Hello traders!

US stocks sold off after the Fed lifted the overnight rate by a quarter-point and sent a message that it intends to raise rates again. Analysts had widely expected the increase in the rate to 3.75%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up its prior gains to trade down 73.88 points at 10,483.75, while the S&P500 fell 9.57 to 1,221.45. The Nasdaq Composite fell 13.52 points to 2,131.74.

See you in the morning with updates....

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia, The Hang Seng Index ended the morning down 33.22 points at 15,208.64 with the Nikkei last trading up 48.78 points 13,197.35.

Oil prices were higher in Asian trade as Hurricane Rita pounded the Florida Keys.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, was up $1.28 at $67.48 a barrel from its close of $66.20 in the US overnight.

Early broker notes :-

BPB CUT TO 'HOLD' VS 'BUY' AT DEUTSCHE BANK

BURREN ENERGY UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'NEUTRAL' AT UBS

There's a loooooong list of ex-dividends today........

Happy trading!

G.

MARKET EXPECTATIONS

* Polaron year to pretax profit 1.3 mln stg vs 1.1 mln; total dividend 1.0-1.2 pence vs 0.3

* Woolworths Group six months to July pretax loss under IFRS 40-42 mln stg vs loss 34.4 mln stg under GAAP

End of day market wrap