Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow gained 138 points at 15,318, the Nasdaq rose 30 points
to 3,482 and the S&P500 added 13 points at 1,652.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently up 127 points at 13,134 and the Hang Seng off
259 points at 20,967.

WTI crude oil traded at $98.59 a barrel and Brent crude at $106.02.

Gold settled at $1,368 an ounce.

Good hunting!

G.

Nikkei outperforms Asian stocks as Fed looms

SYDNEY | Wed Jun 19, 2013 6:10am BST
(Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday, thanks to a positive lead from Wall Street plus a softer yen, outperforming the rest of Asia which anxiously seeks clarity on the Federal Reserve's next policy step.

Major currencies were mostly subdued ahead of the end of the Fed meeting. A policy statement is due at 1800 GMT and Chairman Ben Bernanke will brief media half an hour later.

Asian markets tense before Fed; Nikkei outperforms

SYDNEY | Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:17am BST
(Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday, thanks to a positive lead from Wall Street and a softer yen, outperforming the rest of Asia which anxiously waited for clarity on the U.S. Federal Reserve's next policy step.

Major currencies, commodities and U.S. Treasuries were subdued and European stocks were expected to open steady ahead of the conclusion of the Fed's June 18-19 meeting.

A policy statement is due at 1800 GMT and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will brief media half an hour later.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1 percent. Mainland Chinese stocks led the decline with a 1.1 percent fall, partly as official news reports dampened hopes for policy easing at home.

Hong Kong shares were dragged lower as a result, while South Korea stocks fell 0.7 percent.

Tokyo's Nikkei average was a standout in Asia, bucking the region's softer trend to rise 1.8 percent as exporters such as Honda Motors benefited from a softer yen.

But some market players played down the significance of the Nikkei's bounce, preferring to wait until there is more clarity about the Fed's outlook for its stimulus.

FTSE100 firmly lower in early deals ahead of Fed meeting

GBP MPC Asset Purchase Facility Votes 3-0-6 3-0-6 3-0-6

GBP MPC Official Bank Rate Votes 0-0-9 0-0-9 0-0-9

German 10-y Bond Auction 1.55|1.5 1.41|1.6

FTSE100 modestly lower midday ahead of Bernanke

skinny, another favour, please. If you look at my
comments in the BUGS thread, could you please tell me
what the X I refer to means. No one else seems to be
able to help and my day has been ruined. Thanks for all your help.
At least, I no longer get the popup saying my
security system is to blame, just the blank page with a boxed X.

I can't help you I'm afraid - I don't use stockwatch.

FTSE100 ends modestly lower ahead of a US Fed statement