US shares remained in negative territory following mixed economic news and nervousness ahead of the Fed's policy-setting meeting on Tuesday. There is not much chance of a change in rates but there is anticipation about what the central bank has to say about the health of the economy.

UK shares are expected to open slightly lower after a weaker finish on Wall Street, with business seen slack ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates. House prices in Britain rose last month for the first time since January, reflecting a steady recovery in demand since the Iraq war, a key survey showed on Tuesday.

TESCO The UK's Britain's biggest supermarket chain revealed a 21.3 percent jump in half year profits on Tuesday, ahead of forecasts, as it continues to outperform rivals. 6 Months profits were 661 million pounds in the 24 weeks to August 9. with group sales growing by17 percent. UK like-for-like sales, a measure of how well a company is expanding its existing business, rose 6.3 percent. That compares with growth of 5.8 percent in the first quarter, smashing its own long-term 3-4 percent target. Dividends increased by 10%

Redrow Group housebuilder posted a 25 percent surge in profits for the year as cheap mortgages and a chronic housing shortage in parts of the country continued to boost demand. Profits came in at 106.1 million pounds higher than analysts forecasts of 103.2 million pounds.

Cobham aerospace and defence engineer posted a 7.9 percent rise in profit and announced two more small bolt-on acquisitions and an order for missile countermeasures. The company said underlying pre-tax profit was 54.7 million pounds for the six months to the end of June, a touch below forecasts. But earnings per share met analysts' forecasts.French Connection fashion stores behind the FCUK slogan, said it had made a good start to its second half and that it expected this performance to continue through the year. Sales rose three percent in the first six weeks of its second half. Like-for-like sales were up nine percent in North America. They reported a 33 percent jump in underlying pre-tax profits to 13.7 million pounds and raised its interim dividend 67 percent to five pence.

Enterprise Inns Britain's biggest pubs group said trading for the year to date was comfortably in line with its expectations, and it hoped to cut debt during the year.

BSkyB CEO may leave the company when his contract expires in May Safeway, A decision on the battle to takeover supermarket chain Safeway could be revealed next week, the Financial TimesWPP : Aegis The two UK advertisers have been invited to make presentations to Coca-Cola in October, as the beverage maker reviews its U.S. media planning and buying, with the goal of consolidating its business into one agency account, estimated to be worth $300 million.Canary Wharf: UK commercial rents have dipped 1.8 percent in the past 12 months and are down 8.1 percent, and still falling, in the office sector -- the steepest rates of decline since 1994,

K

United Kingdom  (F)inals (I)nterim	United States  (GMT)	Europe & World (GMT)
Tue 16th Sep Tesco PBT 624.7m exp.  Acambis (Q2), Axon Group (I), Cobham (I), Freeport (F), French Connection (I), Future Network (I),Georgica (I), Interserve (I), Oxford Biomedica (I), Paladin Resources (I), Redrow (F) 00.30 Aug RICS House Prices Survey 09.30 Aug RPI-X y/y 2.9% exp. 15.30 July Leading Indicator Index	General Mills (Q2), Pier 1 Imports (Q2) 13.30 Aug Consumer Price Index m/m 0.4% exp. 18.00 Sep NAHB Housing Market Index 70.0 exp. 19.15 FOMC Rate Announcement	10.00 Sep German ZEW Sentiment 58.5 exp. 11.00 July Industrial Production m/m 0.9% exp.
Good Trading!      david@FTSEDOW.com     www.FTSEDOW.com Pivot Calculator