BP – Co. says cost of oil spill response so far is USD 8bln, and no new oil flowed into Gulf since 15 July (Sources)

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ECB’s Nowotny says sees no danger of double-dip for Europe. (Sources)

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BP – Co. expects to remove a failed blowout preventer atop its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well by Saturday or Sunday and later plug the leak for good, the top US official overseeing the spill response said. (RTRS)

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Nationwide House Prices SA (Aug) M/M -0.9% vs. Exp. -0.3% (Prev. -0.5%); NSA (Aug) Y/Y 3.9% vs. Exp. 4.9% (Prev. 6.6%) (RTRS) UK house prices fell the most in six months in August as increased supply of property gave buyers more bargaining power, according to Nationwide Building Society.

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BP – Co. will sell Malaysian Ethylene and Polyethylene interests to Petronas.

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The housing market faces a double dip downturn this year. (Independent) With falling prices and a rising ride of negative equity hitting homeowners hard, the Independent reports.

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UK Banks – The companies, which include members of the FTSE100, are preparing to argue publicly that dividing the banks’ retail and investment banking arms will make everyday business activities more expensive and less efficient.

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GfK Consumer Confidence Survey (Aug) M/M -18 vs. Exp. -24 (Prev. -22) (RTRS) British consumer confidence unexpectedly improved in August for the first time since February thanks to a more positive view on the economic outlook.

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President Obama said that the US economy was expanding, but not quickly enough, and there was no magic bullet that will fix its problems. He added that the batch of grim economic data over the past few weeks was something his administration had anticipated. (RTRS)

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UK Banks – The companies, which include members of the FTSE100, are preparing to argue publicly that dividing the banks’ retail and investment banking arms will make everyday business activities more expensive and less efficient.

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