Good morning traders!

The US ended a shortened pre-holiday session with the Dow up 57 points at 14,989,
the Nasdaq ahead 11 points at 3,444 and the S&P500 flat at 1,615.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently down 25 points at 14,030 and the Hang Seng
up 354 points at 20,501.

WTI crude oil traded at $101.18 a barrel and Brent crude at $105.76.

Gold settled at $1,256 an ounce.

Good hunting!

G.

Morning Fab Four!

Nikkei edges down in choppy trade; U.S. jobs data eyed

TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average edged
down in choppy trade on Thursday as investors turned cautious
ahead of U.S. jobs data on Friday that could offer fresh clues
on when the Federal Reserve will start scaling back its bond
buying programme.

Worries over political turmoil in Egypt and Portugal also
dampened sentiment.

The benchmark Nikkei slipped 0.3 percent to
14,018.93 on Thursday after moving in and out positive
territory. The broader Topix dropped 0.3 percent to
1,170.71 in thin trade, with only 2.4 billion shares changing
hands, marking the second lowest volume this year.

GBP Halifax HPI m/m 0.6% 0.4% 0.5%

Airline easyJet propels the FTSE 100 to firm early gains

GBP Asset Purchase Facility 375B 375B 375B

GBP Official Bank Rate 0.50% 0.50% 0.50%

End-of-day Market Overview