Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow rose 14 points to 15,556, the Nasdaq added 25 points at
3,605 and the S&P500 gained 4 points at 1,690.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently down 340 points at 14,223 and the Hang Seng
up 9 points at 21,910.

WTI crude oil traded at $105.49 a barrel and Brent crude at $107.65.

Gold settled at $1,329 an ounce.

Happy Friday!

G.

What's Moving Pre-Market

Tech stocks kept afloat by Facebook

Jul 25 4:41pm:
Tech stocks pushed the Nasdaq higher for the second day in a row Thursday, as the broader market wavered. More

Samsung to invest in chips, panels as smartphone outlook dims

SEOUL | Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:25am BST
(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd announced a $1 billion increase in investment on Friday, hoping a strong recovery in semiconductors will make up for weakening smartphone growth as it faces mounting pressure to produce eye-catching new gadgets.

The high-end smartphone market, which Samsung dominates along with Apple Inc, is slowing and the South Korean giant is struggling to convince investors it can crack the rapidly growing low-end segment, where its rivals include China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp.


Samsung on Friday reported a 47.5 percent rise in April-June operating profit of a record 9.53 trillion won ($8.54 billion), in line with its estimate.

German Import Prices m/m -0.8% 0.4% -0.4%

Nikkei sinks to near 3-week low on firmer yen, snaps 5-week winning streak

Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:15am BST
TOKYO, July 26 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average slid
3 percent to a near three-week low on Friday, with blue-chip
exporters and financials leading declines on the back of a
stronger yen and profit-taking.

The Nikkei closed down 432.95 points at 14,129.98
after dropping as low as 14,114.52 earlier, its lowest level
since July 8. The benchmark shed 3.2 percent on the week,
snapping a five-week winning streak.

The broader Topix shed 2.9 percent to 1,167.06, with
investors taking profits ahead of the peak of the corporate
earnings season. All of its 33 sub-sectors finished the day in
negative territory.

FTSE100 slightly lower midday after mixed earnings news

U.S. HOT STOCK FUTURES: HOT STOCKS TO WATCH

Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Friday's session are Zynga Inc. (ZNGA), Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) and Expedia Inc. (EXPE).

more..

Stocks: Investors wary of placing big bets

Jul 26 8:21am:
Investors once again appeared wary of placing any big bets Friday. More..

USD Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment 85.1 84.0 83.9

FTSE100 ends with solid losses as earnings fail to inspire

Have a great weekend all!

G.