The U.S. dollar advanced against the euro and the yen on positive jobs report. Against the euro the dollar stood at $1.2341, up from $1.2384. The greenback bought 112.05 yen, up from 111.23.

EARNINGS NEWS

Sequa, aerospace and auto parts industry supplier, posted 2Q net income of $1.14 a share, up from 48 cents a share in the year-earlier period on strong sales.

National Oilwell Varco, oil and gas drilling manufacturer, announced 2Q profit of 35 cents a share, up from 25 cents a share last year on more–than-doubled revenue. Apart from charges, earnings would have been 49 cents, topping analysts’ forecasts by 5 cents.

The Washington Post, newspapers publisher, posted 2Q net income of $8.16 a share, down from $8.82 a share in the year-ago period on strong revenue, missing analysts’ forecasts of $9.65 cents a share.

British Airways, U.K. carrier, reported 1Q doubled profit of 90 million pounds compared with 43 million pounds a year ago on increased passenger traffic, fuel surcharges and 8.3% higher revenue. The company posted pretax profit jump of 65%, beating estimates of 35%.

Cardinal Health, distributor of health-care products, posted 4Q net earnings of 66 cents a share, down vs. 90 cents gained in the same period in fiscal 2004 on quarterly revenue growth, missing analyst estimate of 89 cents a share.

Liberty Media, electronic retailing owner, announced 2Q loss was reduced to 4 cents a share, up from 11 cents a share for the same period last year, on increase in revenue.

Westwood One, radio and television stations services provider, posted 2Q net income of 25 cents a share, down vs. 26 cents a share in the year-earlier period on revenue growth, missing analysts’ forecasts of 27 cents a share.

Alliant Energy, electricity provider, posted 2Q loss from continuing operations of 8 cents per share, vs. income 30 cents per share in the same period last year, while analysts had seen earnings at 27 cents per share.

Allis-Chalmers Energy, drilling and oil field services provider, posted 2Q net income of 12 cents per share, vs. 5 cents per share in the same quarter a year earlier on strong revenue.

Pro-Pharmaceuticals, drug developer, posted a 2Q net loss of 6 cents per share, vs. a net loss of 6 cents per share for the same quarter last year.

Hovnanian Enterprises, single-family detached homes developer, said 3Q dollar value of net contracts rose 34.8%, while the number of net contracts jumped 16.6% compared with the same quarter a year ago. The sales value of contract backlog rose 55.7% and the number of homes in contract backlog climbed 33.3%.

ProspEx Resources, oil and gas company, posted 2Q earnings per share of C$0.03 for the quarter on strong 2Q net earnings compared with 2Q the prior year.

Century Casinos, casino operator, reported 2Q net earnings of 4 cents per share, down vs. 8 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter on revenue growth, missing analysts’ expectations of 8 cents per share

Dynatec, mining companies services operator, posted 2Q net earnings of C$0.012 per share, vs. C$0.007 per share in the year-ago comparable period on revenue growth.

Redwood Trust, real estate investment trust, reported 2Q earnings of $1.50 per share, vs. $1.74 per share in the same quarter a year earlier. Quarterly net interest income jumped to $53.2 million vs. $47.6 million in the year ago corresponding quarter.

Mills, real estate investment trust group, posted 2Q fund from operations of $1.01 a share, up vs. 94 cents a share in the same period last year despite falling revenue, matching analyst forecasts.

Chesapeake, a provider of paperboard and plastic packaging, announced it anticipates a 2Q loss ranging from 9 cents to 11 cents a share. The company also lowered its earnings outlook to between 80 cents and $1 a share.

CORPORATE NEWS

Newspaper giant Alex Spring AG agreed to buy broadcaster ProSiebenSat 1 Media from a consortium of U.S. private-equity investors for $3.01 billion. The deal will unite Germany’s leading newspaper and television companies.

The Justice Department is pursuing a criminal investigation of allegations that DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes unit paid bribes in at least a dozen countries and that senior executives may have been aware of the practice. The investigation came in following a civil inquiry by the SEC that disclosed late last year. Shares of the automaker ended at $49.51 in trading on the Big Board Thursday.

IMPAX Laboratories Inc. (IPXLE: chart) disclosed that it has received notification from The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. that the Nasdaq Listing Qualification Panel has determined to delist its common stock from The Nasdaq National Market, effective Monday, August 8, 2005. IMPAX's failure to file Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year 2004, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter, 2005 violated Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 4310(c)(14) compliance with which is required for continued listing on Nasdaq. IMPAX expects that quotations for its common stock to appear in the Pink Sheets and expects its trading symbol to revert to IPXL effective with the move to the Pink Sheets.

Delphi Corp. (DPH: chart) is in discussions with former parent General Motors Corp. (GM: chart) and the United Auto Workers about a comprehensive restructuring of Delphi's unprofitable U.S. operations in order to avoid bankruptcy reorganization. The talks are reported to be very constructive and management hopes to restructure out of court. The auto parts maker added that it has drawn $1.5 billion from a $1.8 billion credit facility related to the restructuring talks.