Hello traders!

In the US tonight, stocks rallied on stronger-than-expected earnings from McDonald's, Costco and Yum Brands, while a batch of new orders for Boeing propelled the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new closing high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 96 points at 11,948 at its unofficial close. The S&P 500 rose almost 13 points to 1,362 as the Nasdaq Composite gained about 38 points to end at 2,346.

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

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia a short while ago, the Hang Seng was up 182.97 points at 18,056.06, while the Nikkei was up 169.37 points at 16,538.18.

New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, was up 35 cents at $58.21 a barrel from $57.86 in late US trade overnight.

Early broker notes:

LLOYDS TSB UPGRADED TO 'NEUTRAL', BARCLAYS CUT TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' AT HSBC
CARPHONE WAREHOUSE UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'HOLD' AT DEUTSCHE BANK
SCI ENTERTAINMENT STARTED 'BUY' AT CITIGROUP, PRICE TARGET 600P
UNILEVER CUT TO 'HOLD' VS 'BUY' AT CITIGROUP
STAGECOACH CUT TO 'NEUTRAL' VS 'OVERWEIGHT' AT JP MORGAN
HBOS CUT TO 'SELL' VS 'NEUTRAL' AT GOLDMAN SACHS
CARPHONE WAREHOUSE CUT TO 'EQUAL-WEIGHT' VS 'OVERWEIGHT' AT MORGAN STANLEY

Happy Friday!

G.

End-of-day Market Roundup

Have a great weekend everyone!