16/07/07 FTSE 100 6716.7, +19 Dow 13907.3, +45.5 FTSE 250 11922.9, +113.9 Nasdaq 2707, +5.27 FTSE All Share 3467.92, +13.87 S&P 500 1552.5, +4.8 Nikkei 18238.9 Hang Seng 23089.9, -9.3 Oil (Brent) $79.65 Gold $667.30 Base Rate 5.75% 10 Yr Gilt 5.482% £/$ 2.036 Euro/Gbp 0.677 Market report  US markets finished higher on Friday after some positive corporate news and positive read on consumer sentiment. The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said consuemr sentiment rose to its highest in six months in July - beating forecasts. Both the Dow and S&P 500 hit lifetime highs. The Dow Jones jumped 45.5 points to close at 13,907.3, the S&P 500 gained 4.8 points to end at 1,552.5. The Nasdaq added 5.27 points to finish at 2,707. General Electric topped the risers board on the S&P 500 following news that it would double its share buyback to $14 billion. The company also maintained its outlook for the third quarter. Shares closed 1.3% higher at $39.50. Amgen Inc rose after announcing that its board had authorised the additional repurchase of $5 billion of its common stock. The biotechnology company rose 1.8% higher at $56.93. The Dow Jones Home Construction Index rallied 4% on speculation that Warren Buffett was buying a stake in Hovnanian Enterprises. Shares of Hovnanian surged 12% to $18.53 while Toll Brothers climbed 3.8% to $26.44. Alcoa gained 4.5% to 47.35, a record closing high after withdrawing its hostile offer for rival Alcan, a move that came after Rio Tinto agreed on Thursday to buy Alcan for $38.1bn. Alcan lost 1% to 97.50 and Rio Tinto's American depositary receipts dropped 4.3% to 304.14. US light crude oil climbed $1.43 to $73.93 a barrel. COMEX gold slipped $1.00 to $667.30 an ounce. Treasury prices rose pushing the yield down to 5.09% from 5.13% late Thursday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is closed today. The Hang Seng is 9.3 points lower at 23,089.9 this morning as investors locked in profits following the recent rally. Ping An Insurance fell after UBS cut its rating on the stock. Sun Kung Hai Properties Ltd advanced after CLSA Ltd raised its share price estimate by 7%. London's blue-chip stocks tested seven-year highs yesterday as strong trading in the US lifted stocks. A positive opening on Wall Street buoyed by better-than-expected consumer confidence data helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average extend the record gains seen in the previous session. The FTSE 100 caught the mood to close 19 points higher at 6716.7, although stocks were unable to sustain an early surge which saw blue-chips more than 50 points higher at one stage. Financial stocks dominated the risers board, with talk of consolidation in the banking sector helping stocks move ahead on talk that Singapore investment firm Temasek would bid for Lloyds TSB. Traders said that Temasek - which has a stake in Standard Chartered already - could be planning a merger of the two UK banks. The whispers helped Standard Chartered to the top of the board, with shares up nearly 3%, or 48p, to 1690, while Lloyds TSB added 6.5p to 566.5p. Man Group, the world's largest manager of hedge-fund assets, also saw sharp increases after the group said that its assets under management grew 9% in the three months to the end of June. Shares were up 17p at 633.5p. Meanwhile, the expected court verdict from Holland giving approval to ABN Amro's sale of its US operation LaSalle gave a small boost to the Dutch bank's suitor Barclays, up 6p at 724.5p on the decision. Rival ABN bidder Royal Bank of Scotland - which had been hoping the sale would be blocked - was 5.5p ahead at 640p. Property group and real estate investment trust British Land advanced 18p to 1381p after giving a positive trading update, outlining a "good start" to the fiscal year. But mining stocks lost some of yesterday's sparkle after strong gains made yesterday on consolidation hopes after Rio Tinto's $38.1bn (£18.7bn) deal to buy Alcan. Rio was the leading faller, down 80p at 3730p, BHP Billiton was off 27p at 1527p, while Lonmin fell 72p to 4278p. The retail sector was also out of favour after a downgrade for B&Q owner Kingfisher from JP Morgan, which said the stock would be affected by lower footfall due to wet weather. Kingfisher was off 1.25p at 223.5p, while Argos owner Home Retail Group fell 6.25p to 450.25p.   Economic report    UK DCLG house prices (May) 09.30 bst The DCLG (formerly ODPM) house price index is the last of the house price indices to be released. Annual inflation based on the Nationwide and Halifax indices increased only slightly in May, so the same is expected on this measure. EMU HICP (Jun final) 10.00 bst Eurozone HICP inflation for June is expected to remain unchanged from the flash estimate, and the previous three months at 1.9 percent. This will represent the tenth consecutive month that inflation has remained within the ECB's target for price stability of "below but close to 2 percent", a feat not achieved since early 2000. Price growth is expected to remain below this ceiling for two more months, before rising significantly in September, when the base effects from the energy component become much less favourable. US Empire manufacturing (Jul) 13.30 bst Last months Empire index jumped 17.7 points to 25.8, the highest reading in the year. The ISM-weighted average of Empire components is a more stable measure but also improved, rising to 13.4 from 7.2. The headline reading is expected to fall to 15 in July, closer to the underlying detail. 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