Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning down 339.41 points at 17,961.2,
while the Nikkei was recently up 1.4% at 11,772.64.

US light crude for October delivery rebounded $3.15 to $94.30 a barrel.

Happy trading!

G.

Thomson Financial Europe AM at a glance share guide: Shares mixed; dollar up

UK Stocks -- Factors to watch on Sept 17

Morning all. Market reports:

Telegraph
FT
The Guardian
The Independent
This is Money

The future of American International Group appears to have been guaranteed after high-level talks resulted in the Federal Reserve being on the verge of agreeing to extend an $85bn bridging loan to the troubled insurance giant.
Federal Reserve bails out AIG with $85bn loan

Morgan Stanley confounded critics last night by rushing out publication of forecast-beating third-quarter results designed to fiercely combat suggestions that its independence may be in jeopardy because of continued unrest in the financial sector.
Morgan Stanley unveils forecast-beating results

Concern over the health of US savings bank Washington Mutual heightened after ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded its credit rating to junk status. Shares in WaMu, which had already dropped 95pc year-to-date, fell by as much as 25pc, later recovering to trade up 20 cents at $2.20.
Standard & Poor's downgrades Washington Mutual's rating

Barclays early this morning agreed a $1.75bn deal to buy the core business of Lehman Brothers, the investment bank that filed for bankruptcy on Monday amid one of the worst financial crises that Wall Street has suffered.
Barclays agrees $1.75bn deal for core Lehman Brothers business

Central banks around the world yesterday pumped more than 100bn into money markets in a desperate move to avert an inter-bank lending shutdown of potentially dire economic consequences.
Central banks pump 100bn into money markets

Otmar Issing, the former chief economist of the European Central Bank, has warned that confidence in the world's financial system is draining away, leaving authorities facing the gravest challenge in living memory.
ECB doyen Otmar Issing calls crisis "extremely dangerous"

Alistair Darling stopped short of calling for an outright ban on shorting bank shares yesterday, as news emerged that the US government was preparing plans to crack down on the practice.
Darling faces call for short-selling crackdown after HBOS plunge

A second dramatic fall in HBOS's share price in two days piled pressure on the Bank of England to restore confidence in the wholesale markets by fleshing out its plans for the new special liquidity scheme (SLS).
HBOS plight puts pressure on Bank to extend special liquidity scheme

Shareholders were left unable to trade popular commodity securities yesterday, due to fears over the future of their backer, AIG. Banks and brokerages stopped making markets in the Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs) backed by the troubled insurer and sold by ETF Securities (ETFS). The price of the stocks also plummeted due to the worries over AIG.
AIG fears cause securities trading to halt

The collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers has seen the price of oil fall back to $90 a barrel for the first time in seven months.
Lehman Brothers collapse sparks oil price fall

Russian shares suffered their steepest one-day fall in more than a decade on Tuesday, losing up to 20%, as a sharp slide in oil prices and difficult money market conditions triggered a rush to sell. The heads of the Russian central bank, the finance ministry and the financial market regulator met Tuesday night for an emergency discussion on ways to halt the crisis.
Russia halts trading as shares plunge

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

VIX

Fitch Ratings downgraded HBOS Plc. and main operating unit Bank of Scotland Plc., citing heightened concerns over the outlook for core parts of HBOS's retail and corporate banking divisions as the U.K. economy and property markets weaken, combined with weaker operational flexibility due to continuing disruption/dysfunction in parts of wholesale funding markets on which HBOS relies quite heavily to finance its customer lending.

The U.K.'s largest residential mortgage lender's long-term issuer default ratings were cut to 'AA' from 'AA+'. The outlooks remain negative.

AFX

The Wednesday Press Roundup

PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Sept 17

PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Sept 17

Asian stock market summary

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Bank of Ireland drops as loan charges mount

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Woolworths drop on record losses

TFN NEWS BRIEFING: TMT highlights to 09:10 BSTTFN NEWS BRIEFING: Aerospace and transportation highlights to 09:10 BSTTFN NEWS BRIEFING: Pharmaceuticals and chemicals highlights to 09:10 BST

TFN NEWS BRIEFING: Banking and insurance highlights to 09:15 BSTTFN NEWS BRIEFING: Consumer and retailing highlights to 09:15 BSTTFN NEWS BRIEFING: Oil and utilities highlights to 09:15 BST

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-UK Small Cap index rises 0.9 pctTFN NEWS BRIEFING: Mergers and acquisitions highlights to 09:20 BST

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Meggitt falls; UBS downgrades to 'sell'

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Debenhams rises as Goldman Sachs upgradesSTOCKS NEWS EUROPE--Electrocomponents falls; UBS cuts to 'sell'

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Admiral rises; UBS lifts target to 1,100pTFN NEWS BRIEFING: Macroeconomics highlights to 10:10 BST

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Telecom Italia up on reports of new investors

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-VW gains on short-covering for bid