Hello traders,

A bad session tonight for the Dow Jones Industrial Average which closed down 85.50 at 10,597. The S&P500 ended 9.36 points lower at 1,231 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 11.08 points at 2,171.

The October crude-oil contract closed down 23 cents at $63.11 a barrel.

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

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia, cautious trading saw the Hang Seng end the morning down 11.26 points at 15,059.30, while the Nikkei was last off 48.82 points at 12,853.13.

Oil firmed a little with the New York light sweet crude contract for delivery in October up 17 cents at $63.28 per barrel from its close of $63.11 in US trade overnight.

Early broker notes :-

CRH UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'HOLD' AT CITIGROUP

PILKINGTON CUT TO 'SELL' VS 'HOLD' AT CITIGROUP

BOVIS CUT TO 'ADD' VS 'BUY' AT ABN AMRO

RHM STARTED A 'BUY' AT CITIGROUP, PRICE TARGET 340P

COBHAM UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'HOLD' AT DEUTSCHE BANK

INTERTEK INITIATED 'NEUTRAL' AT MERRILL LYNCH; FAIR VALUE 770P

GROUP 4 SECURICOR UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'HOLD' AT MERRILL LYNCH

Don't forget the ex-ds today......

Happy trading!

G.

LONDON (AFX) - The FTSE 100 is set to open flat to modestly higher, rebounding after yesterday's sharp downturn, though higher crude prices, ex-dividend factors and a mixed performance in Asia may put a cap on gains, said dealers.
IG Index is indicating the FTSE 100 to open up around 7 points, after the index dropped 37.1 points yesterday to close at 5,338.0.

MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,338.0, down 37.1
FTSE 250 7,833.3, down 68.1
DJIA 10,597.40, down 85.50
Nasdaq Comp 2,171.75, down 1.08
S&P 500 1,231.20, down 9.35
Tokyo: Nikkei midday 12,847.01, down 54.94
Hang Seng midday 15,059.30, down 11.26
Gold 446.55 usd (449.55 usd)
Oil - Brent Oct 61.61 usd (61.80 usd)

TODAY'S PRESS
* US set to raise rates again; officials relaxed over impact of Katrina; changes to policy wording suggested; Fed sceptical of need for 'compassionate' pause - FT
* S&P warns Katrina 'may cause collapse of some Lloyd's syndicates - FT
* Baugur seizes a large stake in FRENCH CONNECTION as the fashion chain reveals that a damaging wave of failures have hit its wholesale clients; understood that Baugur raised its stake to 9-10 pct from close to 3 pct - FT
* Sir Richard Branson to put 55 mln stg behind his plan to build an oil refinery for airline fuel - Times
* OFT announces a study into a possible overhaul of spending on prescription medicines - FT
* Drax's flotation plans thrown off course after an unsolicited 1.9 bln stg takeover approach from America's Constellation Energy Group - Mail
* Ladbrokes emerges as a key contender to buy Sporting Index, the spread betting group, for up to 70 mln stg - Times

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on MISYS (until it can demonstrate that it has eliminated its operational bugs, the stock will deservedly remain under a cloud), ANTOFAGASTA (some near-term upside indicated), Ford/Hertz (core problem remains intractable: how to produce vehicles that consumers want to buy without big incentives), Mediobanca (one Italian leopard that has changed its spots; but it cannot become a different beast altogether) - JOHN WOOD GROUP (it may be a good time to trade into a cheaper stock) - BLOOMSBURY (worth holding)
Mail
MARKS & SPENCER (banks on a supermodel line-up)
Independent
THE INVESTMENT COLUMN: BLOOMSBURY (only a hold), ANTOFAGASTA (keep buying), CORNWELL MANAGEMENT (buy) - BARCLAYS (vague rumours that Spanish banking giant BBVA might be mulling a bid)
Telegraph
QUESTOR: FRIENDS PROVIDENT (hold on), REDROW (one of the best bets in the sector), GLISTEN (plenty of room for growth)
Times
RUMOUR OF THE DAY: NSB RETAIL SYSTEMS (vague speculation that TOREX RETAIL may be casting an eye over the software developer) - DIRECTORS' DEALINGS: GYRUS GROUP (non-executive sells stock for 3.6 mln stg) - LUMINAR (trading worries drag Luminar lower) - TEMPUS: ANTOFAGASTA (avoid), JOHN WOOD (sell), REDROW (buy)
Guardian
ADVANCED FLUID SOLUTIONS (rumours of a bid approach)
Express
MARKS & SPENCER (tales that Brandes has sold down its 15 pct stake) - SHARE WHISPER: WILSHAW (rumours that a reverse takeover deal will be announced in next few days) - WHO'S DEALING: GYRUS (directors sells 1.15 mln shares at 318 pence)

Morning

GMC rather bullish

AUW and Katrina

PNG the Iranian gold prospector found some!

BGT trading update Hmm

ITH trading update - no surprises

ICU profit warning - they only floated recently!

NVU results - quick look seems OK

SDY placing at no discount! Hmm ;-)

RGO patent purchase

FAN placing also at little discount

FUL recovering?

MNA update

CFL makes a turn ;-))

Have a good day.

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End of day market wrap