Business Blog Posts

LONDON Reuters Stock futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rise 0.3 to 0.7 percent, pointing to a firmer start on Wall Street on Wednesday.

Automatic Data Processing releases its August employment report at 1215 GMT 8:15 a.m. EDT. Economists in a Reuters survey expect 19,000 jobs were created in August versus 42,000 created in July.

The Institute for Supply Management releases at 1400 GMT 10 a.m. EDT its August manufacturing index. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 53.0 versus 55.5 in July.

Burger King Holdings Inc, the No. 2 U.S. hamburger chain, has been considering a possible sale and has held talks with potential buyers, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

Automakers are scheduled to release August vehicle sales numbers.

At 1100 GMT 7 a.m. EDT the Mortgage Bankers Association releases Weekly Mortgage Market Index for the week ended August 27. The mortgage market index read 870.3 and the refinancing index was 4,944.7 in the previous week.

Resource-related stocks will be in focus after crude oil rebounded by more than 0.8 percent to top $72 a barrel on Chinas manufacturing data. Key base metals also gained.

Apple Inc is expected to show off a snazzier line of iPods on Wednesday, as speculation mounts the consumer electronics giant may also unveil plans to reinvigorate its long-neglected TV project.

Sony Corp will launch a new music and video download service linking a range of its devices, in a challenge to Apples dominant position in the market, the Financial Times said on Wednesday.

Companies to announce results include ketchup maker H.J. Heinz, SAIC, a government technical services provider, and Brown-Forman, the maker of Jack Daniels whisky, Southern Comfort and Finlandia vodka.

Genzyme Corp Chief Executive Henri Termeer told Reuters he is willing to sell the company he built up over 25 years, but not for $69 a share.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc releases at 1130 GMT 7:30 a.m. EDT its report on job cuts for August. Challenger reported 41,676 layoffs in the prior month.

Sprint Nextels board of directors is debating whether to let a rival operator invest in its majority-owned wireless network provider Clearwire Corp, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Amazon.com Inc has approached media companies with a proposal for a subscription service that gives users unlimited access to some television shows and movies over the Internet in a bid to rival Netflix Inc, two people familiar with the talks said on Tuesday.

At 1400 GMT 10 a.m. EDT the Commerce Department releases July construction spending. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a fall of 0.5 percent, compared with a 0.1 percent rise in the prior month.

U.S. stocks ended little changed in choppy trading on Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 4.99 points, or 0.05 percent, to 10,014.72. The Standard & Poors 500 ticked up 0.41 point, or 0.04 percent, to 1,049.33. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.94 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 2,114.03.

Japans Nikkei average rose 1.2 percent after hitting a 16-month low on Wednesday, drawing support from a halt in the rapid advance in the yen on a manufacturing rebound in China and stronger-than-expected growth in Australia.

Chinas manufacturing sector regained some momentum in August while India and Russia continued to power ahead, cheering investors in the face of signs that sputtering U.S. recovery was cooling global demand.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.2 percent after briefly turning negative.

Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Michael Shields

SINGAPORE Reuters Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as investors cheered a manufacturing rebound in China and stronger-than-expected growth in Australia, while the yen inched up toward a 15-year peak against the dollar.

Asian stocks shrugged off a flat lead from Wall Street, reflecting belief that Asias economic recovery could hold up relatively well compared to the United States, which faces the possibility of a double-dip recession.

Chinas official purchasing managers index rose to 51.7 in August from a 17-month low of 51.2 in July, while Australias economy grew a stronger-than-expected 1.2 percent in the second quarter.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 1 percent .MIAPJ0000PUS, led by commodity-related shares due to optimism about Chinese.

Japans Nikkei average .N225 hit a 16-month low in early trade, undermined by the stronger yen, but later reversed course. Seoul shares gained 0.9 percent as large-cap technology stocks such as Samsung Electronics 005930.KS bounced.

"The market is still concerned about the global recovery momentum, but based on fundamentals, some funds will flock from developed countries to Asia," said Daniel Chan, chief economist and wealth management strategist BWC Capital Markets in Hong Kong.

Overnight, both the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI and the Standard & Poors 500 Index .SPX ended virtually flat as fears grew about a double-dip U.S. recession.

Investors also scrambled to buy safe U.S. Treasury debt. Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries recorded their largest monthly drop since late 2008, when markets were reeling from the Lehman Brothers collapse.

The Australian dollar rose 0.5 percent against the U.S. currency as strong growth revived the risk of a further rise in interest rates [nSGE67U0L3]. Against the yen, the Aussie climbed 0.8 percent.

The yen edged up toward a 15-year peak against the dollar, having shrugged off this weeks monetary easing by the Bank of Japan and shifting the focus to whether Japan will intervene.

A sharp drop in dollar/yen, such as 1 to 2 percent or more in a single day toward the 80-yen level and below, is seen as the most likely scenario that would prompt Japan to stick its neck out and buy dollars.

But others expect yen-selling intervention soon.

Gold prices shed $3.24 to $1,245.75 an ounce after hitting a two-month high of $1,249.90 on Tuesday due to the uncertain economic outlook.

Crude gained 26 cents to $72.18 a barrel after tumbling 3.7 percent the previous day on signs U.S. stockpiles rose further last week and prospects of bad weather to suppress demand at the end of the driving season.

Editing by Nick Macfie