Asian stocks rose, following record closes in the S&P500 and Dow. The Nikkei rose 1.7%, helped by strong earnings from companies including Suzuki and Sony yesterday, and the MSCI Asia Pacific was up 0.7%. (Bloomberg) (FastFT) Today: US non-farm payrolls, factory orders. Fed's Bullard speaks on the economy. UK construction PMI. Companies reporting: RBS, Rentokil, Man Group. Berlusconi has been definitively convicted for the first time. Italy's supreme court has rejected his appeal against a conviction for tax fraud, upholding a four-year jail sentence, but asking the Milan appeals court to review a five-year ban on the former Italian prime minister holding public office. In a nine-minute video responding to the sentence, Berlusconi no mention of his previous expressions of support for the coalition government, but pledged to go ahead with the proposed relaunch of his party under its original name - Forza Italia (Go Italy). However some senior allies said the ruling would not hit the coalition between Letta's centre-left Democratic Party and Berlusconi's People of Freedom. His lawyers said they would pursue every possible avenue, even in European courts, in an attempt to overturn "this unjust sentence." Indonesia's growth rate fell more than expected, with Q2 GDP rising 5.8% year-on-year, compared to consensus forecasts of 5.9%, and a comparable rate of 6.02% in Q1. The country is contending with both slowing investment and rising inflation as energy costs rise. Brazil actually does support IMF's Greek aid: "Brazil reversed its hardline stance on Greece's bailout on Thursday, saying it had not authorised its representative to the International Monetary Fund to withhold support for the latest aid to Athens." Finance minister Guido Mantega said Brazi's abstention from the vote on a €1.8bn tranche of aid was a "mistake." New threats, including Department of Justice plans to file civil charges over one or two jumbo prime securitisations, and the development of existing cases were announced in a regulatory filing yesterday. NIESR raises British growth forecasts: The thinktank raised forecasts for both this year and next by 0.3 percentage points, to 1.2% for 2013 and 1.8% for 2014, citing rising consumer spending growth as the main reason for the revision. Reuters Australia's budget deficit will widen to A$30.1 billion ($26.8 billion) this fiscal year as the economy slows and unemployment rises, underscoring Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's challenge as he prepares for an election. Chesapeake's shares jumped 7% Thursday to the highest level in more than a year, as the energy producer reported rising oil output and its new chief executive pledged to close a persistent gap between its spending and cash flow by next year. Earlier: Fabrice Tourre found liable for defrauding investors in SEC win. (Reuters) Tourre's decline and fall. Newly-created US jobs are disproportionately low-paid. An Apollo mission to harvest the sun. European banks shrink cash piles to meet capital requirements, but will regulators be happy? Timing: China's tallest building will reach its highest point tomorrow. Brazil protests are continuing, they're just getting more targeted. FT Beyondbrics Peter Tasker: Is Japan about to repeat mistakes of the late 1990s? Gavyn Davies on the new US GDP measures. FT blog Asian markets Nikkei 225 up +251.14 (+1.79%) at 14,257 Topix up +19.22 (+1.65%) at 1,183 Hang Seng up +123.83 (+0.56%) at 22,213 US markets S&P 500 up +21.14 (+1.25%) at 1,707 DJIA up +128.48 (+0.83%) at 15,628 Nasdaq up +49.37 (+1.36%) at 3,676 European markets Eurofirst 300 up +13.00 (+1.08%) at 1,221 FTSE100 up +60.92 (+0.92%) at 6,682 CAC 40 up +50.04 (+1.25%) at 4,043 Dax up +134.76 (+1.63%) at 8,411 Currencies €/$ 1.32 (1.32) $/¥ 99.28 (99.53) £/$ 1.51 (1.51) Commodities ($) Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.47 at 110.01 Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.71 at 108.60 100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -5.30 at 1,306 Copper (Comex) down -0.01 at 3.15 10-year government bond yields (%) US 2.71% UK 2.42% Germany 1.67% CDS (closing levels) Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe -0.99bps at 90.54bp Markit iTraxx Europe -3.37bps at 96.62bp Markit iTraxx Xover -6.16bps at 398.01bp (CDX IG will return shortly)