Hello traders!

In the US tonight, the DJIA ended down 50.56 points at 13,238.73, while the
S&P500 closed off 6.12 points at 1,457.64 and the Nasdaq Composite was up
2.14 points at 2,565.30.

See you in the morning with the latest......

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

Telegraph
The Times
The Times (Need to know)
The Guardian
The Independent
This is Money

Barclays has been forced to tap the Bank of England's emergency lending fund after a major error in the City's trading systems wreaked havoc on the money markets. The bank borrowed up to 1.6bn from the central bank's standing facility after it failed to settle its positions on the open market. It is the second time in as many weeks it has had to turn to the lender of last resort.

Barclays said: "Had there not been a technical breakdown, this situation would not have occurred. At the end of the day, there was excess liquidity in the money markets, where bank reserves were larger than bank borrowings. There are no liquidity issues in the UK markets. Barclays itself is flush with liquidity." However, traders expressed surprise at the excuse, saying that, if these technical problems were really the culprit, then it would have affected far more institutions.

Euroclear also said that none of its members had reported settlement problems to it - a strong indication that, although the system problems were a disruption, they were not directly to blame for the use of the Bank's emergency facility.

Barclays borrows 1.6bn from Bank of England
Barclays forced to arrange 1.6bn BoE emergency loan

Standard & Poor's, the credit rating agency, said its rating on Barclays was undisturbed by the bank's potential exposure to SIVs, which are funds that issue cheap short-term debt called commercial paper to invest in long-term higher-yielding assets such as mortgage-backed securities.

S&P said Barclays was exposed to US conduit funds valued at about $35bn, including one called Sheffield Receivables Corp with about $22bn of outstanding commercial paper. The ratings agency said the conduits were being refinanced, largely through the commercial paper market and that Barclays had capital to fund them if necessary.

Barclays dips into Bank's coffers after fresh glitch

The amount British banks have been forced to write off in bad debt has jumped by a fifth to almost 9bn in a stark sign that households are struggling to keep up their repayments. Lenders had to write off 2.3bn worth of bad debts in the second quarter - up from the 2.1bn in the previous quarter, according to figures published by the Bank of England.

9bn consumer debts written off by banks

Deutsche Bank has shut down its proprietary credit trading desk in London and up to seven employees have left the bank - including department head Gerry Jackson - as the credit crunch claimed yet more scalps yesterday.

Deutsche Bank axes jobs

Fears that Russia's banking system could be vulnerable to a sudden downturn have led to a surge in capital outflows over the past two weeks, triggering the sharpest fall in the country's reserves since the oil boom began.

The central bank has intervened aggressively in recent days to stave off a possible credit crunch, injecting a record $10.6bn into the banking system on Tuesday. In a move that has raised eyebrows, it is also selling dollars to support the ruble, spending $4bn on August 21 alone.

Russian jitters as investors take flight

Major private equity buyouts have ground to a halt because of a backlog of "a year's worth" of debt financing that banks must sell to other investors before they can start funding new deals, industry sources said.

Private equity held up by 'a year's worth of debt'

The head of the government-sponsored company set up to promote home ownership in the US said he had underestimated the scale of the downturn in the country's housing market.

Freddie Mac plunges as housing crisis rumbles on

US jobless piles rate pressure on Bernanke

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng closed the morning up 407.91 points at 23,892.45,
while the Nikkei was recently up 322.35 points at 16,476.17.

Crude oil for October delivery rose 19 cents to $73.55 a barrel, after losing 15
cents to finish at $73.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Happy Friday!

G.

Thomson Financial Europe AM at a glance share guide: Stocks, oil mixedTFN economic and business calendar for Friday August 31

TFN UK calendar and forecasts for today

London shares outlook - slightly higher, following surge in Asia

Thomson Financial UK at a glance share guide

The Friday Press Roundup

BROKERWATCH BG Group upped to 'buy' from 'neutral' at UBS, target 925p vs 900pTokyo shares close sharply higher on reported Bush plan to ease credit crisis

STOCKWATCH Cadbury Schweppes lower as Lehman Brothers cuts to 'equal-weight'Australian shares close at 5-week highs on upbeat data, earnings

FTSE opens firmly higher

Australian shares close at 5-week highs on upbeat data, earnings - UPDATE

London shares open higher, after Asia surges; BG Group extends gainsUK smallcap opening - International Real Estate up after strong H1 results

Tokyo shares close higher on reported Bush plan to ease credit crisis - UPDATE

UK smallcap opening - SMG gains on Primesight sale

UK smallcap opening - Sylvania Resources up on Steelpoort plant completion news

UK small caps open firmer, Consolidated Minerals up on fresh takeover news

Metals - LME inventory data (Friday)

Metals - Gold up on weak dollar ahead of busy US data day, strong demand season

Metals - Copper continues higher in line with stronger equities in London

Metals - Gold up on weak dollar, stronger equities ahead of busy data day UPDATELondon shares - midmorning features

Metals - Copper continues higher in line with stronger equities in London UPDATE

US futures make ground

WALL STREET OUTLOOK - firmer ahead of long weekend; Bush, Bernanke to speak

London shares - midday features

OUTLOOK Kazakhmys H1 profit seen increasing on higher copper prices

UK small caps hold firm near session highs midday; World TV up on bid approach

Midday Market Roundup

Precious Metals Summary - London AM Fixings

Euroshares extend gains midday, US futures higher ahead of Bernanke speech

London shares - midafternoon featuresMetals - Copper above 7,500 usd level on improving investor sentiment

Metals - Gold up on improving sentiment, equities, ahead of Bernanke speech

Precious Metals Summary - London PM Fixings

OUTLOOK Standard Life H1 profit seen up 59 pct

TFN economic and business calendar to Friday September 14

End-of-day Market Roundup

UK small caps close higher at session peak; World TV up on bid approach news

Friday's market reports:

Telegraph
The Times
The Times (Need to know)
FT
The Guardian
This is Money

Barclays Capital, the banks investment banking unit, and Cairn Capital, the London-based manager of the fund, insisted that the loan was not a rescue or bailout. Our investors are paying a commercial rate for that loan, a Cairn spokesman said.

Barclays steps in with $1.6bn injection for struggling SIV-lite fund

The banks that underwrote the $45 billion acquisition of TXU Corp, the worlds biggest buyout, have offered to pay the $1 billion (495 million) break fee in a desperate attempt to convince the private equity backers to drop their bid.

It is understood that the banks asked Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG to consider withdrawing their offer after the turmoil in the credit markets meant that the banks would have little or no chance of syndicating the record-breaking $37 billion loan to investors. The banks include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan.

Banks financing TXU buyout offer $1bn to get off the hook

Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays Capital, has made a thinly veiled plea for the Bank of England to intervene in the money markets. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Diamond said short-term liquidity in the money markets remained the biggest problem for the global financial system and said it was down to central banks to restore stability, praising the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank's moves to inject liquidity. The BoE is the only major central bank yet to introduce emergency measures.

Barclays urges BoE to bail out money markets
Barclays comes out fighting

BOB DIAMOND, Barclays investment-banking boss, has scotched fears that Britains third-largest bank faces a black hole in its accounts from exposure to the turmoil in credit markets.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, he said: There was an impression that we had hundreds of millions in unsecured exposure. So we said that the potential, conservative, loss could be 75m. We do not like having to say things like that, but there were enough questions to make it important for us to make that statement.

Theres no black hole at Barclays, insists Diamond

Fears are mounting that British credit card debts could soon spark a fresh crisis in the global financial system. Debt-laden consumers in Britain owe more than 1.3 trillion, including more than 50bn on plastic.

Billions of pounds in credit card debt run up with Barclaycard, Egg, MBNA and every major card provider have been sold off to the capital markets in recent years. Many of these securitised debts are held in collateralised debt obligations (CDOs), the controversial funds that were involved in the downfall of the sub-prime mortgage market in America.

Credit cards: The next crisis?