Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng was down 132.15 points at 25,401.33, while the
Nikkei was recently up 1% at to 14,263.41.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, dropped
43 cents to $123.79 per barrel.

Happy trading!

G.

NPE 9.25 - 9.75p +0375p

well up at both sides, expected the spread to narrow after news earlier..........

Farm Out Agreement
Nautical Petroleum plc (AIM:NPE), the developer of heavy oil interests on the UKCS and mainland Europe today is pleased to announce that it has entered into a farm out agreement with Canamens Energy North Sea Limited ('Canamens') whereby Canamens will acquire a 30% interest in the North Sea Block 8/25a.

Under the terms of the agreement, Canamens will fund their ongoing 30% interest of the current well plus a portion of Nautical's costs.
The farm out terms provide for a $20 million cap on the Selkie well expenses against a current estimate of $16 million.

Following the completion of the farm out Nautical will retain a 30% interest and Celtic Oil Limited (wholly owned by SK Energy) will retain a 40% interest. On completion of the well, and subject to partner and BERR approval, Canamens will take on operator responsibility for Block 8/25a.

As announced on the 12 May 2008, Nautical commenced its first exploration well on block 8/25a, which will assess the Selkie prospect.
Following this and previous transactions, Nautical now has an effective 100% financial carry on the current exploration programme on Block 8/25a.

Nautical is also in advanced discussions with Canamens regarding further farm-out agreements on Blocks 9/2b and 3/27a, and related announcements will be made in due course when appropriate.
Commenting on the farm out to Canamens, Steve Jenkins Chief Executive Officer of Nautical said:

'The farm out on block 8/25a is excellent news for Nautical shareholders, as this mitigates ongoing risk in the portfolio and maintains our cash balances.'
'The discussions with Canamens endorse the quality of our assets, confirm the continuing support for Nautical's strategy on the UKCS, and will align our interests in a number of key exploration blocks.'

       

FTSE drifts lower in early deals today

MORNING REPORT: Headline shares drifted lower in early deals, after Wall Street closed well off highs last night, while Barclays Bank lost ground after its in line statement and RBoS fell over 16% as the stock traded ex-rights today.

At 9:00am, the FTSE100 was down 38 points at 6,178 with the FTSE250 off 11.1 points at 10,264.2 and the FTSE Smallcaps 6.8 points lower at 3,206.2.

US & ASIA

Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 66.20 points to 12,898.38. A late sell-off in technology stocks caused the market to pare its gains, with the blue chip index at times up more than 150 points.

The S&P500 rose 5.62 to 1,408.66, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.58 to 2,496.70.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ending the morning session down 132.15 points at 25,401.33, although Japan's Nikkei was up 234.29 points at 14,352.84 at last check.

Oil prices continued lower in Asian trade on Thursday after an unexpectedly low rise in United States crude stocks.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, dropped 43 cents to $123.79 per barrel.

LONDON MARKETS - BLUE CHIPS

banking stocks dominated the loserboard, as Barclays lost 5.25p to 422p, after saying in its trading statement its group profit for the three months to March 31st came in below the level reported during last year, while its Barclays Capital investment banking unit absorbed a net loss of 1.006bn during the first quarter.

In reaction, Cazenove said that while the comments on trading are broadly as expected, it thinks the market will remain focused on capital ratios.

Other banking issues performed poorly, with RBoS down 53.25p at 266p, as the stock traded ex-rights today, while Lloyds TSB was down 9.5p at 401p, as Societe Generale cut its rating to 'hold' from 'buy' Thursday.

Sector peers fell, with HBOS 23.25p lower at 447p and Alliance & Leicester down 15.25p to 430.5p.

Away from financials, the mining sector also weighed on the blue chips, falling back from recent gains made on sector consolidation hopes. The losses today came despite Vedanta Resources reporting decent full year numbers.

Vedanta fell 57p to 2,475p, BHP Billiton dropped 59p at 2,059p, Rio Tinto lost 150p at 6,731p and Antofagasta fell 12.5p at 761p.

On the upside, National Grid added 10p to 714.5p after it reported a rise in full year adjusted pretax profit to 1.8bn, from 1.5bn last year.

Investors also cheered results from SABMiller, up 36p at 1,239p, after its full-year pretax profit beat analyst expectations.

Staying with earnings news, BT added 0.75p at 224p, as the telecoms group reported a solid set of Q4 numbers and raised its dividend.

3i Group reported a 37% increase in assets under management in its full-year results and a diluted net asset value per share of 10.77, up from 9.32 in 2007 and above analyst expectations. Shares added 3.5p to 872.5p,

A positive trading update helped Cadbury off to a good start, up 18p to 665p. The company said following the demerger of Americas Beverages, the new company is off to a strong start.

A citigroup upgrade meant Firstgroup rallied, up 3.5p to 565p, as the broker moved to 'buy' from 'hold' following a drop in the share price after results yesterday.

MIDCAP NEWS

DSG International slumped 6.25p at 63p, after the troubled European electricals retailer, said it will slash its total dividend payout by 50%, this was compounded by Seymour Pierce downgraded its stance to 'sell' from 'hold' in reaction.

A broker downgrade also hit WH Smith, down 16.75p to 400.75p, as Citigroup cut its recommendation to 'hold' from 'buy' on valuation.

Elsewhere, Findel's full year results failed to impress investors as the shares lost 12.75p at 267p, while news Balfour Beatty is to place 43.32 million shares, sent it 22p lower at 431.5p.

Among midcap risers, Telecity was on top of the leaderboard, up 12p at 240p, after a trading update which Landsbanki said was confident, leading it to upgrade its full year 2008 EBITDA.

Similarly, Tullett Prebon rose 21.5p at 483.5p after its own bullish statement, the company said it expects a good outcome for the year and continues to actively pursue acquisition opportunities.

Finally, Euromoney reported 23% higher H1 adjusted underlying pretax profit at 30.5m, helped by a reduction in net interest costs. Shares added 19p at 394p.

Master RSI

Thanks, would appreciate any news on Wall St. futures if you can.

Midday Market Roundup

PATISEAR - 15 May 2008 11:10 - 6 of 7

re - Master RSI Thanks, would appreciate any news on Wall St. futures if you can.

Now as the market is getting ready to open yes 1 and half hours to go yet the opening look a bit positive ......

US Futures
INDEX ----- VALUE --- CHANGE
DJIA INDEX 12,909.00 +30.00

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance; Chevron, Exxon, GE Climb

By Adam Haigh

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures gained after UBS AG raised its recommendation for global oil shares, lifting energy producers.

Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. climbed in Germany as UBS said the industry is ``notably inexpensive'' and raised its crude price forecast for this year by 32 percent to $115 a barrel. General Electric Co. advanced after people familiar with the situation said it may sell or seek a partner for the unit that makes refrigerators and washers. Most European shares rose and Asian stocks rallied the most in two weeks.

Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index expiring in June added 1.7, or 0.1 percent, to 1,409.5 at 12:01 p.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 19 to 12,898. Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 5.75 to 2,002.25.

``One should not be underweight energy stocks because of the strong oil price,'' said Alessandra Querini, a money manager at Aletti Gestielle SGR in Milan, which oversees about $19 billion in assets. Analysts ``are basing forecasts on estimated oil prices that are lower than the current market price. I like the sector.''

Gross domestic product in the euro area increased 0.7 percent from the previous three months, when it climbed 0.4 percent, the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg said today. The pace exceeded the 0.5 percent median of 32 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.

MYH 19.75p +2.25p

Has been moving higher since last Monday, was on the "UPS" since then, bouncing from the lows and now is moving up fast

Master RSI

Cheers.

End-of-day Market Roundup