Hello traders!

In the US tonight, according to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 32.53 points to 12,523.31.

The S&P 500 was up 8.2 at 1,428.82, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 7.55 to 2,448.64.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery jumped $2.96 to settle at $56.97 a barrel.

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

G.

Morning Greystone :-) Market reports:

Telegraph
Telegraph (Bloomberg summary)
The Times
FT
The Guardian
The Independent
This is Money

Drugs giants 'mega merger' rumour could spark bid battle
China fears enthusiasm for playing the market could soon bubble over
Police raid homes of Torex bosses in Serious Fraud Office probe

Even before last weeks suspension of its shares and this weeks Serious Fraud Office investigation, Torex Retail has aroused strong emotions in the City. No more so than last month, when Neil Mitchell, its recently appointed chief executive, appeared to have come off worst in a pavement scuffle with a leading City analyst. Although the precise chain of events leading to the incident remain unclear, The Times has learnt that the slightly built Mr Mitchell was on the receiving end of a headbutt from Stuart Lunn, the software and computer services analyst at Collins Stewart.
Analyse this: chief has run-in with City scribbler

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning down 29.91 points at 20,430.55, while the Nikkei closed the day down 106.77 points at 17,383.42.

New York Mercantile Exchange's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, was at $56.59 a barrel, 38 cents lower than in late trading in the US overnight.

Happy trading!

G.

IMPERIAL TOBACCO CUT TO 'EQUAL-WEIGHT' VS 'OVERWEIGHT' AT MORGAN STANLEY
EUROPEAN TOBACCO SECTOR CUT TO 'IN-LINE' VS 'ATTRACTIVE' AT MORGAN STANLEY
MISYS UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'HOLD' AT DEUTSCHE BANK
KINGFISHER UPGRADED TO 'OVERWEIGHT' VS 'NEUTRAL' AT JP MORGAN
AMVESCAP UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'HOLD' AT DRESDNER KLEINWORT
YELL GROUP UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'HOLD' AT ABN AMRO

Australian shares close lower on profit-taking ahead of Fed meeting - UPDATEAsian markets summary

PSON downgraded to underweight from overweight - JP Morgan

Tokyo shares close lower on weak Sony earnings, Nikko Cordial flap

AFX UK at a glance share guide

London shares outlook - flat ahead of FOMC meeting end; Tata wins Corus bid

AZN reiterated neutral - JP Morgan
BLT initiated buy - SG Securities
RIO upgraded to hold from sell - SG Securities
XTA initiated sell - SG Securities

Tokyo shares close lower on weak Sony earnings, Nikko Cordial flap - UPDATE

UK smallcap opening - Oak Holdings ticks up on planning consent for YES!UK smallcap opening - Walker Greenbank advances on bullish trading update

UK smallcap opening - Gold Frost lower on FY profits warning

VOD reiterated buy - Goldman Sachs

FTSE opens slightly higherUK smallcap opening - Wolfson runs back on slightly disappointing FY results

London shares open slightly higher; Corus jumps on bid win; Vodafone up on KPIs

UK smallcap opening - Gulfsands adrift as Syria update fails to support

UK smallcap opening - Twenty eases on 2007 revenues warning

Cairn Energy rises; Credit Suisse reiterates 'outperform', trims tgt
Friends Provident lower as F&C woes offset solid update; UBS 'buy'

UK smallcap opening - Berkeley Resources run back on profit-taking after updateUK smallcap opening - NWF lower on distribution division warning