coming months, the Swiss economy minister has confirmed.
http://on.ft.com/103hhpG Brazil oil licences raise record R$2.8bn
Brazil raised a record R$2.8bn in its first auction of licences for oil exploration blocks in five years, with oil majors including ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP winning blocks, as well as BG Group of the UK.
http://on.ft.com/103hhpG Iranian hardliners lobby for Rafsanjani to be banned from poll
A group of hardline Iranian lawmakers has urged the country's constitutional watchdog to disqualify two candidates, including Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a conservative former president, from next month's presidential election.
http://on.ft.com/103hhpG Citi sells Brazil units to Itaú-Unibanco
Citigroup has sold its Brazilian consumer finance units to local bank Itaú-Unibancofor R$2.77bn, as the US lender looks to withdraw from part of the country's fiercely competitive retail banking market.
http://on.ft.com/103hhpG Czech GDP: it gets worse
The Czech Republic is in a terrible downturn that shows no sign of coming to an end with new flash GDP data showing a first quarter annual contraction of 1.9 per cent, much worse than analysts had predicted and the Czech economy's worst performance since the depths of the first wave of the crisis in 2009.
http://on.ft.com/103hhpG Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index up +0.04% at 1,047 Europe
FTSE up +0.03% at 6,695
RTS down -0.14% at 1,389
Warsaw Wig down -0.22% at 45,999
FTSE 300 Eurotop down -0.21% at 1,243 Americas
DJIA up +0.40% at 15,276
S&P 500 up +0.51% at 1,659
Bovespa up +0.49% at 54,936 Asia
Nikkei 225 down -0.39% at 15,037
Topix down -0.61% at 1,245
Hang Seng up +0.17% at 23,083
Shanghai Composite up +1.21% at 2,252
MSCI Asia ex-Japan up +0.06% at 481.63
CNX Nifty up +0.38% at 6,170 Currencies
€/$ 1.29 (1.29)
$/¥ 102.60 (102.21) Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.30 at 103.38
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.89 at 93.41
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -25.90 at 1,371 | 
