Japan government upgrades economy view, says deflation easing

TOKYO | Tue Jul 23, 2013 4:08am BST
(Reuters) - Japan's government upgraded its view on the economy for a third straight month in July, saying deflation was easing and growth was picking up due to its policies of aggressive monetary stimulus and generous state spending.

That outlook, which is in line with the Bank of Japan's view, is a boost for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who vowed to stay focused on reviving the economy after his coalition won a strong victory in Sunday's upper house election.

Morning All, big week for beverage Co.'s this week results wise.

European Factors to Watch-Shares to gain, focus on earnings

Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:39am BST

LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - European shares were set to open higher on
Tuesday, tracking gains in Asia, with expectations that more company results
will surprise on the upside improving investors' sentiment.

Asian stocks were helped by stronger Chinese shares as sentiment improved
following reports the government would use railway projects to help cut gluts in
construction materials, and that the country would not allow economic growth to
fall below 7 percent.

Investors will keep a close eye on company earnings for hints about the
market's near-term direction. Major European and U.S. companies scheduled to
publish their earnings reports later in the session included Dutch telecoms
group KPN and U.S. tech giant Apple.

First-half net profit of Swatch Group, the world's biggest
watchmaker, rose more than expected on Tuesday, while Norwegian telecoms group
Telenor reported second quarter earnings slightly ahead of
expectations.

Financial spreadbetters predicted Britain's FTSE 100 to open 16 to
17 points higher, or as much as 0.3 percent, Germany's DAX to gain 23
to 29 points, or as much as 0.4 percent, and France's CAC 40 to rise 12
to 13 points, or as much as 0.3 percent.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended 0.1 percent higher at
1,210.70 points on Monday, after hitting an intra-day high of 1,213.24, the
highest since early June.

Nikkei gains for 2nd day in row led by large caps; steel sector shines

Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:11am BST
TOKYO, July 23 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose for
the second straight day on Tuesday in volatile trade, with
traders citing opportunistic buying in index heavy-weights such
as SoftBank Corp and Sony Corp.

he steel sector also benefited from a media report citing
price hike in steel products, sending the benchmark Nikkei
up 0.8 percent to 14,778.51 after falling as low as
14,549.06 in early trade. The Topix added 0.5 percent to
1,222.72.

FTSE100 firmly higher in early deals as the miners thrive

GBP BBA Mortgage Approvals 37.3K 38.5K 36.1K

VW says Bentley to build SUV in UK, create over 1,000 jobs

BERLIN | Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:33am BST
(Reuters) - Bentley Motors, Volkswagen's ultra-luxury division, will build its first sport-utility vehicle in the United Kingdom and create over 1,000 jobs in the country, VW said on Tuesday.

Bentley will invest over 800 million pounds over the next three years at its U.K. headquarters and the development of new models, VW said. Sales of the planned SUV will start in 2016.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Christoph Steitz)

FTSE100 ahead in midday trade, although off earlier highs

CAD Core Retail Sales m/m 1.2% 0.1% -0.3%

CAD Retail Sales m/m 1.9% 0.4% 0.1%

USD Richmond Manufacturing Index -11 7 8

EUR Consumer Confidence -17 -18 -19

FTSE100 gives up early gains to end session modestly lower