Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow rose 6 points to 14,937, the Nasdaq gained 10 points at
3,659 and the S&P500 added 2 points at 1,655.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently down 150 points at 13,914 and the Hang Seng
ahead 56 points at 22,654.

WTI crude oil traded at $108.37 a barrel and Brent crude at $115.26.

Gold settled at $1,373 an ounce.

Happy Friday!

G.

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Morning All,

What's this wet stuff then?

European Factors to Watch-Profit-taking seen before US jobs data

Fri Sep 6, 2013 6:19am BST
LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - European share prices, on track for their best
week in nearly two months, are seen vulnerable to some profit-taking on Friday
as investors adjust positions ahead of a key U.S. jobs data release which could
determine when the Federal Reserve starts winding down on its money printing
programme.

Financial spreadbetters expect Britain's FTSE 100 to open down 15 to
18 points, or as much as 0.2 percent and Germany's DAX to ease 8 to 10
points, or around 0.1 percent. France's CAC 40 is seen flat to 4 points
higher.

That should also push the FTSEurofirst 300 slightly lower, after a
rise of some 2.4 percent so far this week which has put the broad index on track
for its best weekly showing since mid-July.

The U.S. non-farm payrolls report at 1230 GMT will be scrutinised for clues
on whether the recovery is strong enough to allow the Federal Reserve to start
reducing its asset purchases stimulus programme as soon as this month.

The world's biggest economy is expected to have added 180,000 non-farm jobs
last month, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 7.4 percent.

Such a level of job growth is consistent with the EuroSTOXX 50 index
being around the 2,700 point level, according to Societe Generale's
long-term fair value models, which suggest the index is currently around 2.6
percent overvalued.

The Fed has indicated that it will likely end asset purchases when the
unemployment rate falls to 7 percent, and may start raising interest rates once
it gets down to 6.5 percent.

UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Sept. 6

LONDON, Sept 6 | Fri Sep 6, 2013 7:00am BST
(Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening 15 to 18 points lower, or as much as 0.2 percent, on Friday, according to financial bookmakers. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on

* The UK blue chip index ended 57.70 points, or 0.9 percent, higher at 6,532.44 on Thursday, posting its highest close since Aug. 15. The index is up this week after declines in the previous four weeks and is on track to record its best weekly gains in nearly two months.

* UK industrial and manufacturing output data for July is due at 0830 GMT. Industrial output is forecast to rise 0.1 percent month-on-month, while manufacturing output is seen 0.3 percent higher.

Nikkei falls on profit-taking in Olympics-related shares

Fri Sep 6, 2013 7:14am BST
TOKYO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average fell
on Friday, snapping a four-day winning streak, as investors
opted to book profits from a recent sharp rally in real estate
and construction firms as doubts emerged on Tokyo's chances of
winning its bid to stage the 2020 Summer Olympics.

The benchmark Nikkei dropped 1.5 percent to
13,860.81, after climbing 5.1 percent over the past four trading
days. The index was still up 3.5 percent on the week and has
gained 33 percent this year.

The broader Topix shed 0.9 percent to 1,147.82.
Trading was fairly light, with 2.24 billion shares changing
hands, as many investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of key
events, including U.S. jobs data and a decision on Tokyo's
Olympics bid this weekend.

German Trade Balance 14.5B 15.9B 15.8B

French Trade Balance -5.1B -4.5B -4.5B

GBP Halifax HPI m/m 0.4% 0.7% 0.9%

FTSE100 slightly lower in early trade as the miners retreat

GBP Manufacturing Production m/m 0.2% 0.3% 1.9%

GBP Consumer Inflation Expectations 3.2% 3.6%

GBP Trade Balance -9.9B -8.2B -8.1B

GBP Industrial Production m/m 0.0% 0.2% 1.1%

OXP
bounce from support

German Industrial Production m/m -1.7% -0.3% 2.4%

FTSE100 moves slightly lower in cautious midday trade

CAD Employment Change 59.2K 21.2K -39.4K

CAD Unemployment Rate 7.1% 7.2% 7.2%

CAD Labor Productivity q/q 0.5% 0.3% 0.2%

USD Non-Farm Employment Change 169K 178K 162K

USD Unemployment Rate 7.3% 7.4% 7.4%

USD Average Hourly Earnings m/m 0.2% 0.2% -0.1%

CAD Ivey PMI 51.0 52.6 48.4

FTSE100 ends modestly higher, shrugging off Syria woes

Hope you all have a great weekend.

G.