Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow shed 24 points at 15,891, the Nasdaq was flat at 4,038
and the S&P500 fell 2 points to 1,793.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently down 130 points at 15,278 and the Hang Seng
off 102 points at 23,626.

WTI crude oil traded at $97.20 a barrel and Brent crude at $111.88.

Gold settled at $1,248 an ounce.

Good hunting!

G.

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FTSE / DOW

Morning All.

Morning All, prawn sarnie anyone :O)

No ta! :-)

FTSE on the 200ma - it has fallen below it - albeit temporarily, on the last 2 tests.

Opening Market Overview

Osborne to declare austerity push is paying off

(Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne is set to announce a turning point in his battle to fix the country's public finances on Thursday, but falling living standards mean he cannot declare victory.

A sudden pickup in economic growth means Osborne's goal of fixing Britain's finances is no longer out of reach and he is set to announce the first big fall in projected public borrowing since the coalition took power in 2010 when he delivers a half-yearly update on the budget.

But with Britons due to go back to the polls in 17 months' time, he is also under pressure to help their personal finances.

FTSE100 unchanged midday as investors digest budget news

CAD Building Permits m/m 7.4% 1.2% 1.7%

USD Prelim GDP q/q 3.6% 3.0% 2.8%

USD Unemployment Claims 298K 328K 316K

CAD Ivey PMI 53.7 59.0 62.8

USD Factory Orders m/m -0.9% -0.9% 1.7%

6,500 :-

End-of-day Market Overview