Hello traders!

US stocks finished higher tonight, the S&P500 setting a four-and-a-half year closing high.

The Dow was up 32.90 points at 10,880.31 at its unofficial close. The Nasdaq Composite finished 19.72 points higher at 2,263.46 and the S&P500 ended up 4.65 points at 1,273.45.

Oil prices closed higher but natural-gas futures fell 4%. February crude climbed 28 cents to close at $63.42 a barrel. February natural gas closed at a nearly five-month low of $10.197 per million British thermal units, down 42.9 cents.

See you in the morning with the latest.........

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei reached the midpoint up 89.90 points at 16,451.44, its highest intraday level since September 21st, 2000. The Hang Seng ended the morning up 126.86 points at 15,326.92.

Oil prices were slightly easier in Asian trading hours, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, down 7 cents at $63.35 a barrel from $63.42 in New York.

Early broker notes:

AMVESCAP UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'HOLD' AT DEUTSCHE BANK
NEXT UPGRADED TO 'NEUTRAL' VS 'UNDERWEIGHT' AT JP MORGAN

Happy trading!

G.

JAPAN'S NIKKEI 225 STOCK INDEX CLOSES UP 63.83 PTS AT 16,425.37

Outlook

AFX UK at a glance share guide

LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares are tipped to kick the session a touch higher, mirroring a solid showing on Wall Street overnight, but gains could be capped with little in the way of corporate news to tempt investors in off the sidelines, dealers said.
Spreadbetters CMC Markets, expect the FTSE 100 index to open 4 points firmer at around 5719 having closed yesterday up 3.1 points at 5,714.0.

MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,714.6, up 33.1
FTSE 250 8,957.7, up 64.4
DJIA 10,880.10, up 32.70
Nasdaq Comp 2,263.46, up 19.72
S&P 500 1,273.45, up 4.65
Tokyo: Nikkei closed at 16,425.37, up 63.83
Hang Seng midday 15,326.92 up 126.86
Gold 531.50 usd (528.70 usd)
Oil - Brent Feb 61.68 usd (61.35 usd)

TODAY'S PRESS
* Arcadia tightens pension terms; retailers alter final salary schemes; Co-operative Group to merge existing plans; both companies to allow future accruals - FT
* BT pension deficit 'could soar to 6 bln stg', experts warn - Express
* Russia and Ukraine reach a compromise allowing both sides to save face in the dispute that had threatened Europe's gas supplies and cast doubt on Russia's reliability as an energy supplier - FT
* Sir Robert Horton, former chairman of BP and Railtrack, forced out of BETFAIR after pressure from investors - FT
* Takeover Panel thwarts an attempt by P&O to force Temasek of Singapore to say whether it has any intention of bidding for the British ports operator - Telegraph

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on Equities (on balance, there is a good chance of further equity gains in the first half of the year, but thereafter the risk that the Jeremiahs will finally be proved correct is as strong as ever), UK personal debt (for the Bank of England, which is trying to revive consumer spending without precipitating a further leg in the UK's borrowing binge, next week's interest rate decision looks excruciating), Chinese copyright (without Beijing's full support, any victories will barely dent China's thriving rip-off industry - and legal costs will probably outweigh awards), BASF/Englehard (the 3 pct drop in BASF's shares since Tuesday's announcement suggests that, while shareholders are uneasy about the risks, they back the basic strategy), Premiere (its appeal as a near-term bid target is not compelling; any interested buyers will likely wait and watch the shares fall further) - ITV (talk that BT GROUP is running the rule over the TV broadcaster)
Telegraph
QUESTOR: BARCLAYS (remains worth holding), CRH (keep holding on), BANGO (buy)
Guardian
CSR (hopes it could win a big contract from Sony), IDEAL SHOPPING DIRECT (rumours its upcoming trading update will impress and trigger upgrades)
Times
Directors' dealing: SERVICE POWER TECHNOLOGIES (director buys stock for 155,000 stg) - Rumour of the day: VIROTEC (although forecast to be awarded a clean-up contract as a result of its work, the size is tipped to be far below the 18 mln usd touted in some circles) - TEMPUS: PERSIMMON, BARRATT, BERKELEY and BELLWAY (worth buying), P&O (lock in profits now), CRH (hold)
Independent
THE INVESTMENT COLUMN: PUNCH TAVERNS (not too expensive), GREENE KING (another favourite), JD WETHERSPOON (jury still out), RICARDO (buy)
Express
SHARE WHISPER: TADPOLE TECHNOLOGY (talk that shareholders' action group is close to gathering enough support to call an EGM)

Good morning all.

morning campers

Good Morning All

Morning Greystone

happy new year etc

just passing through

enjoy

Long AHT 187.25

Mealiff - Happy New Year to you! What's the craic? :-)

End-of-day Market Summary