Hello traders,

In the US tonight, after a choppy day, the Dow Jones closed down 10.81 at 10,767. The Nasdaq Composite rose just more than 4 points to 2,260 and the S&P500 was up just more than 1 point at 1,260.

Crude oil for January delivery tapped $60.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was last at $60.25, up 86 cents.

See you in the morning with updates....

G.

morning all

long ukx s&p

Good morning traders!

Today in Asia, the Nikkei has closed up 40.16 points at 15,778.86, while the Hang Seng lost 82.09 points at 14,902.31 in the first half of the session.

Crude-oil futures remained at five-week highs above $61 a barrel in Asian trade, with crude for January delivery at $61.10 a barrel, off 20 cents from its closing level of $61.30 at the New York Mercantile Exchange overnight.

Early broker notes:

LEGAL & GENERAL CUT TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' VS 'NEUTRAL' AT JP MORGAN
AVIVA UPGRADED TO 'EQUAL-WEIGHT' FROM 'UNDERWEIGHT' BY MORGAN STANLEY
ARM HOLDINGS DOWNGRADED TO 'IN-LINE' FROM 'OUTPERFORM' BY GOLDMAN SACHS
HMV DOWNGRADED TO 'NEUTRAL' FROM 'OUTPERFORM' BY CSFB
WH SMITH DOWNGRADED TO 'NEUTRAL' FROM 'OUTPERFORM' BY CSFB

Happy trading!

G.

Aus close

First Group has been awarded contracts to run the Greater Western franchise and the Thameslink/GN franchise from 01 April 2006.

AFX UK at a glance share guide

LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares are expected to start the session a touch higher, with oil heavyweights boosted by the crude price hitting five-week highs, but gains could be capped amid caution ahead of the US Fed's rate decision this evening, dealers said.
According to spreadbetting firm CMC, the FTSE 100 is set to open 5 points higher at around 5507, having closed yesterday 15.9 points lower at 5,501.5.

MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,501.5, down 15.9
FTSE 250 8,491.4, up 12.8
DJIA 10,767.80, down 10.80
Nasdaq Comp 2,260.95, up 4.22
S&P 500 1,260.45, up 1.10
Tokyo: Nikkei closed at 15,778.86, up 40.16
Hang Seng midday: 14,902.31, down 82.09
Gold 537.10 usd (529.75 usd)
Oil - Brent Jan 59.44 usd (57.31 usd)

TODAY'S PRESS
* European Commission will today launch a sweeping plan to liberalise television advertising under the biggest shake-up of European Union broadcasting rules since 1989 - FT
* ConocoPhillips closing in on a deal to buy Burlington Resources for more than 16.9 bln stg, in a move to expands production in North America - FT
* LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE's largest shareholder, Threadneedle Asset Management, signals that Macquarie Bank may have to pay substantially more for the exchange than its indicative bid - FT

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on LLOYDS TSB (since Daniels' arrival, Lloyds has produced a total return slightly in excess of the UK banking sector; currently, trading suggests this modest benchmark continues to be attainable; beating it will require something a little more, well, brilliant), Hedge funds (build-up to Christmas is once again providing salvation for hedge funds), Indian FDI (the impact of foreign direct investment has its limits), French pay-TV (after a deal on pay-TV, the next step for TFI and M6 may be to follow the example of ITV in the UK and throw their weight more fully behind the DTT platform), Conoco/Burlington (James Mulva, Conoco chief executive, has been slow to return recent windfall profits to shareholders; if he spends it on Burlington, he must make a compelling case for why it is a better investment than Conoco's own shares)
Times
Rumour of the day: AEROBOX (talk of 3 mln stg fundraising) - TEMPUS: LLOYDS TSB (income investors should keep on holding), POLAR CAPITAL (buy), ALIZYME (avoid for now)
Independent
THE INVESTMENT COLUMN: REED ELSEVIER (hold), GROUP 4 SECURICOR (buy), AIR MUSIC & MEDIA (avoid)
Telegraph
QUESTOR: COBHAM (buy), ALIZYME (buy), ASOS (sell)
Guardian
HALFORDS (Autobacs Seven stakebuilding talk)
Express
SHARE WHISPER: AXIS-SHIELD (traders anticipate a bullish trading statement in next few days)
Mail
CRAVEN WALKER (lists on AIM this morning)


TRADING STATEMENTS
Bodycote International
Cadbury Schweppes
Gallaher
Johnston Press

OTHER
GUS demerger of 65 pct stake in Burberry comes into effect

Good Morning all,

I've was told tyesterday the "black" cloud can be see from Basingstoke in Hampshire

End-of-day Market Summary