Nikkei falls hit by financials; Fed stimulus concern weighs

Fri Aug 16, 2013 7:14am BST
TOKYO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average fell
for a second day in thin trade on Friday as declines in insurers
and banks weighed after another batch of upbeat U.S. data added
to speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve may begin to trim
its stimulus soon.

The Nikkei dropped 0.8 percent to 13,650.11,
breaking below the bottom of the Ichimoku cloud of 14,179.23.
For the week, the Nikkei added 0.3 percent. The broader Topix
shed 0.8 percent to 1,142.65.

Morning All.

EUR Current Account 16.9B 21.2B 19.6B

EUR CPI y/y 1.6% 1.6% 1.6%

EUR Core CPI y/y 1.1% 1.1% 1.2%

EUR Trade Balance 14.9B 15.3B 14.6B

It looks like Greystone is off today, so in his absence :-

FTSE soft in midday trade, RSM Tenon shares dive

CAD Manufacturing Sales m/m -0.5% 0.5% 0.6%

CAD Foreign Securities Purchases -15.41B 7.77B 6.78B

USD Building Permits 0.94M 0.95M 0.92M

USD Housing Starts 0.90M 0.91M 0.85M

USD Prelim Nonfarm Productivity q/q 0.9% 0.5% 0.5%

USD Prelim Unit Labor Costs q/q 1.4% 1.4% -4.3%

USD Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment 80.0 85.6 85.1

FTSE up as miners, housebuilders gain, Tenon falls