Gold
	S&P &Futures (Click for latest)	Pre Market Futures (7:30)
		FTSE	+17
		TechMark	-+5
		DAX	+12
Hang Seng +32	Nikkei +16.5	DOW	-13
		S&P	-1.2
		Nasdaq	-3.5

 

News Headlines:    US Markets close at 1 p.m. ET Thursday and will be closed Friday as well, due to the Fourth of July holiday. Volume is expected to be particularly light Thursday as many Wall Streeter's leave early to start the long weekend. Today buyers were again in charge after the market responded to a Microsoft upgrade and some solid economic news. KLM airline reported load figures worse than expected following the SARS outbreak.They said that passenger traffic was 9% lower in June on year. Somerfield: Gareth Jones, a former non-executive director was in talks with venture capitalists about mounting a bid for the British food retailer, the Times newspaper said on Thursday in an unsourced report. HSBC says it will axe 1,400 jobs in Britain to keep a tight rein on costs because of a subdued economic environment, but hoped to avoid compulsory redundancies Greene King:  said that in the year profit rose 8% to 75.0 million. The company has had a positive start to the new financial year, with all three divisions reporting increases on last year, The principal retail brands continue to perform strongly and the beer brands are continuing their volume and market share advances. Cookson: Electronics and ceramics engineer issues a trading update around 13:30. The firm in April said the "knock-on impact" on its markets from SARS and the Iraq war was uncertain. British Airways: Update due out lunchtime today so could fall with nervousness following the poor KLM numbers Arriva:announced that trading for the six month period ended 30 June 2003 has continued in line with expectations Cordiant: A mysterious woman purchased a two percent stake in the firm at a price well above the bid submitted by WPP Sage Group was supported by vague talk that it could be a takeover target and hopes for a recovery in the technology sector Wimpey & RMC, Very strong buyng on the 2 companies, keep your eyes on them! Calendar All GMT United Kingdom (F)inals (I)nterim United States (Click Flag) Europe & World Thu 3rd July Greene King (F) PBT 74.6m exp.Cookson Trading Statement British Airways Update Arriva Update 00.00 May BRC Shop Price index 09.30 May New Construction Orders 09.30 May CIPS Services PMI 52.3 exp. 13.30 June Non-Farm Payrolls 9k exp. 13.30 Initial Jobless Claims (w/e 28/06) 415k exp. 15.00 June Non-Manufacturing ISM 55.0 exp. 10.00 EMU April Retail Trade m/m 0.6% exp. Good Trading!   David@FTSEDOW.com    www.FTSEDOW.com            Pivot Calculator

Got em!
AFX-Focus) 2003-07-03 14:44 GMT: U.S. jobless rate hits 9-year of 6.4% - UPDATE 3

WASHINGTON (AFX) - The U.S. unemployment rate soared to a nine-year high of 6.4 percent in June as companies eliminated jobs for the fifth straight month, the Labor Department said Thursday. Non-farm payrolls fell by 30,000 in June after a downwardly revised 70,000 loss in May. May's job loss was estimated at 17,000 a month ago. The economy has lost 394,000 jobs since January and more than 2.5 million over the past two years. In June, 9.4 million Americans were on the streets looking for work, the most since December 1992. "The labor market remained sluggish in June," said Kathleen Utgoff, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report was much worse than expected. Wall Street economists had forecast that payrolls would fall about 3,000 and that the jobless rate would rise to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent in May. Bonds, which had been selling off earlier, rallied to unchanged on the day after the report. Stock futures extended losses. The Federal Reserve cut its overnight interest rate by a quarter point to 1 percent last week, a somewhat-conservative move that it justified by saying the labor market had stabilized. Many analysts on Wall Street had expected a more aggressive half-point cut to 0.75 percent to combat the weak economy. "This doesn't look like stabilization to us," said Drew Matus, economist at Lehman Brothers. But other economists weren't ready to throw in the towel on the recovery. The report "looks awful but will improve" later in the year, insisted Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. The weak jobs report, if confirmed by other tepid data, could pressure the Fed to cut rates again at its August or September meetings. Equity markets have rallied in the past three months, partly in anticipation of a turnaround in the sluggish economy. But analysts say the economy must now deliver numbers that justify higher stock prices. "Payrolls are not, and are unlikely to be for a while, the source of strength they are looking for," said Mat Johnson, chief economist at Quantit Economic Group. In a separate report, the Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits fell over the past four weeks to an average of 425,000 from 429,500 last week. The number of workers receiving state benefits, however, broached a 20-year high again in the latest data, rising to 3.74 million, plus the 850,000 receiving the extended federal unemployment checks. Despite the job losses in many sectors of the economy, total hours worked were unchanged in June. The average workweek was unchanged at 33.7 hours. In manufacturing, the average workweek was unchanged at 40.2 hours, including 4 hours of overtime. Average hourly wages rose 0.2 percent to $15.38. Wages are up 3 percent in the past 12 months. In June, goods-producing firms eliminated 40,000 jobs, including 56,000 in manufacturing, matching the pace of cuts over the past year. In the past three years, manufacturing industries have lost 2.6 million jobs. Construction jobs rose 16,000 in June, the fourth increase in a row. Services-producing industries added 10,000 jobs in June. Retail firms cut 13,000 jobs, but tourism and health services picked up workers. Temporary help services added 38,000 jobs in June after hiring 44,000 in May. The increase means that firms are meeting higher demand by hiring temps rather than permanent workers, a hopeful sign in an otherwise depressing report. "Permanent jobs should follow," said Shepherdson. This story was supplied by CBSMarketWatch. For further information see www.cbsmarketwatch.com.

Stan:
I did state GMT. Not BST

Best of luck

You sure did, sorry my mistake.

Regards Stan.