Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 102.43 points at
8,409.85, with the S&P500 off 12.14 points at 907.39 and the Nasdaq Composite
42.86 points lower at 1,716.24.

In Asia this morning, the Nikkei was up 51.07 points at 9,436.77 with the Hang
Seng 35.74 points higher at 17,253.63 at the midpoint.

Crude oil was trading at $57.25 a barrel on Nymex.

Happy Friday!

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

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

Results of long-awaited bank stress tests reveal that 10 out of 19 banks tested need to raise new capital. Bank of America must raise $33.9 billion.
Stress test results: Banks must raise $75 billion

The European Central Bank has cut interest rates a quarter point to a record low of 1pc and embraced quantitative easing (QE) for the first time, catching markets off guard with plans to buy 60bn (53.5bn) of covered bonds.
European Central Bank falls into line and embraces quantitative easing

Moving back into the realm of scary figures, a new report by Peterson Institute director Fred Bergsten predicts US net foreign debt could be headed towards $50,000bn or beyond and as much as 100 per cent of GDP as soon as 2030. That at least, writes Bergsten, will be the case if long-term fiscal consolidation is not achieved soon.
US net foreign debt headed towards 100% of GDP

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has begun a second round of more stringent stress tests on Britain's troubled building societies to assess their resilience against collapse in light of last month's credit rating downgrades.
FSA tests mutuals over crisis in funding

The sharp rise in commodity prices in recent weeks is prompting corporate consumers to hedge their exposure to raw materials and rebuild depleted inventories.
Commodity prices fuel hedging

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

DGE UBS: upgraded to neutral from sell, tp raised to 900 from 760
IHG Jeffries: downgraded to hold, tp raised to 780 from 525
NEX JPMorgan: reiterated neutral, tp raised to 325 from 279
RRS Citigroup: upgraded to buy from hold, tp raised to 4000 from 3200
SN. JPMorgan[HB]: reiterated buy, tp cut to 587 from 618
TCG Citigroup: reiterated buy, tp raised to 335 from 280
TW. Liberum: hold

End-of-day Market Overview

Have a great weekend all!

G.