Hello traders!

US stocks ended lower tonight, with the Nasdaq Composite posting its biggest one-day drop in two months, amid rising oil prices and disappointment over a tepid sales performance from retailers in July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 87.49 points to 10,610.10. The Nasdaq lost 25.49 points at 2,191.32 and the S&P500 dropped 9.18 points to 1,235.86.

Oil ended up 52 cents at $61.38 a barrel in New York trading.

See you in the morning with updates.......

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia this morning, the Hang Seng is down 123.16 points at 14,988.38 at the break with the Nikkei also well down, off 145.85 points at 11,737.45.

Oil prices were higher in late morning trade with the market jittery after ExxonMobil failed to reopen a major refinery as scheduled, highlighting supply concerns. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery rose 27 cents to $61.65 a barrel from its close of $61.38 in the US yesterday.

Some early brokers news :-

Deutsche Bank and Citigroup both downgraded ICI 'hold' from 'buy' on valuation following second quarter results yesterday. In contrast, Cazenove took a more positive tone, lifting its rating to 'in-line' from 'underperform'.

Back with more soon.

Happy trading!

G.

MARKET EXPECTATIONS

Barclays six months to June pretax profit under IFRS 2.45b vs 2.46bn; interim dividend 8.75p, up 6%.

AFX UK at a glance share guide - 2

MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,315.5, down 0.32
FTSE 250 7,685.6, up 10.2
DJIA 10610.1, down 87.5
Nasdaq Comp 2191.32, down 25.49
S&P 500 1235.85, down 9.2
Tokyo: Nikkei 225 closed at 11,766.48, down 116.83
Hang Seng at midday 14,988.38, down 123.16
Gold 439.4 usd (436.1)
Oil - Brent Sept 60.12 usd (59.65)

BREAKING NEWS
* Axel Springer to announce deal to secure control of ProSiebenSat1 - FT
* Lord Kalms of Edgware seeking place on board of NMT - Daily Telegraph
* KPMG unlikely to face carges it sold illegal tax shelters - Daily Telegraph
* Chinese airlines are rushing to recruit qualified European pilots - Times
* NYSE is examining allegations of trading abuse in Wall Street firms - Times

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN - The ECB has shown an admirable reluctance to cheer its consumers up by cutting interest rates. It is a trait the BoE would do well to emulate; ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND on just over 9 times prospective earnings, the shares trade at a discount to the sector and this is likely to remain the case; ROYAL DUTCH SHELL Even Mr Ollila, however, may find it difficult to guide Shell on the hard choices between high-priced acquisitions and a more aggressive return of cash to investors; ANGLO AMERICAN Given the conspicuous lack of a buyback programme at present, shareholders could benefit on several fronts.

Times
TEMPUS: UNILEVER (Hold) (For those prepared to be patient, it is worth holding on); ICI (Hold) More needs to be done to complete the recovery, but ICI is on track); MILLENNIUM & COPTHORNE (The impact of the London bombings on bookings is still unclear, but the longer-term strategy makes the shares worth holding)

Telegraph
QUESTOR: SMITH & NEPHEW (FDA approvals on some new products might boost the shares somewhat, but they are only a hold); MILLENNIUM & COPTHORNE (Solid given the asset backing, but pricey for now); GKN (It's worth holding on)

Independent
THE INVESTMENT COLUMN: ICI (For those already on board, hold); ANGLO AMERICAN (With the China boom set to keep commodities prices high, Anglo American shares at 1,470 pence, are worth having for the long term); SMITH & NEPHEW (This is not the time for investors to go weak at the knees. Buy.)

Mail
Market Report: Speculation Terry Smith could break up COLLINS STEWART TULLETT

Investors Chronicle
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL (Sell); PENNON (Buy); VIRGIN MOBILE (Buy); HAMWORTHY (Buy); UNITED CLEARING (Buy); PETRA DIAMONDS (Buy)

good morning all

Thanks chaps and morning to all!
Little woman did you get your computer problem sorted?

Sort off stockbunny

- Server is not happy. Like a lot of companies who previously has gone
through bad times, we don't have a proper service agreement with a outsourced
IT dept. They get paid as and when we call them. We are set up "with a complete
business solution" but without the backup to go with it.

So when we try to do anything (e.g. add a printer or PC) we suffer a couple of days
later....

Looks like we need to change the way we do things....

Maybe Little Woman, certainly don't need problems each time you
add a new 'bit'!

Have a great weekend everybody.

Mr & Mrs Greystone are off on a long-awaited vacation for a few days to experience the more ambient weather in the UK. (And watch the cricket) :-)

I'm sure the Traders Threads will be in good hands while I'm away.

G.