Kleinwort said this would be "very significantly cheaper" than Henderson Touche Remnant's hostile liquidation bid. Henderson immediately responded that it would press on with its own sell- off bid for Kepit, which it launched on Wednesday via TR European Growth investment trust. Kepit's shares rose 1.75p to 92.75p, their highest level for a month but 10.4 per cent below their net asset value of 103.8p.Kepit was launched two years ago to invest in previously state-owned assets. Incomes were up 0.9 per cent but spending fell by 0.2 per cent.. The fight for the poorly performing pounds 500m Kepit trust intensified yesterday as its manager, Kleinwort, proposed turning it into a unit trust. The drop would have been steeper but for an increase in military orders.June also saw American consumers cut back on spending even though the month's increase in personal incomes was the biggest for more than a year.

But manufacturing shed 20,000 workers, confirming the evidence of Thursday's survey from the National Association of Purchasing Managers. It indicated an unexpected drop in the pace of expansion in manufacturing.Other figures yesterday also pointed to a moderation in the pace of growth New orders for manufactured goods fell 0.9 per cent in June. It took on 89,000 people out of the total of 192,000 in services, about half of them in eating and drinking establishments. The Labor Department said the Olympic Games in Atlanta probably explained about 10,000 of the new posts, although much of the Olympic hiring would not show up until the August figures were published.There were smaller rises in employment in construction and the public sector. Average weekly hours fell slightly.The job creation took place almost entirely in the service industries, especially retailing. Average earnings per hour fell by 2 cents to $11.80 (pounds 7.65), partly chipping away the previous month's 9 cents jump. The benchmark long Treasury bond soared to its highest level for four months, yielding 6.74 per cent.The details of yesterday's monthly employment report were almost entirely reassuring as far as inflationary pressures are concerned.