Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow rose 49 points to 14,825, the Nasdaq added 14 points at
3,593 and the S&P500 was up 5 points at 1,635.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently up 82 points at 13,420 and the Hang Seng
ahead 111 points at 21,636.

WTI crude oil traded at $110.10 a barrel and Brent crude at $116.61.

Gold settled at $1,419 an ounce.

Good hunting!

G.

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4,000 ‘bad’ and ‘old-fashioned’ pubs may close

European Factors to Watch-Shares to dip as Syrian crisis saps appetite

Thu Aug 29, 2013 6:23am BST
LONDON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - European stocks are seen opening slightly lower
on Thursday, extending losses into a fourth day as uncertainty surrounding
possible military action against Syria and its impact on the Middle East keeps
buyers on the sidelines.

Financial spreadbetters expect Britain's FTSE 100 to open 3 to 6
points lower, or as much as 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX to open 12 to 18
points lower, or as much as 0.2 percent, and France's CAC 40 to open 2
to 7 points lower, or as much as 0.2 percent.

U.S. President Barack Obama made the case on Wednesday for a limited
military strike against Syria in response to last week's chemical weapons
attack, but he faced obstacles with British allies and U.S. lawmakers that could
delay any imminent action.

The euro zone Euro STOXX 50 index has fallen 4 percent in the
past two weeks, weighed down by expectations of a dialling back in U.S. monetary
stimulus, political tensions in Italy and escalating tensions in the Middle
East, which have boosted oil prices this week.

"The threat of the (stimulus) taper, Syria and soaring energy costs...have
all combined to put huge amounts of uncertainty into the heads of traders at the
moment," Jonathan Sudaria, a dealer at Capital Spreads, said in a trading note.

"With so much uncertainty hang over markets at the moment, it's only the
most optimistic rose-tinted-glasses-wearing bulls that are getting long at the
moment."

Among single stocks, Vodafone Group was likely to be in focus on a
report the British-listed telecoms heavyweight is in advanced talks to sell its
stake in a U.S. joint venture to local partner Verizon Communications for
about $130 billion.

Nikkei snaps 3-day losing streak as Syria, emerging market concerns abate

TOKYO | Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:19am BST
Aug 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Thursday, snapping a three-day losing streak led by gains in oil shares, while fears abated that U.S.-led forces would soon launch a military strike on the Syrian government.

The bounce in stocks and emerging market currencies also calmed investors' worries, traders said.

The benchmark Nikkei rose 0.9 percent to 13,459.71, while the broader Topix added 0.2 percent to 1,116.51.

German Unemployment Change 7K -5K -7K

FTSE100 firmly higher at midday with Vodafone leading

CAD Current Account -14.6B -14.9B -14.1B

CAD RMPI m/m 4.2% 1.2% 0.3%

CAD IPPI m/m 0.3% 0.4% 0.3%

USD Prelim GDP q/q 2.5% 2.2% 1.7%

USD Unemployment Claims 331K 330K 336K

USD Prelim GDP Price Index q/q 0.8% 0.7% 0.7%

FTSE100 ends day with solid gains as Syria concerns ease