U.S stock index futures are trading tentatively

U.S stock index futures are trading tentatively in the run-up to the release of the latest Non-Farm employment data, with the S&P 500 heading for its biggest weekly gain since mid-July. With investors main focus for the foreseeable future being the timing and magnitude of any Federal Reserve tapering , any significant data will be seized upon.

Employers probably picked up the pace of hiring in August and the U.S. jobless rate held at a more than four-year low, signalling a strengthening labour market that will help sustain growth. This is the last payrolls report Fed officials will see before their upcoming meeting. Policy makers will probably decide to scale back the pace of bond purchases when they next meet, according to 65 percent of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

With the latest G20 meeting underway, European leaders have welcomed the prospect of not being in the firing line with uncertainty in the emerging markets taking centre stage. In recent memory the spotlight has been squarely focused on Europe's debt crisis and its impact on financial markets, trade and the global economy. But signs of a turnaround, with growth and exports slowly picking up, consumer confidence rising and the euro remaining stable, has given the continent respite.

Risers

Tullow oil
Tullow oil shares climb after announcing a discovery in Norway’s Arctic region. They said by operator OMV to involve up to 164m barrels of oil and up to 40bn cubic feet of gas. Barclays raises Tullow Oil price target to 1525p from 1500p following the discovery at the company's Wisting Central Well. Says the discovery at Wisting opens up a new basin in the prolific hydrocarbon region and demonstrates the value created from the recent Spring Energy acquisition.

Lancashire Holding
Credit Suisse upgrades Lancashire Holdings to outperform from neutral and cuts price target to 860p from 920p. Says Lancashire's recently announced Cathedral acquisition appears to have triggered some concerns about the persistence of future special dividends but stated these concerns are overdone. They believe the the capital efficiencies resulting from the deal and a strong capital position pre acquisition, should allow Lancashire to pay a special dividend in 4Q13 and 1Q14

Charles Taylor
The international provider of professional services to clients in the global insurance market have announced they have bought the business and assets of KnowledgeCenter from KnowledgeCenter Ltd. for up to 7.1 million pounds. Charles Taylor is seeking a competitive advantage on technology products and processes

Bwin.Party Digital
Shares react higher after the online gambling company launches a new poker site a week after a profit warning. The company is hoping for a boost from the launch of the new version of poker website partypoker.com.


Fallers

SThree
The international specialist staffing business have announced Group gross profit was down 2% year-on-year during the third quarter ended Aug. 25, but was up 5% sequentially versus the second quarter earlier. Contract market growth was offset by a fall in permanent staffing which was down 11% to £21.9m.

John Laing Infrastructure
The international Public Private Partnership infrastructure investment company said Friday it plans raise up to GBP240 million, which will be used to buy a new portfolio of three PPP projects for GBP103 million and to refinance an existing bank facility. Shares react negatively to the news

AMEC
The international engineering and project management company announced Friday that it has been appointed by TAQA's U.K. business to undertake the engineering, procurement and construction of modifications to the Tern oil production platform to accommodate a new subsea tie-back to the Cladhan field in the northern North Sea.

Kingfisher
Shares in Kingfisher lag this morning after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to underweight from equalweight with a price target of 300p. Morgan says B&Q stands to gain far less from a housing market recovery in the UK than Home Depot does in the US with little correlation over here between transaction and spending on home improvement.