| * South Korea cuts rates to 2.5% to boost growth * China counts cost of soaring vegetable prices * Rio Tinto chief defends $5bn expansion of iron ore project * Dubai Group agrees to restructure $6bn loan agreement * Egypt's foreign reserves give cause for concern * Mexico presents banking reform bill to boost growth and lending * Batista sells $850m stake in troubled oil assets to Petronas * KKR offloads bulk of China dairy stake * Four State-Linked Qatar Companies Mull IPOs Amid Investment Push Markets: mixed South Korea cuts rates to 2.5% to boost growth
The South Korean central bank unexpectedly cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 2.5 per cent on Thursday to boost growth as the export-driven economy struggles to cope with shaky global demand and the competitive threat from a weaker Japanese yen.
http://on.ft.com/ZJnCXi China counts cost of soaring vegetable prices
Chinese inflation nudged higher in April on the back of soaring vegetable prices but the data also pointed to industrial overcapacity and a fragile economic recovery.
http://on.ft.com/11UdYTa Rio Tinto chief defends $5bn expansion of iron ore project
The chief executive of Rio Tinto has defended plans to spend US$5bn expanding its iron ore business in Western Australia following criticism from shareholders who fear it could lower the price of the steelmaking commodity.
http://on.ft.com/13juZcc Dubai Group agrees to restructure $6bn loan agreement
Dubai Group has reached agreement with creditors to restructure $6bn of loans in a long-expected deal that should finally remove one of the emirate's biggest debt problems.
http://on.ft.com/12gaUm2 Egypt's foreign reserves give cause for concern
Egypt foreign reserves lost value at an accelerated rate last month, even as a cash injection from abroad raised the fund's net worth for the first time since October.
http://on.ft.com/16ZkspR Mexico presents banking reform bill to boost growth and lending
Mexico's centrist government announced it would send a financial reform bill to Congress that seeks to boost economic growth by making it easier and cheaper for companies to access credit.
http://on.ft.com/18uwjeM Batista sells $850m stake in troubled oil assets to Petronas
Eike Batista has sold a $850m stake in his troubled oil assets to Malaysia's state-run Petronas as Brazil's once richest man struggles to fund his energy and mining empire.
http://on.ft.com/13ieQDZ KKR offloads bulk of China dairy stake
KKR has almost tripled its initial investment in China Modern Dairy, the country's largest raw milk producer, after selling most of its remaining stake to China Mengniu Dairy, the biggest producer of dairy products.
http://on.ft.com/11lnEuN Four State-Linked Qatar Companies Mull IPOs Amid Investment Push
Four companies owned by state-run Qatar Petroleum plan to sell shares to the public in the coming years as the country, home to the world's third-largest gas reserves, seeks to build its $136 billion stock exchange.
http://bloom.bg/10Gg7zc Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index up +0.09% at 1,062 Europe
FTSE up -0.05% at 6,581
RTS up +0.17% at 1,455
Warsaw Wig down 0.00% at 45,118
FTSE 300 Eurotop down -0.13% at 1,228 Americas
DJIA up +0.32% at 15,105
S&P 500 up +0.41% at 1,633
Bovespa down -0.83% at 55,805 Asia
Nikkei 225 down -0.66% at 14,191
Topix down -1.05% at 1,182
Hang Seng down -0.14% at 23,211
Shanghai Composite down -0.59% at 2,233
MSCI Asia ex-Japan up +0.10% at 488.85
CNX Nifty down -0.22% at 6,056 Currencies
€/$ 1.31 (1.32)
$/¥ 98.74 (98.99) Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.67 at 103.67
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.55 at 96.07
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -0.80 at 1,473 | 
