UNITED KINGDOM

An increase in the Australian Conference Board leading index from 0.1% to 0.3% during the month of May added some underlying support to the Aussie dollar in Asia yesterday as it held firm above the 90 cent handle etching out gains to enter offshore exchange at 0.9025.

BP Plc said the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department had launched a probe into market trading connected to the oil giant's Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BP Plc's ousted chief executive, Tony Hayward, will not testify to a Senate committee examining whether the oil giant influenced the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Senator Robert Menendez said on Tuesday.

Broadband services are getting faster in Britain but the gap is growing between advertised speeds and actual download rates, telecoms regulator Ofcom said on Tuesday.

The euro hovered close to a two-month peak against the dollar on Tuesday, retaining support after last week's European bank stress tests revealed no horrors while increased demand for riskier assets weighed on the dollar.

BP Plc is expected to install an American known for diplomacy as chief executive, replacing Tony Hayward who has come under fire for his gaffe-prone handling of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Biotechnology company Genzyme Corp is weighing an informal takeover approach from France's Sanofi-Aventis but is not looking to sell the company, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday.

The Aussie dollar held on to support around 0.8940 during the Asian session despite a lower than expected second quarter Producer Price Index or PPI as its referred to.

Of two potential suitors for biotech Genzyme , industry insiders say Sanofi-Aventis is a far more likely buyer than GlaxoSmithKline , which already has a presence in rare diseases.

Daily foreign exchange trading turnover in London, Tokyo and New York soared in the latest year, bouncing back sharply from a crisis-induced decline, data released on Monday showed. Average daily volume in Britain jumped to $1.747 trillion in the year to April 2010, up 31 percent, the Bank of England said. It rose 15 percent compared with volume in October 2009.

A brighter outlook from FedEx Corp and a pickup in sales of new homes sent U.S. stocks higher on Monday, building on the best three-week period for the S&P 500 Index in a year.

Educated people are better able to cope with the physical effects of dementia, and even one extra year of education can significantly cut the risk of developing the brain-wasting disease, scientists said on Monday.

Apple Inc said on Monday its popular iPhone 4 model will go on sale in an additional 17 countries on Friday, July 30.

Stocks were set for a higher open on Monday after FedEx Corp raised its earnings outlook and ahead of data on new home sales.

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Monday ahead of data on new home sales, following the best three-week period on the S&P 500 Index in almost a year.

Stock index futures were little changed on Monday ahead of data on new home sales, following the best three-week period on the S&P 500 Index in almost a year.

Robust U.S. company earnings and surprisingly vigorous euro zone economic data generally trumped investor skepticism about European bank stress tests on Monday to lift global stocks and bolster the euro against the dollar

Robust U.S. company earnings and surprisingly vigorous euro zone economic data generally trumped investor skepticism about European bank stress tests on Monday to lift global stocks and bolster the euro against the dollar

Investors took some reassurance that European banks had passed stress tests on their ability to deal with a debt crisis, prompting European stock futures prices to rise on Monday.

The euro edged up and Asian shares rose on Monday as solid U.S. corporate earnings and surprisingly strong euro zone data offset growing skepticism that stress tests on European banks were not strict enough.

Despite the uncertainty facing the European banking system the AUD/USD remained range bound on Friday bouncing between 0.8900 and 0.8970 for the majority of the Asian and offshore trading sessions.