Greece delays IMF payment, Fed told to hold rates, and Opec meets

The daily briefing “FirstFT” from the Financial Times.

Greece told the International Monetary Fund it would not make a scheduled EUR300m payment on Friday afternoon. Instead, it will make use of a rarely used provision to bundle all its June payments together and pay them at the end of this month.

“The talks are ongoing, potentially with great urgency. But they are still far from having reached a conclusion,” Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, said yesterday.

Senior IMF officials believe any non-payment by Athens would be a political decision rather than a financial one. But after such a fraught process (again), it might be time Greece accepts the deal. (FT, WSJ, Bloomberg)

In the news:

IMF warns Fed

Hold that rate rise. That’s the message from the International Monetary Fund to the US Federal Reserve as it warned that an increase before next year risked hurting the central bank’s credibility amid a surfeit of uncertainty. (FT)

Pulled noodles

Nestle India has withdrawn its Maggi noodles products as it seeks to contain a controversy over the safety of a product embraced by generations of Indians as a beloved comfort food. (FT)

US government breached

Hackers in China are suspected of being responsible for a cyber attack on the US government’s human resources arm that may have affected up to 4m current and former federal employees. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the matter. (FT, WSJ)

Shanghai milestone

China’s Shanghai Composite briefly crossed the 5,000-point mark for the first time since 2008, bringing the year-to-date gain for the index to 55 per cent. (FastFT)

Tex support

Rick Perry, the former Texas governor whose 2012 presidential campaign ended up as fodder for Jon Stewart and late-night comedians, said on Thursday he would run againfor the White House (FT)

“You only get one”

Alan Bond, the Perth-based tycoon who helped break the 132-year US grip on the America’s Cup yacht race, has died aged 77. The colourful businessman came to symbolise the excesses of the 1980s through his extravagant purchases of artistic masterpieces, financing of audacious sporting and business feats and his spectacular fall from grace. (FT)

Female Viagra nearly there

An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administrationvoted to recommend that the FDA approve, with conditions, the first-ever “female Viagra”. Flibanserin is owned by Sprout Pharmaceuticals and is the first drug to help combat female sexual dysfunction. (WashPo, WSJ)

It’s a big day for:

Big oil

Opec meets in Vienna for its annual meeting, where it is set to continue to keep the taps open – and oil prices down. Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, has indicated that he sees supply slowing and demand growing. (FT)

US jobs

Employment data are due today and are forecast by economists to show the world’s largest economy added 226,000 jobs in May, and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.4 per cent. A good result may spur the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year, although the International Monetary Fund has warned the bank to wait until 2016. (FT)

Food for thought

Changing lanes

Five years ago, Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, was on the cusp of being ousted from the company his grandfather founded. Japan’s biggest car group was in the US Congress’s line of fire after a recall of spontaneously accelerating Toyota vehicles, posting annual losses and declining sales. Today the company is booking record profits, but there’slittle sign of euphoria at the company’s headquarters. (FT)

Sands shift under Hillary

All of a sudden Hillary Clinton has company. A month ago it was just her competing for the Democratic nomination — what most observers imagined would be a coronation. Now there are four people in the field and a fifth is likely to join soon. (FT)

Pele with a skirt

The Fifa Women’s World Cup kicks off in Canada on Saturday. Marta, who has earned the nickname “Pele with a skirt” from the superstar himself, embodies all the skill and flair Brazilian footballers are known for. But as she and her teammates begin their World Cup campaign, the question is whether they can make fans and sponsors care and recognise that talent. (Atlantic)

Magic bus

Crowdsourcing of Singapore’s bus system gets under way this summer, as the island nation takes one of its next big strides into the digitised era. Based on passengers tapping their smart cards when they enter and exit the bus, the data – plus customer feedback – will be used to retrace bus routes, and ultimately, via smartphone, tell passengers when they can expect to be picked up. (FT)

Bucks for anti-Starbucks

Blue Bottle Coffee, the California-based coffee retailer and roaster, has closed a new $70m round of funding led by Fidelity, the fund manager. Known for its small-scale, artisanal cafes, Blue Bottle is seen by some as the antithesis of Starbucks. (FT)

From snow to clay

First it was the gluten-free diet. Then, sitting in an egg-shaped pressure chamber. There might be many secrets to Novak Djokovic’s success on the tennis court, but the new one to add to the list is skiing. (WSJ)

Video of the day

Reasons to pick European stocks

Despite this week’s volatility in European bonds, there is still reason to prefer European over US equities. HSBC global equity strategist Ben Laidlermakes the case to John Authers. (FT)

Video of the day:

Reasons to pick European stocks

Despite this week’s volatility in European bonds, there is still reason to prefer European over US equities. HSBC global equity strategist Ben Laidlermakes the case to John Authers. (FT)

This article is published in collaboration with The Financial Times. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: FirstFT is the Financial Times’ editors curated free daily email of the top global stories from the FT and the best of the rest of the web.

Image: Fake euro banknotes are seen in a block of ice symbolizing austerity measures, during a demonstration by trade unions and workers in central Brussels. REUTERS/Eric Vidal.