Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow fell 48 points to 15,471, the Nasdaq lost 12 points at
3,654 and the S&P500 shed 6 points at 1,691.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently up 155 points at 13,980 and the Hang Seng
ahead 166 points at 21,755.

WTI crude oil traded at $104.37 a barrel and Brent crude at $107.44.

Gold settled at $1,286 an ounce.

Good hunting!

G.

Bloomberg Top Headlines

Marketwatch

CNY Trade Balance 17.8B 26.2B 27.1B


Asian stocks perk up on China data, Aussie jumps

SYDNEY | Thu Aug 8, 2013 5:24am BST
(Reuters) - Asian stocks rebounded and investors snapped up the Australian dollar after trade data out of China far exceeded expectations on Thursday, helping cheer markets worried about slower growth in Asia's economic powerhouse.

Copper scaled a seven-week peak after exports from China, a top metals consumer, rose 5.1 percent in July from a year ago and imports jumped 10.9 percent, a solid turnaround from unexpected falls in June.

Nikkei falls on futures-led selling; trade choppy before options settlement

Thu Aug 8, 2013 7:11am BST
TOKYO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average fell
in choppy trade on Thursday ahead of the settlement of the
Nikkei options August contract on Friday, with
investors reluctant to take on large positions amid a lack of
fresh trading leads.

The benchmark Nikkei dropped 1.6 percent to
13,605.56 points, after going as high as 14,031.14 on
short-covering earlier, and the broader Topix shed 1.4
percent to 1,139.59 in thin trade.

Investors largely shrugged off the Bank of Japan's decision
to keep monetary policy steady, which was widely expected. The
central bank also held off on revising up its assessment of the
economy.

UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Aug. 8

Aug 8 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening 25 to 26 points higher, or as much as 0.3 percent, according to financial bookmakers after forecast-beating Chinese trade data reassured investors over growth in the world's second-biggest economy. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on

* The UK blue chip index closed 1.4 percent weaker at 6,511.21 points, the lowest since July 11, led by a sharp drop in TUI Travel, the world's top tour operator.

Morning All.

FTSE100 sits comfortably higher in midday trade

USD Unemployment Claims 333K 336K 326K

FTSE100 ends day modestly higher as the miners rally