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TOP STORIES

U.S. 2nd-quarter GDP gains speed on consumer spending

WASHINGTON - U.S. economic growth accelerated in the second quarter as a pick-up in consumer spending offset the drag from soft business spending on equipment, suggesting a steady momentum that could bring the Federal Reserve closer to hiking interest rates this year. (USA-ECONOMY/ (WRAPUP 2), moved, by Lucia Mutikani, 655 words)

Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) to axe 6,500 jobs and cut spending to cope with lower oil prices

LONDON - Royal Dutch Shell (Xetra: R6C1.DE - news) is to axe 6,500 jobs this year and step up spending cuts, responding to an extended period of lower oil prices which contributed to a 37 percent drop in the oil and gas group's second-quarter profits. (SHELL-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 3), moved, by Ron Bousso and Karolin Schaps, 545 words)

+ See also:

- CONOCOPHILLIPS (NYSE: COP - news) -RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 225 words

- ENI (NYSE: E - news) -RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 255 words

- REPSOL (Amsterdam: RP6.AS - news) -RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 255 words

- TECHNIP (Paris: FR0000131708 - news) -RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 325 words

Procter & Gamble sales fall for sixth straight quarter

Procter & Gamble Co, the world's largest consumer products maker, reports its sixth straight fall in quarterly sales, as the stronger dollar continued to weigh on the value of sales from overseas markets. (PROCTER GAMBLE-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 355 words)

Nokia (Swiss: 472672.SW - news) , Alcatel (Paris: FR0000130007 - news) -Lucent post strong results as merger approaches

PARIS/HELSINKI - Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in telecom network gear makers Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent jumps after both post strong second-quarter results, giving a positive signal ahead of their pending merger. (NOKIA-ALCATEL/RESULTS (WRAPUP 1), moved, by Leila Abboud and Jussi Rosendahl, 525 words)

+ See also:

- TELEFONICA (Amsterdam: TA6.AS - news) -RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 235 words

- BT-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, 350 words

INSIGHT

Failed FT bid shows Axel Springer caught between tradition and ambition

FRANKFURT/BERLIN - Axel Springer's failure to clinch a deal to buy the Financial Times lengthens a line of setbacks in a decade-old quest by Germany's biggest news publisher to expand abroad. (AXEL SPRNGR-M&A/ (INSIGHT, PICTURE), moved, by Harro Ten Wolde and Klaus Lauer, 900 words)

MARKETS

Dollar, bond yields hold firm ahead of GDP data

LONDON - The dollar jumps and world stocks are left flat-footed after the Federal Reserve paints a relatively bright picture of the U.S. economy, boosting bets that it will hike interest rates in September. (MARKETS-GLOBAL/ (WRAPUP 5), moving shortly, by Marc Jones, 825 words)

Gold falls 1 pct as dollar rises on Fed rate expectations

LONDON - Gold falls more than 1 percent, trading close to a 5-1/2-year low hit last week, as the dollar jumped after the Federal Reserve left the door open for a rate rise in September and ahead of U.S. GDP data. (MARKETS-PRECIOUS/ (UPDATE 4), moved, by Clara Denina , 380 words)

+ See also:

- GOLD-HEDGING/, moving shortly, by Jan Harvey, 500 words

China shares slide as banks investigate their market exposure

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI - China shares fall again after a report that banks are trying to get to grips with their financial exposure to the stock market slump in June, added to a pall of uncertainty for investors. (CHINA-MARKETS/ (WRAPUP 2, PICTURE, GRAPHIC), moved, by Donny Kwok and Nathaniel Taplin, 552 words)

+ See also:

- CHINA-MARKETS/MONEY (GRAPHIC), moved, by Nathaniel Taplin, 645 words

ECONOMY

Euro zone economic confidence hits 4-year high in July

BRUSSELS - Confidence in the euro zone's economy rises unexpectedly to a four-year high in July as sentiment in industry, services and retail improves, although inflation expectations slip after five consecutive months of gains. (EUROZONE-ECONOMY/SENTIMENT (UPDATE 1), moved, 350 words)

+ See also:

- EUROZONE-ECONOMY/ECB (UPDATE 1), moved, 270 words

- ECB-POLICY/QE, moved, by Francesco Canepa, 690 words

OPEC does not expect prices to fall further - SecGen

MOSCOW - OPEC does not expect global oil prices to fall further, Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri tells reporters. (RUSSIA-OPEC/ (UPDATE 1), moving shortly, 200 words)

+ See also:

- OIL-PRICES/ (POLL), moved, by Nallur Sethuraman, 400 words

- MARKETS-OIL/ (UPDATE 5), moved, by Christopher Johnson, 400 words

German unemployment rises but economy seen powering ahead

BERLIN - German unemployment unexpectedly rose in July and posted its biggest increase since May last year, but the labour market blip is unlikely to derail the domestic demand that is driving growth in Europe's largest economy. (GERMANY-UNEMPLOYMENT/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 270 words)

Irish economy grows strongly as it looks to lead EU again

DUBLIN - Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) 's economy grew by 1.4 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year, in a recovery that is forecast to make it the fastest-growing economy in Europe for the second year running in 2015. (IRELAND-ECONOMY/GDP (UPDATE 1), moved, by Padraic Halpin and Conor Humphries, 435 words)

Spain's economy motors on at fastest pace since before financial crisis

MADRID - Spain's economy grew at its fastest rate since 2007 in the second quarter with more growth expected ahead, although the pace of recovery may flag as the effect of supportive cheap money and low inflation starts to wear off. (SPAIN-ECONOMY/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Sarah White and Julien Toyer, 600 words)

Turkish c.bank ups 2015 inflation forecast, signals no sharp rate moves

ANKARA - Turkey's central bank slightly raises its inflation forecast for the end of 2015 and says it expects moderate economic growth in the second half along with an improvement in the current account deficit. (TURKEY-ECONOMY/INFLATION (UPDATE 1), moved, 210 words)

COMPANIES

Deutsche Bank (Xetra: 514000 - news) says legal charges threaten its recovery

FRANKFURT - Deutsche Bank's new boss hit out at staff in a memo saying performance is "nowhere good enough" after Germany's largest bank warns that its turnaround is at risk from heavy legal charges. (DEUTSCHE BANK-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Thomas Atkins, 585 words)

Unexpected RBS profit boosts chance of early share sale

LONDON - State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) (RBS) posts an unexpected profit in the second quarter, benefiting from write-backs on problem loans and boosting its stock ahead of an impending first sale of a chunk of the government's shares. (RBS-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Matt Scuffham and Steve Slater, 540 words)

Time Warner Cable (Xetra: T3W1.DE - news) profit, revenue miss estimates

Time Warner Cable Inc, which is being bought by Charter Communications, reported lower-than-expected revenue for five quarters in a row as it lost about 45,000 residential video customers. (TIME WARNER CABLE-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 210 words)

Britain's recovery gives boost to Santander profits, revenues

MADRID - A buoyant performance from its British business helped Spain's Santander to increase second-quarter revenues, offsetting a weaker home market and driving an 18 percent rise in net profit. (SANTANDER-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Sarah White and Jesús Aguado, 550 words)

Siemens (BSE: SIEMENS4.BO - news) exceeds expectations despite China weakness

FRANKFURT - German trains-to-turbines group Siemens beats expectations for its third-quarter results and sticks to its full-year outlook despite weakness in China. (SIEMENS-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 3), moving shortly, by Georgina Prodhan, 750 words)

BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L - news) says still waiting for expected combat jet orders

LONDON - BAE Systems, Europe's biggest defence contractor, is still waiting on securing the new aircraft orders it needs to meet its annual earnings target, it says. (BAE SYSTEMS-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Sarah Young, 457 words)

+ See also:

- ROLLS-ROYCE HLDG-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Sarah Young, 500 words

Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) to shed staff, assets to focus on supply, services

LONDON - Centrica will cut around 10 percent of its workforce and sell up to 1 billion pounds ($1.56 billion) worth of upstream and wind assets by 2017 as Britain's largest utility looks to focus on energy supply and services. (CENTRICA-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 3), moved, by Susanna Twidale and Karolin Schaps, 495 words)

AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN - news) beats profit forecasts, helped by external deals

LONDON - AstraZeneca revenue fell by a smaller-than-expected 7 percent in the second quarter, as income from selling rights to medicines offset generic competition to older drugs and a strong dollar. (ASTRAZENECA-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Ben Hirschler, 380 words)

+ See also:

- SANOFI (NasdaqGM: GCVRZ - news) -RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, by Matthias Blamont and Noëlle Mennella, 400 words

Renault (Swiss: RNO.SW - news) profit surge fails to wow amid pricing slide

PARIS - French carmaker Renault reports that first-half profit surged on rebounding European demand - but not enough to meet soaring investor expectations from the recovery, or concerns about weaker pricing. (RENAULT SA-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 3), moving shortly, by Laurence Frost, 550 words)

+ See also:

- MAZDA (BSE: MAZDALTD.BO - news) -RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1, PICTURE), moved, by Minami Funakoshi, 290 words

Diageo (LSE: DGE.L - news) signals turnaround after another flat year

LONDON - Diageo, the world's largest spirits company, signals a turnaround this year, following two years of flat sales due to issues including wholesaler destocking and discounting in vodka. (DIAGEO-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, by Martinne Geller, 355 words)

Swiss Re (Xetra: A1H81M - news) quarterly profit rises, misses expectations

ZURICH - Swiss Re, the world's second-largest reinsurer, says that second-quarter net profit rose 2 percent on fewer natural disasters in the period and a healthy return on its investment portfolio, but missed analyst expectations. (SWISS RE-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 230 words)

+ See also:

- GENERALI (Swiss: ASG.SW - news) -RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Silvia Aloisi, 400 words

EDF (Paris: FR0010242511 - news) buys majority of Areva (Paris: FR0011027143 - news) reactor unit, seeks partners

PARIS - French state-controlled utility EDF is buying a majority stake in the reactor business of nuclear group Areva and will look for partners to take a minority stake. (AREVA-M&A/EDF (Hanover: E2F.HA - news) (UPDATE 2), moved, by Geert De Clercq, 410 words)

Delphi to buy HellermannTyton for $1.7 billion in connected-car drive

U.S.-listed auto parts supplier Delphi Automotive (NYSE: DLPH - news) is buying British cable equipment maker HellermannTyton Group (LSE: HTY.L - news) for about 1.1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) as it seeks to capitalise on the growing connected-car market. (HELLERMANNTYTN-M&A/DELPHI AUTMTVE (UPDATE 2), moved, 360 words)

Lufthansa braces for battle with budget rivals in home market

BERLIN - German airline Lufthansa says it sees no let-up in the pressure on fares in Europe, mainly as budget carriers like Ryanair move in on its home market. (LUFTHANSA-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 4), moved, by Victoria Bryan, 450 words)

Thomas Cook (Xetra: A0MR3W - news) says Tunisia, Greece and forex to dent profit

LONDON - Travel firm Thomas Cook has warned that cancellations of holidays to Tunisia after a beach gun attack, concerns regarding Greece's potential exit from the euro and a currency hit will knock 64 million pounds ($100 million) off this year's profit. (THOMAS COOK GRP (Swiss: TCG.SW - news) -RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by James Davey, 400 words)

Ahold-target Delhaize posts better-than-expected sales

BRUSSELS - Belgian grocer Delhaize, which Dutch rival Ahold plans to buy, posts better-than-expected sales in its main markets in the United States and Belgium in the second quarter. (DELHAIZE-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 195 words)

AccorHotels expects higher 2015 profit, but France, Brazil lag

PARIS - AccorHotels's expects its operating profit to rise this year as Europe's largest hotel group benefits from an economic recovery in the region and its restructuring efforts, it says. (ACCOR (Paris: FR0000120404 - news) -RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Dominique Vidalon, 405 words)