Markets Overview: (Source: Bloomberg, FT, Reuters, DJ Newswires)

UK 100 Index called to open -10 pts at 6190, still in the upper half of a rising channel through the 2^nd half of the week and trading either side of 6200 overnight and into this morning. Bulls will now look to that level as becoming support for another 100pt rally after 6100 was successfully breached yesterday while bears naturally looking to risk-off into the weekend for short opportunities. Watch levels: Bullish 6300, Bearish 6030.

The negative opening call comes despite Asian stock markets tracking another positive performance on Wall Street. Oil rallied by over 10% - the most in 6-years, buoying the energy sector. A commodity price bounce on speculation the Chinese government is to inject more liquidity into its stock market through equity purchases and reduction of USTs to support the Yuan served to calm nerves in the blighted mining sector. Japan’s Nikkei the region’s outperformer.

US stocks soared for the second day in a row – Dow’s losses now erased for the week – as macro-data-inspired optimism about the US economy jumped in to further distract investors from bigger picture worries, not least Asia-Pacific volatility.

UK consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in August to match June's 15-year high, as low inflation and a recent pick-up in wages made Britons more upbeat about their financial prospects.

A busy day on the data front has already seen some good figures coming out of Japan. 9.30am sees UK GDP expected to be flat, while this afternoon we have German CPI and US personal income and spending at 1.30pm and University of Michigan Sentiment at 3pm. A full rundown with consensus can be found on the Live Macro-Calendar

Oil prices soared after the Wall St. Journal reported Venezuela has been contacting fellow OPEC members to push for an emergency meeting, alongside Russia, to prepare a strategy to stop the recent fall in oil prices. Presumably this would include some form of production reduction by Saudi Arabia, which would mean OPEC’s biggest single producer losing some market share while ensuring other, more vulnerable OPEC members are protected from uneconomically low prices. WTI futures now around $43 while those for Brent Crude are trading around $48.

Gold ($1130) edged up slightly overnight but remains under pressure as good data allays fears of global sluggishness, for now. A perceived equity recovery may not last since the outlook for China’s economy remains somewhat bleak.

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