Good morning traders!

In the US Friday, the Dow rose 30 points to 15,658, the Nasdaq Composite added 14
points at 3,690 and the S&P500 gained 3 points at 1,710.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently down 114 points at 14,352 and the Hang Seng
ahead 36 points at 22,227.

WTI crude oil traded at $106.94 a barrel and Brent crude at $108.95.

Gold settled at $1,310 an ounce.

Happy Monday!

G.

FTSE100 virtually unchanged midday with banks in focus

Britain and France extend closures of Yemen embassies

SANAA | Mon Aug 5, 2013 3:18pm BST
(Reuters) - Britain and France extended the closure of their embassies in Yemen on Monday after a U.S. warning of a possible militant attack in the region, and the Arab state said it was stepping up security at ports and airports.

The U.S. State Department said at the weekend that 19 U.S. embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa would remain closed until Saturday "out of an abundance of caution". It said several would have been closed anyway for most of the week due to the Eid Muslim celebrations.

It had initially closed 21 U.S. diplomatic posts for the day on Sunday.

FTSE100 ends day modestly lower with the banks in focus