UNITED KINGDOM

Stock index futures rose on Friday, as another batch of solid corporate results, including Microsoft and Ford, along with positive economic data in Europe eased fears about the strength of a recovery.

Britain's economic recovery raced ahead from April to June as the biggest jump in construction in half a century and a surge in services propelled growth at its fastest pace in four years. Gross domestic product jumped 1.1 percent in the second quarter, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. That was almost twice the rate analysts expected and nearly four times the pace of growth in the first quarter.

Gold this week received a blow from some unexpected quarters. During the past few weeks, the driving force behind gold has been the Euro zone economic crisis. First it came from Greece then Portugal crisis helped the yellow metal gain and cross $1,200 per ounce mark and in a latest development, the Ireland financial woes boosted the gold prices.

Stock index futures rose on Friday, as another batch of solid corporate results, including Microsoft and Ford, along with positive economic data in Europe eased fears about the strength of a recovery.

Stock index futures rose on Friday, as another batch of solid corporate results, including Microsoft and Ford, along with positive economic data in Europe eased fears about the strength of a recovery.

Britain's economy grew almost twice as fast as expected in the second quarter of this year propelled by a sharp pick-up in services and the biggest rise in construction in almost 50 years.

Another strong data release boosted the euro on Friday when the German Ifo index came in above forecasts, but analysts said there were downside risks for the currency, even if bank stress test results were benign. Ifo said the German Business Climate Index for July was 106.2, beating a consensus for 101.6 and pushing the euro to a session high versus the dollar of $1.2967 EUR=.

Brazil's Green Party presidential candidate is hoping her use of social media will help boost her low poll numbers before October's election as she seeks to close the gap with the two front-runners.

Dividend payments by London-listed companies will fall 6.5 percent this year, mainly because BP suspended payouts after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Capita Registrars Dividend Monitor said.

After looking vulnerable to more downside in Asia yesterday the Aussie dollar found intraday support at 0.8735 going on to reverse its trajectory and rally during the European time-zone to retest what had been strong resistance around 0.8750.

It was a miserable winter day in January 2007, the kind that makes auto executives in the Motor City wonder why they hold the Detroit Auto Show at the most inhospitable time of the year.

Internet sales of counterfeit and pirated goods to European consumers are frustrating attempts to stem illegal trade, a European Commission report said on Thursday.

It was a miserable winter day in January 2007, the kind that makes auto executives in the Motor City wonder why they hold the Detroit Auto Show at the most inhospitable time of the year.

It was a miserable winter day in January 2007, the kind that makes auto executives in the Motor City wonder why they hold the Detroit Auto Show at the most inhospitable time of the year.

Wal-Mart , the world's top retailer, will be ready to open hundreds of stores in India if the country opens up the sector to foreign direct investment, the chief of its Indian joint venture said.

The U.S. dollar fell broadly on Thursday as better-than-forecast European economic data boosted equities and spurred appetite for risk, with a drop in U.S. lending rates putting additional pressure on the currency.

European officials appeared to be at odds on Thursday over whether to release stress test results earlier than planned and reveal banks' exposure to sovereign debt, in a last-minute struggle over how to regain confidence in the financial sector.

With the results of stress tests on 91 European banks looming, financial institutions have been coming up with their own scenarios of what to expect. How financial markets react to the results may well depend on the expectations currently being reached by analysts.

The Obama administration may report somewhat better fiscal news when it delivers its mid-session budget review later this week, but the United States still faces a massive deficit and rising debt. Higher corporate taxes and Wall Street's quick repayment of a taxpayer bailout could see the projected 2010 U.S. budget deficit fall a bit when the review is released on Friday.

The Australian Dollar opens lower against the greenback at 0.8780.

A U.S. judge on Wednesday released former media baron Conrad Black from prison on $2 million bond, while she decides whether to throw out his 2007 conviction for defrauding shareholders.