8:15AM Medtronic agreed to buy Kyphon for $3.9 billion.

Medical technology group Medtronic Inc. (MDT: chart) announced on Friday an agreement to buy Kyphon Inc. (KYPH: chart) for $3.9 billion, or $71 a share. The transaction represents a 32% premium to Kyphon''s closing price of $53.68 on Thursday. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008. It is not expected to contribute to earnings in the first full year after the deal and provide a boost to the bottom line after that.

The acquisition is expected to boost the growth of Medtronic''s existing spinal business and enable it to provide physicians with a broader range of therapies, the company said. Separately Kyphon, a developer of medical devices to restore and preserve spinal function, said it earned 23 cents-a-share in Q2, up from 21 cents-a-share a year earlier.


7:00AM New York, 8:00PM Tokyo – Tokyo declines mirroring losses in Europe and the U.S.

Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo dropped 2.36% or 418.28 to 17,283.81 and Topix fell 37.47 or 2.33% to close at 1,699.71. For the week Nikkei lost 4.8% and curtailed its gain for the year to 0.3% and Topix dropped 4.3% and limiting its rise for the year to 1.1%.

The unwinding of carry trade in the region and a decline in the U.S. and European markets dominated the trading sentiment in Tokyo. The stocks fell at the opening and continued to trade lower in the session.

Decliners

Fujitsu plunged 6% to 789 yen after reporting a net loss of 14.8 billion yen. The company reported its first loss after nine quarterly profits in a row.

Canon plunged 5.5% to 6,510 yen, Nintendo lost 6.2% to 58,000 yen, and automakers fell as well in the sell-off. Toyota Motor dropped 1.8% and Honda Motor lost 2.5%. Daihatsu, Nissan and other makers fell as well.

Trading companies, oil refiners, and mining companies fell for the second day in a row after surging year to date. The largest oil refiner Nippon Oil lost 6.4% to 1,047 yen and largest oil explorer Inpex declined 3.2% to 1.2 million yen.

Retailers fell after reporting a surprise sales decline in June. Seven & I Holdings dropped 1.2% to 3,390 yen, supermarket operator Aeon Co. lost 4.6% to 1,917 yen, and Seiyu Limited declined 1.5% to 129 yen.

Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry reported that retail sales in June fell 0.4% from a year ago. Sales at large retailers were up 0.9% and wholesales sales were up 5.3%

Metals and oil trading companies dropped for the second day in a row. Sumitomo Mining, Marubeni, Mitsui Mining declined more than 2%. Nippon Steel was dragged in the sell off as well. Shipping companies repeated the losses of more than 2.2% for the second day in a row.

Gainers

Toyota group of companies saw their stocks rise on a day of sell-off. Hino Motors gained 1.3% to 791 yen after reporting a sharp rise in earnings on overseas sales. Toyota Tsusho, trading company in the group rose 4% to 3,130 yen after reporting earnings gain.