NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	HANG SENG	SHANGHAI COMPOSITE

KOSPI	SENSEX
NYMEX CRUDE	GOLD	VIX

Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow closed up 170 points at 10,269, the Nasdaq was up
31 points at 2,214 and the S&P500 gained 19 points at 1,095.

In Japan today, the Nikkei was last up 250.17 points at 10,284.42, while the Hang
Seng ended the morning ahead 359.03 points at 20,627.72.

Crude oil traded at $77.14 a barrel on Nymex.

Gold settled at $1,120 an ounce.

Happy trading!

G.

ARI Deutsche: initiated buy
BARC RBS: upgraded to buy from hold
DMGT JPMorgan: neutral, tp raised to 475 from 450
FGP Deutsche: initiated buy
HFD HSBC: upgraded to overweight from neutral
INF JPMorgan: overweight, tp raised to 385 from 375
JPR JPMorgan: underweight, tp cut to 23 from 36
MAB Deutsche: upgraded to buy from hold
NEX Deutsche: initiated hold
PSON JPMorgan: neutral, tp raised to 990 from 840
QQ. Citigroup: upgraded to buy from hold
REL JPMorgan: upgraded to overweight from neutral
SGC Deutsche: initiated hold
TNI JPMorgan: upgraded to neutral from underweight
UBM JPMorgan: neutral, tp cut to 495 from 550

Opening Market Overview

EMG - The late last week "KEEP an EYE" is roaring ahead, should be looking on the short term for the 50 days MA.
Nice opening GAP today

LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Shares in Man Group Plc rose 5.1 percent on Wednesday, with traders citing talk of takeover interest from U.S. fund group BlackRock .

BlackRock declined to comment, while Man Group was not immediately available for comment.

Traders also said positive weekly performance numbers from flagship fund AHL supported Man Group shares.

Citing rumours in the U.S. markets, the Daily Mail's market column said BlackRock was looking for another large deal after acquiring the funds business of Barclays last year.

The newspaper said the U.S. firm was missing the kind of hedge fund business that Man -- the world's largest listed hedge fund firm -- could provide.

EMG 243.8p +16p

edit - repeat

End-of-day Market Overview