UNITED KINGDOM

With yesterdays Australian unemployment rate coming in on expectations and unchanged at 5.8% local investors took the opportunity to take profit on long AUD positions. Casting some doubt over the figures was the change in seasonally adjusted estimate of full time employment decreased by almost 31k jobs prompting a move lower in the AUD/USD which was trading around 0.8630 at the time of the release.

General Motors agreed to sell a 55 percent stake in Opel to a group led by Canada's Magna after months of fraught negotiations that had weighed on the European unit and its 50,000 workers.

The European Union outlined a scaled-back offer to help poor nations combat global warming on Thursday as some nations expressed gloom about prospects of a new U.N. climate deal in Copenhagen in December.

Motorola Inc unveiled on Thursday a new cellphone that uses Google software and features easier access to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, but some analysts said it might not be enough to turn around the company's money-losing handset business.

The Beatles look set to dominate Britain's pop charts once again this week with the Fab Four predicted to take five of the top 20 album places, the Official Charts Company said Thursday.

U.S. carmaker General Motors has decided to sell Opel to a group led by Canadian car parts maker Magna, signaling an end to months of uncertainty for the European unit and its 50,000 workers.

Executives from U.S. specialty truck maker Oshkosh Corp said on Thursday the company's 2010 outlook had been improved by the string of recent Pentagon contract awards.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.S. President Barack Obama will speak on Thursday for the first time since Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi's release and will discuss the global economy and Afghanistan.

The Bank of England left interest rates at a record low of 0.5 percent for the sixth month running on Thursday and said it would keep its 175 billion pound asset buying programme in place.

Chinese carmakers are venturing on to the global stage with bids for Western brands from Volvo and Hummer to Saab, but there are doubts these inexperienced firms can manage the transformation such deals would bring.

Britain, South Korea and New Zealand left interest rates at record lows on Thursday, with Canada expected to follow suit, but in Asia at least there were signs that thoughts are turning to tighter policy.

A wave of Beatlemania struck Britain's streets as a specially remastered edition of the Fab Four's albums was released on Wednesday, complete with an interactive video game for a new generation of fans.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers a year ago has been likened to the 1994 crash that killed Formula One star Ayrton Senna, in the way it has spurred calls for root-and-branch review of risk in the financial sector.

Home Retail Group, Britain's biggest household goods retailer, on Thursday posted better-than-expected second-quarter sales at both its Argos and Homebase businesses.

Meat-packaging firm Hilton Food Group Plc posted a 7 percent rise in first-half pretax profit, aided by strong volume growth and positive impact from foreign currency translation, and said it expected to meet its forecasts for financial year 2009.

Britain's Wm Morrison Supermarkets met forecasts with a 22 percent rise in first-half profit and boosted its dividend, even as it forecast second-half growth would slow as food price inflation eases.

The Aussie dollar faltered at attempts to reach 87 cents in local trade yesterday running into some strong intraday selling around 0.8650 following worse than expected economic data.

The Aussie dollar faltered at attempts to reach 87 cents in local trade yesterday running into some strong intraday selling around 0.8650 following worse than expected economic data. With Retail Sales dropping 1% in July, Home Loans and Investment lending also falling the AUD traded below 86 cents to finally find support at 0.8565 during European trading. Risk sentiment once again improved in U.S trade following the Federal Reserve Banks Beige Book report taking the Australian dollar back above ...

The UK's deficit on trade in goods and services was £2.4 billion in July, unchanged from June, originally published as a deficit of £2.2 billion.

Whether 9/9/09 is deemed lucky or a day to avoid, the rarity of Wednesday's date has inspired loving couples, restaurants and even a movie studio to mark the occasion across the globe.

The United States' and Britain's triple-A sovereign debt ratings are safe for now but both countries will need to severely adjust fiscal policies in the wake of the global financial crisis, Moody's Investors Service said in a statement released late on Tuesday.