Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow rose 97 points to 14,931, the Nasdaq added 36 points at
3,649 and the S&P500 gained 13 points at 1,653.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently flat at 14,054 and the Hang Seng ahead 274
points at 22,600.

WTI crude oil traded at $107.23 a barrel and Brent crude at $114.91.

Gold settled at $1,389 an ounce.

Good hunting!

G.

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FTSE Futures Chart

European Factors to Watch-Shares seen up; G20 and Syria in focus

Thu Sep 5, 2013 6:19am BST
LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - European stocks are seen opening up on Thursday,
helped by growing signs of a global economic recovery, although worries over
conflict in Syria and fewer stimulus measures from the U.S. Federal Reserve in
future may curb those gains.

Financial spreadbetters expect Britain's FTSE 100 to open 15 to 18
points higher, or as much as 0.3 percent.

Germany's DAX is expected to open 20 to 28 points higher, or up by
as much as 0.3 percent, while France's CAC 40 to open 7 to 9 points
higher, or up by as much as 0.2 percent.

Increasing signs of an economic recovery in Europe have led several
strategists to raise their ratings on European shares, with Citi and UBS this
week both upgrading the region.

"European equities are set to open marginally higher as the bulls run up a
head of steam," Capital Spreads dealer William Nicholls said.

However, concerns that the Fed may soon to start to scale back economic
stimulus measures that have driven much of this year's global equity rally have
kept stock markets in check over the past month.

A possible U.S.-led military strike on Syria has also created unease in
financial markets, with talks on how to deal with Syria's civil war likely to
dominate the G20 meeting in Russia on Thursday of the world's major nations.

The Bank of Japan on Thursday maintained a monetary stimulus programme
launched in April. The European Central Bank (ECB) meets later in the day, with
the ECB widely seen keeping rates low for an "extended period".

Nikkei ekes out slim gains; U.S. payrolls, Olympics-bid decision eyed

Thu Sep 5, 2013 7:19am BST
TOKYO, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average edged
up for a fourth day in choppy trade on Thursday as investors
awaited key events this week, including U.S. jobs data and a
decision on Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, while
the auto sector outperformed on the back of strong U.S. auto
sales.

The benchmark Nikkei added 0.1 percent to 14,064.82.
It rose to a new four-week high of 14,156.50 earlier before
briefly dipping into negative territory.

The broader Topix gained 0.l percent to 1,157.84.

U.S. payroll data for August is due out on Friday and on
Saturday, a final decision on which city will host the 2020
Summer Olympics is expected.

FTSE100 firmly higher in early deals with easyJet the leader

Third bailout for Greece realistic - Eurogroup head

BRUSSELS | Thu Sep 5, 2013 8:45am BST
(Reuters) - Greece's financial troubles will not end in 2014 and it is therefore realistic to expect the debt-laden country will need additional money from the euro zone before it can return to markets, the head of euro zone finance ministers said.

International lenders estimate that Greece will need around 10-11 billion euros from the second half of 2014 to keep it going next year and in 2015.

But several euro zone governments are reluctant to extend any further loans because of negative public opinion, with voters tired of bailing out other countries after three years of the sovereign debt crisis.

Spanish 10-y Bond Auction 4.50|2.0 4.72|2.3

French 10-y Bond Auction 2.57|1.9 2.32|1.7

German Factory Orders m/m -2.7% -0.7% 3.6%

GBP Asset Purchase Facility 375B 375B 375B

GBP Official Bank Rate 0.50% 0.50% 0.50%

FTSE100 firmly higher at midday, with M&S in fashion

EUR Minimum Bid Rate 0.50% 0.50% 0.50%

USD ADP Non-Farm Employment Change 176K 175K 198K

USD Unemployment Claims 323K 332K 331K

USD Revised Nonfarm Productivity q/q 2.3% 1.6% 0.9%

USD Revised Unit Labor Costs q/q 0.0% 0.9% 1.4%

USD ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI 58.6 55.2 56.0

USD Factory Orders m/m -2.4% -3.4% 1.6%

Exclusive: Defecting Assad ally reaches Istanbul - sources

(Reuters) - Bashar al-Assad's former defence minister has reached Istanbul after a defection that betrays cracks in the president's support among his own Alawite sect, opposition and diplomatic sources said on Thursday.

Dismissing a cursory Syrian state television denial of the first Reuters report that General Ali Habib had been spirited across the Turkish frontier this week, opposition figures said Habib was likely to keep a low profile after evading house arrest and reaching Turkey with the aid of Western agents.

FTSE100 ends a positive session with solid gains