Morning all. Market reports:

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

The pound plunged almost three cents to a two-month low against the dollar as the US currency strengthened on the back of upbeat economic news.
Pound tumbles against dollar on better US news

Gordon Brown faced further embarrassment today over Britains recovery after it emerged that Ireland's beleaguered economy has emerged from recession. Irish economic output rose by 0.3 per cent between July and September compared to the second quarter, official figures showed today, leaving the UK as one of the few Western economies still mired in an economic downturn.
Ireland overtakes UK to emerge from recession

The Basel Committee has published its latest thoughts on capital and liquidity. We are still digesting the main implications of this, but at first read it looks pretty punitive on the sector. In particular, the new definitions of common equity tier 1 appear to take a very hardline with the majority of deferred tax assets, insurance equity capital, excess expected losses, unrealised debt losses, minority interests and pension fund liabilities being deducted.
Digesting the Basel reforms

The Bank of England has warned of a vicious circle of panic-selling of commercial property by banks, potentially triggering a ruinous double dip in values. There is also a risk that worsening economic conditions will lead to widespread loan defaults by UK real-estate companies.
Commercial property values may plummet, Bank warns

America's Social Security Trust Fund will go bankrupt; both gold and the Japanese yen will crash; and China's currency will devalue as bad loans catch up with the over-stretched banking system - all in the course of 2010.
US pensions go bust, gold crashes, China flops, Bunds soar, predicts Saxo

The Bank of England heaped fresh pressure on banks to curb staff bonuses today as it calculated that the entire taxpayer-funded rescue might have been unnecessary if bonuses and dividends had been shaved by as little as a fifth in the years before the crisis.
Banks told crisis could have been avoided with lower bonuses

Some of the Citys most influential shareholders are demanding a competition inquiry into the fees charged by investment banks on takeover deals, The Times has learnt. Investors are preparing an assault on the exorbitant fees of advisers on both sides of company takeovers.
Big investors call for inquiry into banks fees for M&A work

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

SENSEX

Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow lost 133 points at 10,308, the Nasdaq fell 27 points
at 2,180 and the S&P500 was down 13 points at 1,096.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was down 13.74 points at 10,150.06, while the Hang
Seng ended the morning off 162.13 points at 21,185.5.

Crude oil traded at $73.09 a barrel on Nymex.

Gold eased to $1,105 an ounce.

Happy Friday!

G.

Midday Market Overview

US market

opening higher but now only 10 on the blue


15 minutes delay

Official opening times for the LSE during these FESTIVITIES

Christmas Eve December 24, 2009 will close from 12:30 GMT
Christmas Day December 25, 2009 closed
Boxing Day December 28, 2009 closed

New Years Eve December 31, 2009 will close from 12:30 GMT
New Year January 1, 2010 closed

From Bloomberg

Iran Forces Occupy Iraqi Oil Well, Border Guard Says

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian forces yesterday entered Iraqi territory at dawn and occupied well number 4 in the East Maysan oil field, Border Guard General Zafer Nazmi said.

The Iranian forces positioned tanks around the well, which is in the al-Fakah region, 450 kilometers (280 miles) south of Baghdad. The two neighbors have disputed the border of southeast Iraq for decades.

They positioned tanks around it and dug trenches, General Nazmi said by phone from Basra. They are still there, they raised the flag.

East Maysan in southern Iraq is an old oil field that is no longer in production, according to Nazmi. Iraq is the third largest oil producer in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Energy analysts and traders were surprised at the news, which comes days before Iran and Iraq meet fellow members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries at a Dec. 22 meeting in Luanda, Angola.

Crude oil for January delivery rose as much as $2.04, or 2.8 percent, to $74.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $74.58 a barrel at 2:19 p.m. London time.

Iran and Iraq waged an eight-year war that ended in 1988, with much of the fighting along the border between southern Iraq and Iran. Iraq has this year signed contracts with several foreign companies to develop its oil fields to revive production.

OPEC Meeting
From a geopolitical perspective it is a surprising development in terms of timing, considering the upcoming OPEC meeting, said Harry Tchilinguirian, senior oil analyst with BNP Paribas SA in London.

If verified, the incursion only goes to highlight the still very uncertain conditions on the ground in Iraq that have been impeding the recovery of the countrys oil sector, Tchilinguirian said.

Iraqs National Security Council will hold a meeting to discuss the situation, state-run television al-Iraqiya said. Iraqs al-Hurra television station also reported that Iranian forces crossed the border into Iraq, citing the U.S. army saying the incident was not violent.

Baghdad-based government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh didnt immediately respond to e-mails and mobile telephone calls seeking comment. Calls to Irans presidential office, Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Defense were not answered. Friday is the weekend in Iran. A spokesman for the Iranian embassy in London declined to comment.

End-of-day Market Overview

Have a good weekend all!

G.