Virgin America to sell first tickets Thursday

(Reuters) - Virgin America will initially operate two daily flights between its San Francisco hub and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and five daily flights between San Francisco and Los Angeles.




Operating a fleet of new Airbus A319s and A320s and promising luxury amenities, Virgin America is taking aim at JetBlue Airways and other carriers that promote customer service.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

U.K. Natural Gas Declines on Forecast That Supplies May Outstrip Demand

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. natural gas costs fell as
forecasts indicated growing supplies may outstrip expected
consumption of the fuel today. Gas in mainland Europe and U.K.
power prices also dropped.

Gas for same-day delivery declined 4.8 percent to 27 pence a
therm at 9:20 a.m. London time, according to prices on Bloomberg
from the broker Spectron Group Plc. That's equivalent to $5.50 a
million British thermal units. A therm is 100,000 Btus. Gas for
delivery a day ahead fell as much as 9.3 percent to 26.75 pence a
therm, according to Spectron.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Uganda halts uranium exploration deals - report

(Reuters) - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has halted new uranium exploration deals with private companies while his government sets up an atomic energy unit, a state-owned newspaper reported on Thursday.

Foreign firms including Canada's Uranium Hunter are exploring in the east African country, with most interest so far focused near the southeastern shores of Lake Albert.


Read more at Reuters Africa

GLOBAL MARKETS-Equities rebound but credit worries remain

(Reuters) - Credit spreads in Europe tightened after widening some 30
basis points a day earlier.




The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares
rose 0.8 percent, as did London's FTSE 100 index ,
Frankfurt's DAX and Paris's CAC 40 .


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Shanghai copper rises 2.3 pct, tin soars

(Reuters) - Shanghai copper rose more than 2 percent on Thursday, buoyed by demand for physical material and industrial action at key mines in Latin America amid an already tight market and strong Chinese economic growth data.

Three-month tin on the London Metal Exchange hit an all-time high of $15,530 on the electronic Select trading system, extending gains the previous day as supply shortfalls spurred fund buying.


Read more at Reuters Africa

UPDATE 2-Sandvik Q2 beats forecasts on strong demand

(Reuters) - STOCKHOLM, July 19 - Swedish engineering firm
Sandvik reported a bigger-than-expected rise in
second-quarter pretax earnings on Thursday on the back of strong
demand across its main markets.




Pretax earnings rose to 3.80 billion Swedish crowns from 2.7 billion a year ago, beating the highest
estimate of 3.64 billion in a Reuters poll of 16 analysts, whose
mean forecast was 3.46 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

U.K. Pound May Advance Versus Dollar on Outlook for BOE Rates, U.S. Growth

(Bloomberg) -- The pound may rise against the dollar
on speculation the Bank of England will keep raising interest
rates as the Federal Reserve keeps borrowing costs on hold.

The U.K. currency advanced to a 26-year high versus the
dollar after the Fed yesterday trimmed its forecast for economic
growth and Bear Stearns Cos. reported losses on hedge funds that
bet on bonds backed by subprime mortgages. Investors expect the
BOE to raise rates half a percentage point by year-end, futures
trading shows.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News