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News Headlines:    U.S:  stocks managed to make gains with the Nasdaq reaching another 16-month high, as some buyers chose to enter the market on the back of better economic reports.

U.K: The FTSE 100 is set to open flat to slightly lower following a mixed Far East performance and negative U.S futures. British retail sales fell by less than expected in July suggesting that consumer demand is still holding up well.

WPP: the world's third-largest advertising company said North American markets had not only stabilised but had started to show growth again, although the UK market was still depressed. The company said its pre-tax profit was down almost five percent to 202.9 million pounds which was at the middle of market expectations.Scottish & Newcastle plans to whittle down bidders in the 2.3 billion pound sale of its pubs business after a bid deadline on Friday, sources said. They said S&N is expected to select two or three parties to go through to a final round of bidding, and plans to complete the sale in the autumn.Shell will wait for a new, "real" Iraqi government to take over before considering any oil activities there, Oil stocks could be supported after crude prices surged nearly three percent on Thursday following a gasoline supply shortage in the United States.

Bespak Plc British drug delivery systems maker said it had ended takeover talks having examined their initial proposalsGame Group said second-quarter profits were boosted by sales of high-margin new and pre-owned entertainment software.

Calendar All GMT	United Kingdom (F)inals (I)nterim	United States (Click Flag)	Europe & World
Fri 22nd	WPP (I) PBT 184m exp. Keller Group (I) PBT 32.4m exp.09.30 Q2 GDP q/q 0.3% exp.		10.00 June Current Account NSA
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