Hello traders!

In the US tonight, after a choppy session featuring strong earnings from Texas Instruments and Lockheed Martin, an earnings miss from DuPont, and a decline in monthly consumer confidence, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 16.7 points at 10,579. The S&P500 ended up 2.13 points at 1,229 and the Nasdaq Composite up 9.25 points at 2,175.

Crude oil futures closed up 20 cents at $59.20 a barrel.

See you in the morning with the latest....

G.

Good morning traders!

Asian bourses are largely positive this morning with the Nikkei recently trading up over 100 points at 11,839.32 and the Hang Seng ending the morning ahead 9.16 points at 14,779.09.

Oil prices were lower amid expectations the weekly US inventories report due out in later in the day will show another rise in distillate stocks. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, was at $58.85 a barrel, down 35 cents from its close of $59.20 in US trading overnight.

Off to find some UK news.....

Happy trading!

G.

AFX UK at a glance share guide - 2

MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,256.2, down 14.5
FTSE 250 7,493.3, down 5.6
DJIA 10,579.77, down 16.71
Nasdaq Comp 2,175.99, up 9.25
S&P 500 1,231.16, up 2.13
Tokyo: Nikkei at midday 225 11,831.31, up 93.35
Hang Seng at miday 14,779.09, up 9.16 (midday)
Gold 424.3 usd (425.90)
Oil - Brent Sept 58.03 usd (57.86)

BREAKING NEWS
* Oracle eyes Citigroup's stake in I-Flex - the FT
* Qinetiq sends letters to banks to solicit interest in leading a 1.1 bln stg public offering that could come as early as November - The FT
* General Motors to sell up to 55 bln usd of car finance loans to Bank of America in a move to secure its liquidity - The Guardian
* Unions representing workers at O2 squaring up for a fight at the AGM today, accusing senior management of awarding themselves "fat cat" salaries - The Guardian
* Investors fail to claim 8 bln usd class action cash - The Times
* FBI investigates death threat in battle to block NYSE merger - The Times


PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on REUTERS (Evolution rather than revolution is always a tough sell, since the costs are apparent, but the benefits less certain), CADBURY SCHWEPPES (Its shares have shown little exuberance in recent months. That is starting to look a touch ungenerous), China's Currency Regime (A priority will be to avoid a one-way bet for speculators who believe that the currency will appreciate further. In effect, this means China will have to intervene more to control the new crawling rate than it did to protect the abandoned peg), BBVA (There remains a slight sense of unease that the most material growth story is its Spanish asset base but not its Spanish profits)

Express
SHARE WHISPER: ENTERTAINMENT RIGHTS (its under-exploited portfolio of children's characters and brands, its high-quality broadcast partners and prospects for US expansion makes it a buy), WHO'S DEALING: PLAYGOLF HOLDINGS (Operations director Chris Meadows who has resigned, sold 1.64 mln shares at 15-1/2p)

Mail
Market Report: EXEL (punters are adamant that a 1050 pence per share bid will materialise next week)

Times
TEMPUS: REUTERS (Hold, and consider buying on weakness), COOKSON (One one for the brave-hearted), SOMERFIELD (With the mood on the high street still gloomy, the upside of a bid looks likely to be less than many initially hoped)

Telegraph
QUESTOR: CADBURY (Nothing worth getting your teeth into here), JARDINE LLOYD THOMPSON (Avoid), COOKSON (not one for the risk averse, but a speculative buy)

Guardian
Market Report: CHARTER (federal court in Cleveland allowed lawyers acting for about 4,500 US workers to argue that manganese welding fumes cause Parkinson's disease) EBT (one of China's leading mobile phone retailers is planning to reverse into the Aim-listed shell firm Trading Exchange)

Independent
Market Report: VICORP (talk that group is considering a move up to AIM in autumn), BRIGHT THINGS (talk of a distribution deal in the US), EMPIRE ONLINE (rumours of takeover from PARTYGAMING), THE INVESTMENT COLUMN: CADBURY (Still a solid hold), JARDINE LLOYD (sell), COOKSON (Wait)

Morning all.

Morning all