Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow jumped 169 points to 15,461, the Nasdaq Composite
rose 57 points to 3,578 and the S&P500 added 22 points at 1,675.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently up 42 points at 14,514 and the Hang Seng off
84 points at 21,354.

WTI crude oil traded at $104.51 a barrel and Brent crude at $107.73.

Gold settled at $1,284 an ounce.

Happy Friday!

G.

Record close for US shares after Fed reassurance

US shares closed at record levels after the US central bank indicated that its efforts to boost the economy would continue for now.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.1% higher at 15,460.92 and the broader S&P 500 added 1.3% to end at a new peak of 1,675.02.

Both measures surpassed previous record highs hit in late May.

U.S., China agree to restart investment treaty talks

WASHINGTON | Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:03am BST
(Reuters) - The United States and China agreed on Thursday to restart stalled negotiations on an investment treaty, with Beijing dropping previous efforts to protect certain sectors of its economy from the start.

The agreement to resume negotiations was welcomed by the U.S. business community as a major advance during annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue talks in Washington, which have often produced few agreements of substance.

Nikkei rises to 7-week high on Wall St gains; Fast Retailing tumbles

Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:10am BST
TOKYO, July 12 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
edged up to a seven-week closing high on Friday, buoyed by a
record finish on Wall Street but a sharp slide in heavyweight
Fast Retailing weighed on the broader market.

The benchmark Nikkei rose 0.2 percent to 14,506.25,
its highest close since May 24, while the broader Topix
advanced 0.6 percent to 1,201.99.

Fast Retailing tumbled 5.8 percent after the operator of the
Uniqlo fashion chain posted a disappointing operating profit for
the quarter ended on May 31 and kept its full-year earnings
guidance unchanged. The stock contributed 89 negative points to
the Nikkei and was the second-most traded on the main board by
turnover.

FTSE 100 moves modestly higher in early deals today

KEFI

Director's Buying

KEFI Minerals Plc, an AIM-quoted gold and copper exploration company with
projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is pleased to announce that following
the requisite approvals, Jeff Rayner, the Company's Managing Director has
subscribed for 1,000,000 ordinary shares (the "Subscription Shares") at a price
of 2.1p per ordinary share raising GBP21,000. This subscription is on the same
terms as the placing announced by the Company on 5 July 2013.

Following the subscription, Jeff Rayner will be interested in 2,533,333
ordinary shares representing 0.5 per cent of the issued share capital following
admission of the Subscription Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission").

PFD

run away train today

EUR Industrial Production m/m -0.3% -0.2% 0.4%

GBP CB Leading Index m/m 0.4% 0.2%

FTSE100 adds to early gains by midday as insurers improve

USD PPI m/m 0.8% 0.5% 0.5%

USD Core PPI m/m 0.2% 0.2% 0.1%

USD Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment 83.9 85.3 84.1

USD Prelim UoM Inflation Expectations 3.3% 3.1% 3.2%

AMO

looking strong ahead of results next monday

FTSE100 ends the day little changed, with miners a drag

Have a great weekend all!

G.